At long last, the Helio Ocean 2 is now available online. Many will just chuckle and give this bubbly handset a pass (especially for those who gave up after waiting for so long), but for those few die-hard Helio fans left it’s better late than never. If you have been lusting after this device and were waiting for its official release, head on over to Helio’s website where you can grab one for $149 with a two-year contract. If you click on the little “lawyers note” where the phone is available for online ordering, it also mentions that this is a limited time offer only. We’re not sure exactly what they mean by that, but it’s a pretty good cue to get one soon. Is there anyone out there getting ready to pick one one of these “3G social networking powerhouses”?

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After one long year of waiting in agony, excitement, disappointment, despair and lastly hope, it looks like the Helio Ocean 2 has finally materialized and it appears to be a sure thing now. The packaging looks very similar to the first Ocean, though it is now just called Ocean 2 given the Virgin Mobile acquisition of Helio. There’s no mistaking this for anything else as it looks very much like the original and exactly like all the leaked images from a few months back. Word seems to be pretty solid that this is coming on February 12, so we’re just days away from salvation. The second generation Ocean has an upgraded version of the Ultimate Inbox which now threads SMS messages and has Google Talk included. The browser now supports full HTML and with 2GB of internal storage, you won’t be aching for memory as often as you did with the first Ocean. Hit the read link for a full unboxing treatment.

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Earlier this year, around March, news of the Helio Ocean 2 was flooding the ‘net with diagrams “leaked” by the FCC. Well, the rumors and possibilities were quickly trashed when news of a Virgin Mobile acquisition of Helio came out. ‘Twas a sad day for hardcore Helio fans and mixed emotions were abound in the VM camp. However, it seems that Helio is still maintaining its unique branding of software and equipment even after the VM absorption, which makes the news of this new device all the more legit. The image speaks for itself: It distinctly resembles the original OZ1 and is even branded with the Helio name. It also appears to have touch-sensitive surfaces where the physical buttons used to be, which likely means haptic feedback, too. There’s even an optical joystick for navigation. Seems like it would also feature a QVGA display, Ev-DO, 2 megapixel cam with video, full HTML browser, and A2DP support. The phone should “wow” all the Helions who are still clinging onto their first-generation Oceans, but…

When is this sweet little gadget coming out? According to the folks over at Heliocity, they received an e-mail from a higher-up at Virgin telling them it’s not slated until early 2009! Are they kidding? They’ll have a lot of catching up to do because it’s likely this device might be outdated at that point (since it’s close to being ‘dated before its release). Come on, VM! Helio waited an eternity to update this and look where it got them. For the few die-hards that didn’t leave Helio and refuse to budge, cross those fingers and hope this comes out sooner than later.

Thanks, Dorian!

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After months of speculation and rumors of bankruptcy, Helio finally completed that deal with Virgin Mobile. For the better part of the year, forums, blogs, and news sites were aflame with SK Telekom’s restructuring at Helio, Earthlink’s decreasing role in its mobile venture, and Helio’s shrinking profits and customer base. VM then came along in an attempt to salvage what was left of the dying baby conceived by SKT and Earthlink.

Helio customers weren’t too thrilled, but VM users were excited at the possibility of bringing Helio’s plans over and getting a new post-paid option. Regardless of how they felt, the deal is done and final… Helio always asked, “Don’t call us a phone company,” now we can see why. We’ll miss you Helio. The Ocean 2 looked to be awesome, too…

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If you haven’t heard by now — Virgin Mobile is acquiring Helio for $39M — you’re really living under something… In any case, what’s going to happen to Helio’s 170,000 subscribers? Well, we’ve go a hold of an internal Helio Q&A which answers some of those concerns. A couple highlights? Helio subscribers service will not be interrupted, Helio, believe it or not, is still accepting new activations, and the Helio brand will be dissolved into Virgin Mobile over time. The whole thing is after the jump.

Thanks, Ryan P.!

HELIO + Virgin Mobile USA= J

Two great companies team up to bring you more.

HELIO and Virgin Mobile USA are teaming up to combine our strengths and deliver a better mobile experience. On June 27th Virgin Mobile USA announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire HELIO.

HELIO would gain access to Virgin Mobile USA’s extensive distribution network and broad customer base, while Virgin Mobile USA would gain access to HELIO’s exclusive, high-end devices and premium services.  Both companies look forward to coming together to bring exciting prepaid and postpaid opportunities to their customers.

Q: What does this mean for current HELIO members? Can I still use my HELIO device, while keeping my HELIO service plan and number?

A: Current service plans will continue without interruption. HELIO members are at the center of this transaction and we’ll continue to bring them the innovative mobile services they’ve come to expect.

Q: Can new members still sign up for HELIO service?

A: Absolutely. HELIO will continue to offer exclusive, high-end devices and our innovative All-In plans.

Q: Will the HELIO brand be retained, or will everything migrate to Virgin Mobile USA?

A: Over time, we expect that all aspects of the customer experience will be integrated under the Virgin Mobile USA brand.  Integration of the direct sales channel will begin immediately, and we expect that existing HELIO products and services will soon be offered through the Virgin Mobile USA website at www.virginmobileusa.com.

Q: So what’s next?

A: We’re excited by the possibilities our new, combined team offers. We have some big ideas, but as you can imagine, a little bit of housekeeping is in order before we share them. Stay tuned!

Q: Does this affect my current contract with HELIO in any way? When Virgin Mobile USA does acquire HELIO, can I end my current contract without paying an early termination fee (ETF)?

A: HELIO contracts remain in effect and unchanged by this transaction. HELIO members who wish to end their contract early will still be subject to an early termination fee (ETF).

So you got yourself a Helio Ocean, Helio Fin, or Helio Mysto, and you use the email all day long. All your various email services are push-enabled except for Gmail. Ain’t that a bitch? Well, Helio users woke up this morning to find that Gmail is finally push-enabled on all aforementioned devices. No crazy configuration required — just hit send and receive — your emails will just come in right before your eyes. While this is first "out-of-the-box" method we’ve seen, it isn’t the first with BlackBerry devices having this ability for a while. Still, it’s nice to know the world is changing. After all, could you live without push email?

This one has been a long time in the making, as we’ve had access to an unofficial hacked build of Opera Mini on the Helio Ocean for quite some time now. Both Helio and Opera, responding to massive demand from the Ocean user community, have worked together to bring an official build to the masses. As of this morning, Opera Mini is now officially available through Helio for their Ocean devices. Downloadable from Helio’s Web Portal, the specially-tailored version of Opera Mini should provide optimized browsing for Ocean users, and is the first time that Opera will be available directly from a U.S. carrier. Good news for Opera! While the initial launch appears to be limited to the Ocean, if all goes well we wouldn’t be surprised to see further Opera integration across the entire Helio line.

Remember the newest Helio device in the pack? Helio has made good on their promise — the Helio Mysto is available at all usual Helio channels — and you no longer have to be jealous of that Korean friend of yours for getting it first. We went over the Mysto pretty well, but there were a couple applications we didn’t get to test out on our unit. These are Tellme and WHERE. We were actually told about the Tellme thingy a while back and have been intrigued ever since. Since the Mysto (all Helios, really) has built-in GPS, Tellme uses your voice to take advantage of that. Let’s say you have no idea where you are but are in desperate need of some Purell from a CVS (come on, who hasn’t been in that situation?). All you do is press the side button, and say "CVS". The application would then find the nearest CVS to your location. Pretty neat, right? WHERE is a whole ‘nother story. It’s actually a GPS widget platform, and it runs in the web browser. The really cool thing is that the browser is location-aware, so to speak. So as long as you grant permission to access your GPS, the web browser that comes with the Mysto will actually be able to use your location for all the cool web GPS widgets. Some of these are GasBuddy (find nearest gas station, and by gas price),  Weather, Eventful (shows you local music, performing arts, sports events, etc.), and a total useless but kind of cool widget called Dig to China (it basically takes your location and shows you where you’d end up if you dug straight down into the earth and out of the other side. They even have a location-enhanced Twitter for you freaks. These GPS services are in addition to BuddyBeacon, Google Maps, and Garmin Mobile, so we have to give Helio a big high five for totally maximizing the crap out of that little built-in GPS chip! Tellme will run you $2.99 / month, and WHERE is free. Hit the jump for the full press release!

LOS ANGELES, CA – January 16, 2007 – Helio today released Mysto™, an ultra-thin slider featuring a large, reflective mirror-like screen, a svelte, sapphire blue body and electrostatic keys that make the device shiver when pressed.  Mysto also debuts two new Helio GPS search services, WHERE™ and Tellme™, adding to Helio’s burgeoning portfolio of GPS-enabled services that started with the industry-first launch of GPS-enabled Google Maps™ for mobile and GPS-tagging of photos and videos, plus real-time Garmin turn-by-turn Navigation. Combined with nationwide 3G access and Helio’s acclaimed user interface and suite of communications services, Mysto is an ultimate mix of good looks and intelligence.
Based on the U600 that was released in Europe and Korea this past year where it has been a huge success, selling millions of handsets worldwide, Mysto has been customized and made exclusively for Helio for the U.S. market by Samsung.

“Mysto is a startling combination of beauty and brains,” said Sky Dayton, CEO of Helio.  “We packed our best communications services and some amazing new GPS features into one of the thinnest sliders available. Mysto feels like a finely tuned machine in your hand.”
Beautiful Genius
Mysto combines exquisite design and sophisticated technology to meet Helio members’ needs.  Smooth to the touch, thin and sexy, Mysto boasts a 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, night mode and built-in Photo Studio for high quality photos and video, a large mirror-like 2.2 inch QVGA display, 100MB of available internal memory expandable via microSD™ to 4GB, an HTML browser, stereo Bluetooth and support for an array of audio and video formats including MP3 and AAC audio, and MPEG-4 and H.264 video.  Mysto also has external electrostatic keys that vibrate with “haptic feedback” with the tap of a finger, giving users the look of touch sensitive controls and the tactile sensation they want while using one-click search to jump onto the Web from the device idle screen, navigating through Helio’s ultimate inbox messaging hub made famous on Ocean, or playing a favorite song or video downloaded from Helio Player.
 
Lose Your Lost
With the introduction of WHERE and Tellme, a Microsoft subsidiary, Mysto expands on Helio’s line-up of GPS-enabled services that already include geo-tagged images and videos uploaded to Flickr and YouTube™, Buddy Beacon™, Google Maps™ for mobile and Garmin Mobile™. Tellme, the first one-touch voice search application for mobile in the U.S., lets users simply press one button and say a word to receive local search results, no need to know your location or spend time typing, just say what you want and get it. Tellme returns local listings containing phone numbers, maps, turn-by-turn directions and the ability to SMS the listing to friends.  Now, Helio members don’t have to worry about saving restaurants, theaters or other business listings in their address books and finding a late night snack is a snap. 

WHERE, a service of uLocate Communications, is a mobile GPS widget platform that gives users access to a library of location-enabled applications. WHERE provides information on things like local weather and events based on the user’s current location. WHERE is accessible on Mysto through its location-aware mobile browser and is a free service for Helio members.
Availability and Pricing
Mysto is now available at Helio retail locations, www.helio.com, by calling 888-88-HELIO and at thousands of retail locations nationwide for $149.  Tellme is available on Mysto for $2.99 per month. WHERE is free of charge to All In Members; data charges apply for A La Carte Members.   

You might have heard a little this and that about the Helio Mysto device. It’s a new handset making its way to Helio’s powered by SK Telecom network, and it will launch first in the Korean American Helio market tomorrow. If you’re not Korean, you’re going to have to wait for the general market release early next year which is looking like mid-to-late January. If you want to get sneaky, though, you can head on down to Helio’s NYC or Santa Monica store on December 26th and pick one up! They’re $149 but won’t be out on display — you gotta’ tell the nice people BG sent you and have them snatch one out of the back! If you don’t make it on the 26th, you’re back in the same boat as everyone else, and have to wait another month or two. How do we like it? Well, it’s not a totally unseen device (it is a Samsung U600, after all), but Helio has completely done up the software and UI on this thing and it’s lightning fast! It also has GPS, a 2 megapixel camera, and it’s oh-so-sexy. We even heard they delayed the Mysto just to make sure everything was solid, and we’re pretty sure if you’re a Helio fan, you’re going to love it. Hit the jump for the hands-on madness!

Click on over to our Helio Mysto hands-on gallery!

One of our Helio peeps hit us the other day and briefly said, "We’re sending you the coolest application for the Helio Ocean everz!" No details, nothing! Well, a day later we got a download link for the app, and what did it turn out to be? Their new YouTube application! As you might know from our previous reviews, the Ocean is a fantastic device, but it is plagued by random lagging and freezes. We had no idea how the YouTube app would perform based on our past use of the phone. The fact is, it works incredibly well! It’s lightning fast, has an amazing UI, and the features are by the boat load — geo-tag videos, post video responses, comment on videos, rate videos, upload videos. We’re really impressed! Hit the jump for a plethora of pics!

• Browse: view tens of millions of videos
• Rate: let everyone know which videos you like best
• Comment: add your own two cents by posting text comments for everyone to read
• Share: send favorite videos to friends using address book integration
• Save: save favorite videos to My Favorites and My Playlists
• Subscribe: subscribe to a channel to check out more from that user
• Record and Upload: capture a video on Ocean and instantly upload it to a personal channel

Oh yeah, it’s available now for all Ocean users!

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Helio, everyone’s favorite MVNO, has just added one more notch on their why-you-should-switch-to-us belt. The company has just thrown a $50 price cut across the board. This brings the Ocean down to $199, the Fin to $79, and the Heat to $Free 99. Couple this with their current $99 unlimited calling, text, and data plan, and you’ve got one hell of a deal on your hands. It goes without saying, of course, that these prices are only available with a 2-year service contract, but with ETFs going the way of the Dodo, we wouldn’t be too concerned about signing on the dotted line. Hit the link for more info.

BGR makes no claims you will get out of your contract without an ETF. This is America, after all.

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We’ll admit it — we are AIM fanatics over here. Yeah, we mingle with Yahoo, Google Talk, and MSN a bit, but we live and breathe AOL Instant Messenger. As technology evolves and networks get faster, the old black & white text IM just won’t do anymore, so we thought it would be nice to compare the instant messaging clients on some of the more popular mobile devices available today. We’ve put together a head-to-head comparison of Helio’s Ocean client, the Sidekick, BlackBerry, iPhone, and also Windows Mobile devices. Hit the jump to see what we found out!

Sidekick series: You can’t really talk about instant messaging on a mobile device without including the Sidekick. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you think of them, they set the bar way high! Even all the way back in October of 2002, the original black and white Sidekick had a better AIM client than many phones still do today. Their ingenious approach to synchronizing with a central server made AIM a breeze. Forget limiting the device to 30 buddies (we’ll get into this later), you had your whole buddy list on, and when you wanted it. So, you’re in the middle of a conversation and a large UFO in the sky makes you lose cell service…no problem, because as soon as you regain network connectivity, any messages you haven’t received, and those that didn’t send, will all make their way nicely through the ‘net back to your device. The Sidekick has since matured with more and more features being added. And don’t get us wrong, the AIM (and now Yahoo and Live Messenger) client/s are still the best hands down, but we would have liked to see a little more development for the latest two devices, the Sidekick LX, and Sidekick Slide. You can now see Buddy Icons, set your own Buddy Icon, view away messages, and more, all in a neat usable interface, but file sending would have been a great addition, and we’d have loved to see all the IM clients merged into a single piece of software (or at least the option to integrate them into one client).

Image courtesy of SlashGear

Helio Ocean: The Ocean does IM incredibly well, although there are some server hiccups here and there. For the most part, it’s definitely functional, but you might start pulling your hair out when the IMs will freeze, and your Buddy List doesn’t really update automatically. To give Helio credit, they were the first ones to implement file sending over AIM, and while it is limited to 100k for sending, it’s all seamlessly integrated with their OS. Start a conversation with a buddy, hit a few menus, snap a flick with the camera, and before you know it, a Direct Connection started with your friend on their computer, and they’ve just seen a picture you took of someone eating a hot dog off the streets of Manhattan. Other file types do work, but with a 100k limit, don’t get too excited. If Helio ironed out these bugs with the freezing and updated the client a little bit, we’d be more than happy to use it daily.

BlackBerry: We’re not going to beat on BlackBerry too hard, as their bread and butter has always been the Corporate and Government world, and they’re late to the consumer game, but come on, guys! If you want to really appeal to the audience you are trying to get, you will need to step up the IM side of things…On a positive note, as far as we can remember, BlackBerry devices are still the only ones with a native GTalk client (as limited as it is, it works quite wonderfully), and they also have offered Yahoo! IM, but let carriers get in the way of them rolling it out across the board. We’re looking at you, AT&T. For the longest time, well, since the BlackBerry 7100 launched on T-Mobile, they’ve been using an OZ Instant Messaging client for IM communications. And again, to be fair, we can’t bash them, as this most likely was a carrier request because it uses SMS messages and provides another revenue stream to T-Mobile. But that doesn’t negate the fact that that was one of the worst IM clients to ever appear on a device. Talk about slow and unreliable! Anyone in the BlackBerry community knows RIM has been working on native IM clients for AIM, ICQ, and Live Messenger for a very long time. If we’re not mistaken, these were supposed to even appear on the Cingular 8700g back when it was released. Well, those clients have finally come to light, and surprise surprise; they are indeed not available on AT&T, but T-Mobile. T-Mobile ditched the horrendous OZ client in favor of these native apps, and we love you for it T-Mobile. There’s only one problem; AIM is limited to 30 buddies (Mobile Device buddy group)! Who only has 30 buddies, be real! In addition to that, it is almost like the AIM client was just stuffed on the device without real testing. You can’t use the trackball to select a buddy to talk to and launch a conversation, because it asks you to open the "Full Menu". Ugh. There’s a good chance if I click on a screen name, I want to talk to that person…there are no real features to mess around with, you can not view away messages, you can set an away message but can’t customize it, and there is no file sending obviously. Additionally, unlike Google Talk and Live Messenger, the AIM program does not integrate into your Messages application. At this point, the only real IM solution, in our opinion is JiveTalk. They have been on the forefront of development in regards to Instant Messaging, and not just on the BlackBerry platform either. With their client you can send files back and forth to other BlackBerrys or computers, no matter the file size or type. All popular Instant messaging clients integrate in one list, and they even use a middle server as well, just like the Sidekick, to deliver messages you might not have received due to signal loss. JiveTalk also has integrated Buddy Icons coming soon. Very cool. Right now, if you are a quick IM person just signing on to shoot off the occasion one or two IMs, the native BlackBerry clients should be fine. If you’re a heavy user though, we recommend JiveTalk.

iPhone: There is not much to say about this one…especially with 3rd party applications going out the window with the latest update; we’re stuck with using Safari for web-based communications. There are plenty of IM apps to use in this manner, and while they do work fine most of the time, the lack of audible alerts make this a novelty and not functional for an on-the-road type of person. Apollo IM, and MobileChat burst onto the 3rd party app scene and work well, but they still have a long way to go with stability and auto-reconnects.

Windows Mobile: The only IM clients natively available for Windows Mobile devices would be Live Messenger (really?), and Microsoft’s Live Communications Server Instant Messaging. The old version of MSN was definitely lacking, but the new version introduced us to Live Messenger complete with buddy icons, voice note sending, and more. Reconnects aren’t existent, and the server won’t deliver messages if you lose service, but if anyone can do Live Messenger, it would be Microsoft themselves.

Conclusion: When we get asked, "BGR, master of all things tech, what phone should I get?" We always ask the individual what they need in a mobile device, and the same applies here. If you’re going on AIM alone, we’d say a Sidekick LX or Sidekick Slide, 100%. If you need access to a corporate environment, then a BlackBerry with its mediocre IM clients, or fabulous JiveTalk application would obviously be the way to go. If you laugh at all of us, and call us pathetic idiots who stay constantly connected to AIM, and you only wish to check in once a while, an iPhone with the web-based applications should be sufficient. Finally, if you like a high-speed data connection and a unique device that offers file sending built right in, the Helio Ocean, or Fin for that matter, might fit you. Have we missed anything? Completely disagree with our impressions? Sound off in the comments. You know you wanna’.

Once again, SK Telecom has upped their investment in US MVNO carrier, Helio.

Ready for the Helio Fin review? Hit it, after the jump!

Phone:

The phone quality and clarity on the Helio Fin is outstanding! Extremely clear and loud, plus the signal strength is worlds better than the Helio Ocean. Really usable as a phone.

Text Messaging/Picture Messaging:

Nothing groundbreaking to report. Same style interface as the Ocean, but works rather well. We find sending and receiving text messages faster, actually.

Instant Messaging:

Thankfully the Fin utilizes the Ocean’s great Instant Messaging applications. There is a minor drawback though. On the Ocean AIM is pretty slow, like laggy. That seems to have been cleared up a little bit so far on the Fin, but it is still there. Yahoo, and Live Messenger have really no lag issues on both the Fin and the Ocean. (Maybe it’s due to over 250 AIM contacts?) Scrolling through your AIM buddy list fast will usually cause it to lag and get hung up for a couple seconds. By the way, you do get IM display notifications on the outer display, but it only the default envelope icon, and does not indicate it is an AOL IM, or Yahoo IM, etc. Better than nothing, though.

Keypad:

Good, but not great. You can’t expect too much in a device this slim, and don’t get us wrong, the keypad is definitely usable! Just not as much tactile feedback as we’d like and as used to.

Camera:

Wow…the camera! Very crisp pictures, fast shutter speed, quick upload to Flickr. Add in geo-tagging and instant upload to YouTube and you’ve got a big winner for the Fin.

H.O.T.:

Whoa! Helio has us listed in some of their default RSS feeds for H.O.T. Really cool, thanks, guys! We never got a chance to mess with it before since the Ocean is pretty much the first Helio device we’ve got the pleasure of using but, Helio On Top is impressive. Think Screen3 for Motorola, but a whole better. As soon as it was installed, we figured it would slow down the phone since is basically sets itself as the default home screen. That wasn’t the case at all. In no time we were zipping through the options, selecting what channels we wanted to show, and adding in our own RSS feeds. Noice!

Garmin GPS Navigation:

Really polished and functional. You basically get real-time navigation including turns, with Garmin’s famous GPS style. Entering in a destination location was a little painstaking because you have to scroll through a list of states, and those even included Canada. You can’t start typing and let the list narrow down, but once a state is selected, you just pop in street number, then street name, and up shows a list of possible destinations. Just click one, and you’re off!

Buddy Beacon:

Not too much different here. It does seem a little more responsive, and speedy though with the updates…

Google Maps:

Google Maps seems a little more refined (maybe a newer build?). Same functionality basically, and well, you don’t have to worry about it working in landscape mode because the Fin doesn’t support that, silly.

Games:

The Helio Fin comes preloaded with a couple games. My Pet is sorta’ like Nintendogs, if you will. There’s also demos of Midnight Hold’em Poker, 3D Homerun Derby, and SiL. 

Screen:

Real nice screen, colors display very well, pictures look sharp and clear, and video looks really clean. The brightness is extremely bright.

Speaker:

We just downloaded a couple songs from the Helio Music Store, and we’re bumpin’ some tunes loud and clear! The speaker isn’t the greatest, it sounds a little "tinny", but it’ll do.

Exterior:

The exterior of the Fin is very simple, with sharp looks, and a tough case. It is mostly made out of magnesium alloy — us thinks you could protect yourself from a bunker buster with this thing! There are only two buttons when the flip is closed — up and down volume keys. It would of been nice if the external volume up/down buttons would have let you scroll in menus up and down, but we’re not mad at ‘em because scrolling through most menus is pretty quick all in itself. The outer display is a little disappointing, but whatevs. We can’t have it all!

Conclusion:

We really like the Helio Fin. Honestly. It’s a great device that’s super small, and yet jam packed with features still not available on a lot of bigger and chunkier devices. As long as you can deal with not having a QWERTY keyboard (believe us, it’s tough at the moment!) we’d recommend this to anyone. A real external LCD is high on our list of complaints, and that would have made the device in our opinion a slam dunk. Nevertheless, we can’t find too many bad things to say about it. It’s a logical progression from the Helio Ocean, and everything that the Ocean can do, the Fin does equally or most of the time better and faster. One thing the Fin cannot do is support the Ocean’s Microsoft Exchange application. But let us not kid ourselves, because anyone trying to use the Fin to replace a BlackBerry doesn’t deserve wireless service from any carrier. There, we said it. Now go get your Shark Fin on, LL Cool J style.

How do we rate it, though? We’re giving it 4 BGs!

We promised it was a comin’! Helio’s first clamshell device is called the Helio Fin, and we’re really liking it. While not the biggest fans of Samsung around here, the Helio UI is where the device really delivers! You can see Samsung hints here and there, but for the most part it is all Helio. The hardware itself is actually impressive — very sturdy, great keypad — awesome camera, too! As you saw earlier, the Fin supports most of what the Ocean offers like AIM, Yahoo, Live Messenger, including push email. It’s really small and thin. We just wish there was a real LCD display on the outer flip. Sit back, and check out the pictures in our gallery while put it through the paces and put a formal review together!

Click on over to our Helio Fin Unboxing gallery!

There were definitely mumblings about it across the internets but, it’s finally here. Helio is really trying to introduce the "thinnest clamshell" in the US, and it looks hot! Yeah, they even have H.O.T. on it, too. Basically, jam the Helio Ocean into a tiny flip phone and more or less you’ve got the new Helio Fin. It borrows the great messaging integration the Ocean offered like AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo IM, and the built in push email services from the aforementioned companies, and also lets you also add your own inbox. Garmin Mobile makes its debut on Helio offering turn-by-turn directions in almost real-time. A welcome addition to the standard Google Maps we’re usually stuck with. 3 megapixel camera? Check.  MySpace? Check. Up to 4GB of expandable memory? Check. One small caveat however, is that their full HTML browser still runs through Google’s Mobilizer. You can just click to the view the real version of the page, but a real setting allowing this function to be turned off completely would have been nice. When can you buy it though, you ask? Today my good friends, today. Available for $179 at all Helio stores and national retail locations, we think this might sell like a monster. I’m super excited to get this unit here at the office, and we should have the full review up by tomorrow courtesy of Helio, of course. Full press release after the jump!

HELIO FIN PACKS ADVANCED 3G SERVICES
INTO THINNEST FOLDER AVAILABILE IN THE U.S.

Helio Debuts Garmin Mobile and Customizable RSS Feeds for H.O.T.

LOS ANGELES, CA – August 15, 2007 – Helio’s portfolio of innovative mobile devices just got thinner with the introduction of Fin™ by Samsung, the thinnest folder currently available in the U.S.  True to Helio form, Fin’s ultra thin blue-black magnesium body comes packed with Helio’s full line-up of 3G content and services including MySpace on Helio, GPS-enabled Google Maps™ for mobile, YouTube™, HelioUP for instant upload of photos and video to YouTube™, Flickr and other destinations, plus Helio’s messaging suite which combines Instant Messages, text messages, picture messages and emails in one ultimate inbox.  Fin also debuts Garmin Mobile™ for GPS-enabled voice-guided navigation and the addition of customizable RSS feeds to H.O.T. (Helio On Top), letting members sign up for updates on news and information they want delivered to their device home screen, no clicks required. 
"Our last device was proof of what Helio is capable of, but we’re not resting on our laurels," said Sky Dayton, CEO of Helio.  "Less than 90 days later, we’re launching one of the thinnest folders on the market.  Fin is smart, fast and powerful, but thin enough to slip into your pocket without a crease."

The Fin
Supercharged and ultra thin, the slim and fully loaded Fin is a powerhouse in blue-black magnesium and just over 11mm deep, the thinnest folder currently available in the U.S.  Produced by Samsung, Fin runs on a high-speed nationwide 3G network, has a 3 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, night mode and built-in Photo Studio for high quality photos and video, a 2.3 inch QVGA display, 100MB available internal memory expandable via microSD™ to 4GB, an HTML browser, GPS capabilities for integration with Helio’s GPS services like Buddy Beacon and Google Maps for mobile, stereo Bluetooth and support for an array of audio and video formats including MP3 and AAC audio, and MPEG-4 and H.264 video.  Fin also has communication covered with a version of Helio’s ultimate messaging suite, combining Instant Messages, text messages, picture messages and emails in one messaging paradise.  Fin has out-of-the-box access to Yahoo! Messenger, AOL’s AIM® Service and Windows Live Messenger, email from Yahoo!® Mail, AOL® Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail™, Helio Mail, EarthLink® email, the ability to add additional IMAP or POP3 email accounts, and push mail support for Yahoo!, AOL, Windows Live and Helio Mail.      

Point + Shoot + Share
With HelioUP, high quality photos and video shot with Fin’s 3 megapixel camera can instantly be uploaded to popular sites like YouTube™ and Flickr™ directly from the device, so members can capture and share their experiences as they happen.  HelioUP is GPS-enabled so users can geo-tag photos and video with location information and other metadata.  Another industry first, Helio is the only U.S. mobile operator to let members automatically post geo-tagged photos from their device directly to Flickr’s World Map (flickr.com/map), one of the world’s largest collections of location tagged photos.  Now members can photo blog a road trip, vacation or party, letting friends and family tune in on Flickr to not only see what happened, but where.
Customizable RSS Feeds for H.O.T. (Helio On Top)
Helio has added customization to the innovative H.O.T. (Helio On Top) service giving members with compatible devices click-free access to their favorite RSS feeds delivered directly to their device home screen.  Through the new H.O.T. area of the Helio website, members can set as a H.O.T. channel one of the countless available RSS feeds on the Web.  Members can also share their favorite RSS feeds with the Helio community or select from other member recommendations.  Members can also still select from an assortment of optimized H.O.T. channels from Helio partners including Yahoo!, MTV, Accuweather, Surfline, The Onion and more.  Whether it’s their own blog, favorite news or weather site, the latest celebrity gossip or sports scores, members can have RSS feeds delivered right to their mobile device, no clicks necessary.   

Garmin Mobile
Helio members can now get voice-guided navigation with Garmin Mobile™. Utilizing the device’s GPS capabilities, Garmin Mobile provides a moving map with turn-by-turn directions that follow the member in near real-time, making it easier than ever to get to a specific street addresses or any of nearly six million pre-programmed points of interest, including gas stations listed by price at the pump, ATMs, and more.  Garmin Mobile can even check weather for driving conditions and find alternate routes in the event of heavy traffic. Garmin Mobile is available now on select Helio devices for $2.99 per day.

Fin Availability and Pricing
Fin is now available at Helio retail locations, www.helio.com, by calling 888-88-HELIO and at thousands of retail locations nationwide for $175 through a limited time offer for Helio Samsung devices.  New members purchasing a Fin or other Samsung device on Helio receive $50 instant savings at Helio locations, or if purchased at third party retail locations, new members can mail in for a $50 Helio Visa® prepaid debit card.  

As of now (12:00 AM PDT), you can all get your Microsoft Exchange fix on your Helio Oceans! In addition to the countless email and communication options present on the Helio Ocean already, Exchange will finally grace the device. Look forward to full contact, calendar and email sync with the new software. What should happen is, in your messages list, a "Microsoft Exchange" email box will appear and you would just click on that, and download the software enhancement. That’s it! Currently available as a 60 day beta trial, the full version will go for $9.99/month after this time period. Additionally, get set for Helio File Viewer which works hand in hand with your new Microsoft Exchange mailbox. It will allow the viewing of popular document types like .doc, .ppt, .xls, and .pdf attachments. Finally happy, Just Blaze? More info after the jump.