Poll: The evolution of Helio - are we there yet?

When Helio, the EarthLink / SK Telecom was announced in early 2005 and launched in 2006, it held promise for the Engadget set to finally bridge the gap between America's laggard cellphone market and Korea's booming superphone business. It's taken Helio a little while to ramped up and iron the kinks out of the system so they could drop a bomb like the dual-sliding over-the-top featurephone that is the Ocean, but now that its launch is upon us, how do you think Helio's doing?

Vote

[Jeremy K. @ May 9th 2007 3:35PM]

Where's the selection for "I don't care"?

[Ryan Block @ May 9th 2007 3:59PM]

That selection is "don't vote". I never understand why people who don't care feel like they still have to vote.

[Darnell @ May 9th 2007 3:36PM]

How about " The Ocean looks great and all, but until they bring out more beefy/sophisticated smartphones, I'm going to keep my distance."

[bora tomas @ May 9th 2007 9:21PM]

who can say that the mobile phones will be such a little things. http://www.boratomas.com

[Erwos @ May 9th 2007 3:39PM]

They need real smartphones, preferably running Windows Mobile and Symbian. The Ocean looks phenomenal, but, at heart, it seems to be more of an "entertainment phone" than a "smartphone". Nothing wrong with that, but it's a giant gaping hole for a vendor that's claiming they're going to bring kick-ass South Korean phones to the US market. That's not to mention the lack of phones without cameras - I couldn't move to this service even if I wanted to, and neither could anyone who works in a classified environment.

They also don't have a family plan. I'm not paying $65 a phone for these guys, great as they may be.

[nyuhsuk @ May 10th 2007 6:01AM]

Most classified areas don't allow any cellular services within... so that means no photos of the 'hot intern' at the crapeteria...

[CHASE @ May 9th 2007 3:53PM]

helio rocks!

[Nik @ May 9th 2007 6:45PM]

Maybe in a year or two when they finally come to Canada. By then my contract on my w810i should be done :D

[Fatima @ May 9th 2007 5:42PM]

Helio= Meh+overpriced service
Blackberry=useful
iPhone=shiney

[Eran @ May 10th 2007 3:02PM]

Bought a drift several months ago from aretailer, then called helio to activate my account. They could not. So I thought, if these guys can not activate a phone (even cingular can manage that), how on earth they can provide me a reliable service. So i returned the phone the daty after, got my refund from retailer. A month later, I received a bill from helio, they were charging me for nothing. I called them, told me to ignore because there must have been a mistake. Then I received another bill, smaller this time, they apoligized and "corrected" the problem. Next month, I received bill of $0.02, did not call them again, I received another bill this month, haven't opened it yet. These guys are sending out $0.02 bills for a service they never provided. Neither their software is intelligent enough to neglect bills less than billing cost itself, nor these guys themselves.

Stay away from candy coated stuff., just my 2 cents

[pagercam @ May 9th 2007 4:30PM]

Maybe they missed the memo,

but aren't phone supposed to be getting smaller???

[Nick @ Jun 17th 2007 3:51PM]

its dual sliding buddy...

[pagercam @ Jun 18th 2007 2:35AM]

Then maybe that is a bad idea

[Iscariote @ May 9th 2007 4:30PM]

I tried Helio. I had the Heat but it didn't work at all with my Mac. They offered me an Ocean when I called to cancel, but I really like the convenience of not being on a contract with T-Mobile, and buying euro phones.

Helio's features were cool though, not too expensive, and they were very friendly to me. I think the Ocean looks cool.

[ryanblain @ May 9th 2007 5:07PM]

Ok, all the photos and specs are great and MUCH appreciated. BUT, none of us voting have actually used this phone or even held it in our hands. There hasn't even been many comprehensive reviews of the final release yet.

I'm excited about this phone, and for me, it's down to either this or the iPhone, (I'm a web designer/developer in a pretty laid back office so no worry about the security/corporate stuff) but this survey seems a little premature.

[bobartig @ May 9th 2007 4:34PM]

HELIO ad copy: "Don't call it a phone!"

ME: "Oh, its not a phone? I don't need a wireless PDA. My smartphone does all that and makes calls."

@ Random Thoughts: America lags behind in mobile technology also because we have this land mass the size of America to install infrastructure on. It takes like 18 months for Verizon to upgrade its network, and by the time its done, they're 8 months behind [insert small country, like South Korea].

S. Korea, being about the size of New Jersey, has the added benefits of some of the highest population densities in the world, leading mobile phone manufacturers, strong economy, and a fair amount of technolust.

[Andir3.0 @ May 9th 2007 4:40PM]

"are we there yet?"

As my parents always told me:

"Just twenty more minutes!"

[Mickey @ May 9th 2007 4:42PM]

God I hate the helio so much. If it weren't for those stupid commercials where they claim it's the end-all be-all of phones because it has MYSPACE. IMPRESSSIVE AMAZING! JAWESOME! No, it's another stupid trendy phone that's still bigger and less advanced than anything they have in Korea or Japan. If someone who owned one of those phones seriously told me to not call it a phone, I'd probably hit him in the mouth.

[Ian Jardine @ May 9th 2007 4:47PM]

bobartig,
Although the USA has a huge land mass the technical upgrade for Verizon and Sprint from CDMA to 3G CDMA2000 is actually fairly easy and inexpensive compared to most of the rest of the world. They are struggling through rounds of interim technology (mostly inferior like EDGE etc etc) to go from GSM to WCDMA (3G). I agree that SK is very advanced, it's as you say a more manageable exercise for them. But SK certainly is a driver of CDMA handsets etc. Both Verizon and Sprint tend to lag 6-12 months behind in their offerings.

[Chris @ May 9th 2007 4:52PM]

They need to do a better job on retail distribution channels. In the District of Communications, you have to work hard to find folks who know about Helio or where to get one of their products...

Chris
www.mobilediner.com

[Admiral @ May 9th 2007 5:09PM]

THe Helio Ocean is a pretty cool device, but I don't feel like spending money on a device that I can't take to another carrier. When CDMA gets SIM support - gimme a call ;-)

[Gil @ May 9th 2007 5:09PM]

They do have family plans..
find it at helio.com

[Kendeezy @ May 9th 2007 11:21PM]

"They do have family plans..
find it at helio.com"

Actually, they don't.

From their FAQ:

Can I get a family plan?
Helio doesn't currently offer a Family Plan, but we're always exploring new options. You should check back in with us in a couple of months.

[Ryan Blain @ May 9th 2007 5:18PM]

Oh, one more thing. Any word on how well this will work with a Mac? At least as far as transferring media goes. I don't mind if I have to enter all my contacts but if I cant get my music/videos on there then it's a no.

[Juaquin @ May 9th 2007 6:20PM]

I know they have a lot of stuff packed in, but I need something slimmer/liter. Right now the perfect solution for me is the RAZR, as it's easy to take everywhere and I don't need anything other than voice and text. Having wifi, GPS, and EVDO/HSPDA would be nice, but they're not worth the expense of being huge, for me personally.

[Apreche @ May 9th 2007 6:51PM]

Is it completely unlocked? Can I put whatever software on it that I want? Can I get unlimited EV-DO data for a reasonable price? Can I pair it with my Linux laptop over Bluetooth?

These are the only uses I have for a phone other than calling. Until the answers to all these questions are yes, I will not pay for a phone other than just to make calls. I don't text. I don't MySpace. I have a DS for games. I have an iPod for music. All features other than calling and Internet connectivity are meaningless to me.

Also, no carrier other than Verizon seems to actually have decent coverage where I live. Maybe I'm just picky in what I call decent coverage. Regardless, I demand full bars in and around every major city and along every major and semi-major road. I don't think an MVNO can offer that sort of coverage.

[Dan @ May 10th 2007 12:13AM]

How is this service overpriced? For 500 minutes and unlimited data, I pat $65. For Sprint, it's a base cost of $35 for 300 "fair and flexible minutes", $5 for 300 texts, and erroneous web-charges for when my phone decides to log-on in my pocket. I easily pay 50-60 bucks a month without EVDO (costs $30 a month on Sprint). I'm tempted to switch if the Ocean is any good. My Treo650 has seen too many drops, and Palm doesn't seem to get their next phones right. I'll wait for the iPhone and the promised Linux Treo, but that's it.

[MrKleen @ May 10th 2007 8:51AM]

I'd love to offer an opinion on the Ocean but I've never seen/used the device. "Coming This Spring!" so that means a June 20 launch date? maybe? at least get these into the hands of reviewers... >.<

[Erwos @ May 10th 2007 9:04AM]

"I easily pay 50-60 bucks a month without EVDO (costs $30 a month on Sprint)"

Unlimited data costs $15 per month, not $30. I know, because my wife and I both have it (second phone is actually $12.50, IIRC).