While it’s unknown when the update rolled out, sometime recently Garmin unleashed a small revision, adding the highly anticipated 3D view to Garmin Mobile on Helio. 3D view is a great tool for the easily confused and directionally-challenged (like myself). It still gives you an aerial view of the map, but it’s slightly skewed so it’s a little more realistic than the 2D ones. If you are currently subscribing to the service and it hasn’t prompted you to update yet, try deleting and redownloading the application. If you currently don’t have a GPS and find yourself getting lost on dark scary streets a lot, Garmin Mobile definitely gets the job done at $2.99 per day for quickies, or $9.99 per month for the extremely lost souls.

Feelin’ lazy? Dial GARMIN (427646) from your Ocean, Fin or Mysto and hit OK to jump directly to the download page. Already got it? Go into Settings > Route View > 3D to switch over.

Update: After reading some of the comments of it not working, it appears only the Mysto (and I’m assuming the Fin) version of Garmin Mobile have this. The way the Helio store is setup separates the Ocean from other devices because of Ocean’s screen flip function. Hopefully we will see the update mosey on over to the Ocean shortly.

Today Virgin Mobile USA announced their two new board of directors as result from the merge between our beloved Helio and VMUSA. Richard Chin, who is president of SK Telecom Americas, and Sungwon Suh, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Strategy and Investment for SK Telecom (who was also on the board for Helio).

Both have plenty of experience in the industry and will hopefully have some great input on the future of Helio through Virgin Mobile. Read the whole press release HERE.

Earlier today, Virgin Mobile USA announced via press release that the acquisition of Helio has been completed.

What does the future hold for current and future Helio subscribers? They are saying everything we currently have + more. Hopefully this stands true, and hopefully this means the release of the long awaited Ocean 2 is just around the corner! Don’t disappoint us, VM.

It’s finally official. After months and months of ongoing rumors, SKT/Helio and Virgin have finally come to a conclusion of what they are going to do. Virgin Mobile USA will be entering into the postpaid (contractual) market via Helio, and the Helio name will be turned in to Virgin Mobile. Read Virgin’s press release here, or Helio’s statement here.

I’d also like to clear up some common misconceptions really quick. Helio will not become prepaid. And the Ocean 2 is still on track for release.

Since there are a lot of numbers and tech talk in the press release, we think it’d be easier to just list it all out in a nice and easy to read list:

In addition to the press release, we are also told that Helio House (the corporate offices of Helio) will remain, albeit slightly slimmed down, but products, services, and other teams will still be there.

Jin Woo So, who is the President of Global Business at SKTelecom commented, “This transaction and our long-term, strategic investment in Virgin Mobile USA continue SKT’s strong momentum in the U.S. market, and will allow Helio and Virgin Mobile USA to realize significant synergies and strategic benefits. Virgin Mobile’s scale, strong brand power and expertise in prepaid with Helio’s leading technology, innovative services and experience in postpaid will together form a powerful new platform that will bring new value and flexibility to customers. We believe the strength of the business model will serve to enhance the value we built at Helio, and we look forward to a long-term partnership.”

Helio has also posted up their own statement, which covers just a few topics.

What does all this mean? Basically, our bill may now come from Virgin Mobile USA, and future handsets may have the Virgin Mobile logo, but I wouldn’t expect anything to go downhill from here. Since Virgin Mobile has so many customers, the discounts they will receive on handsets and airtime will be great. You can say goodbye to the little blue flame if you want, but I think the only thing we will be missing is that, the logo and the name Helio. It’s a sad day for everyone, especially those whose jobs were cut (my condolences, we’ve met a lot of awesome people at Helio!), but here’s to hoping that it’s just going to get better from here on out. If need be, we’ve made a difference before, we can do it again.

Oh boy, was this a fun one to review. Helio sells this “Garmin Car Cradle” from their online store (under the “Order Accessories” link), and I had no clue what it really did or was even like until Helio graciously sent us one. When I first opened the box it came in, I was sort of wishing that I still had no idea what it did or was like, as it doesn’t come with an instruction manual, and all these scary pieces were just taunting me in the bags. Without an instruction manual, it was a doozy trying to assemble it. After finally getting it all together and figuring how to make it suction to the window, it actually isn’t half bad. Overall, it’s very useful, especially since you can use it with a multitude of devices.