Looks like Virgin Mobile USA and Helio parent SK Telecom didn't bother to get their stories straight before turning to the press over recent rumors that they've been talking marriage. Right on the heels of an SKT statement that talks of a Virgin Mobile takeover were "groundless," Virgin Mobile has come out with a super-brief statement saying something quite to the contrary -- that the two are, in fact, in "preliminary discussions" over "possible strategic opportunities." That's about as vague and unhelpful as it gets -- a level of vagueness that's really only saved for situations where something big is about to go down, actually. The MVNO goes on to say that it's gonna stay mum on the subject at this point unless "a definitive agreement is reached," but at least we know they're chatting.

[Via mocoNews]

Times haven't been so great at Helio, but it looks like the troubled MVNO could be snapped up by Virgin Mobile. mocoNews did a little digging after Virgin's recent Q1 conference call, and says that the two companies are currently in merger talks. Since both companies use Sprint's network, the tech would be compatible, and the deal would give SK Telecom a way to keep Helio going as it tries to gain a foothold in the US market. Nothing's set in stone yet and the two companies aren't talking, but we'll definitely keep an eye on this one.

Owners of Helio devices equipped with the MVNO's "Ultimate Inbox" feature -- Ocean, Fin, Mysto owners, we're looking straight at you -- will find that they now have a fun little gem waiting for them. Gmail's now being touted as supporting push notifications right alongside Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL, and My Helio, but the real trick here is that Ultimate Inbox now supports push for any POP or IMAP account of your choosing. In other words, that "my bad, I haven't checked my email recently" excuse suddenly holds, like, zero weight if you own one of these devices. Sorry!

This could -- at least temporarily -- put an end the nightmarish scenario involving you, lack of sleep, and some freakish chatty Cathy plopped next to you by the airline. Lead co-sponsor Rep. Peter DeFazio, hopes the "Hang Up" -- madly clever name here -- bill will stop Airlines from finding yet another avenue to gouge you and maintaining peace and harmony by banning any in-flight calling. Of course, the door will remain wide open for SMS, mail, IM, and other types of electronic conversation, but we're hoping Skype and friends are on the muzzle list, too.

In light of the fact that the original Ocean's model number was OZ, it seems pretty obvious that an "OZ2" passing through the FCC by way of Pantech would be -- you guessed it -- the Ocean 2. It helps that the label diagram's depiction of the phone is clearly Ocean-esque in nature, too. So let's use this opportunity as a springboard for discussion: what does everyone hope to get out of the dual-sliding Helio Ocean's successor?

Back in the days of yore, the world was a simpler place. The Helio Ocean had just one browser -- its own -- and if you wanted Opera Mini instead, you got it the old-fashioned way: with hard, manual labor. Times are changing, though, and both Helio and the Ocean are changing with 'em. Opera Mini is now available as a direct download from Helio itself, a nod to the community's desire to have access to what is commonly considered the premier mobile web browser, and maybe -- just maybe -- an admission that Opera Mini is better than the Ocean's integrated app. Whatever the implications, it looks like hitting 67372 from your Ocean's home screen will get the show on the road.

A four-pack of carriers is getting sued over the infringement of three 2007 patents that appear to center around the concept of picture caller ID -- but here's the best part, it's actually a different dude from a different company than the one that sued Apple. US Cellular, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Helio are all named in the suit, suggesting that either the remainder of major US carriers have already licensed the technology, or this so-called Intellect Wireless just has a very bizarre way of choosing its defendants. So here's our question: what picture caller ID technology was patented by some random company in 2007 that these guys could possibly be violating?

We'll be honest with you -- it's a bit disheartening to watch the (seemingly) inevitable happen to Helio. After all, it's managed to soldier on despite hordes of other MVNOs hanging it up here in the US of A. Nevertheless, data gleaned from EarthLink's most recent annual report shed some light on its deteriorating situation. Reportedly, Helio's net loss "widened by 41.3-percent to $326.6 million in 2007 compared to $191.8 million in 2006," yet revenues managed to grow 267-percent to $171 million from $46.6 million the year prior and subscriber growth rose 28-percent over last quarter to 180,000. Add those figures to the $42 or so million it lost in 2005, and we're up to a grand total just south of 560 million American dollars. Tough times, indeed.

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

Back before there was Helio, there was Earthlink, South Korea's SKT, and a dream. Heliocity managed to score some shots of just what that dream looked like in the early days, a similar -- yet decidedly different -- vision than what the MVNO ended up bringing to market. Not only are the prerelease versions of Helio's first two models to market (the Kickflip and Hero) "SK Earthlink" branded, but check out that super trippy Kickflip proto, complete with aerial antenna and secondary LCD for self-portraits. The Ocean obviously came along further down the road, and while we like the all-black finish Helio decided on, we think the two-tone action here would've made for an interesting second choice. Read on for all the visuals.

It's hardly been a secret that Helio was causing some problems for Earthlink, but the company's CEO has just now weighed in himself on the matter, offering some comments on the situation and Helio's now former CEO Sky Dayton in one of those always exciting earnings calls. As mocoNews reports, Earthlink's Rolla Huff says the company "made hard decisions around getting our cost structure down," including the "very difficult decision...to not continue making incremental investments in Helio." Huff apparently laid none on the blame on Helio's Sky Dayton, however, saying simply that "Sky has a history of creating and building strong brands and he's done a great job at that with Helio," and that they "very much appreciate his willingness to be involved in getting Helio to this point in its life cycle." Of course, that was hardly the entire purpose of the call, and those concerned with the nitty gritty of earnings details can get their fix by hitting up the read link below.

Is it just us, or is this a pretty good deal? Helio has started offering its unlimited plan for $99, down from the $145 it was charging before. In Helio parlance, "unlimited" really does mean unlimited, too: voice minutes, texts, and on-device data usage are all fair game. Of course, tethering isn't offered, which is probably the only thing preventing a deluge of people signing their names on the dotted line to get in on the action, but it still seems to be a solid offering any way you slice it. The MVNO had offered the $99 unlimited plan previously before jacking up the price (and indeed, the triple asterisk beside the price leads to some fine print that says "limited time offer"), so if this piques your interest, you might want to get in sooner rather than later.

[Thanks, Chris R.]

Sky Dayton, founder and chairman of the phantasmagorical Helio, has announced that he's stepping down as CEO to become chairman of the board of the last-man-standing MVNO. Helio's new CEO will be Wonhee Sull, formerly the company's president and COO, and obviously a direct conduit to co-owner SK Telecom. "Helio has reached a point in its development where I feel the timing is right for this change... As we have for the past three years, the two of us will continue to define Helio's direction and future," said Dayton. Whether Sky's really ready to move on or not we'll never know, but it's certainly possible that the recent influx of cash (and increased ownership) from from its Korean parents and dwindling marketshare of US MVNOs led SK to step in and get things on track.

Update: Lots of fun inaccuracies going on up in here, our bad. We ironed out the kinks, see above for the latest, correct edits to Helio's executive musical chairs.

Following a limited release last month, Helio is now taking its slim, sexy Mysto slider from Samsung to the general public. Like every other phone currently in Helio's lineup, the Mysto has integrated GPS and a healthy dose of EV-DO data for the media-rich apps the MVNO and its members tend to be so fond of. Grab it today for $149 on contract or $320 without.

We'll take a closer look at Helio's latest hotness in the next few days, but we wanted to give you a few shots to drool over if you haven't been able to score one of the first few units trickling out of the MVNO's flagship stores this week. Needless to say, we're pretty sure the Samsung-sourced Mysto is our new favorite Helio handset; we kinda knew it would be, seeing how lovely the similarly styled Ultra Edition 10.9 is. Click on, people!

Helio has gotten official with the slim, sexy Mysto slider -- a branded, CDMA rendition of the Ultra Edition 10.9 that should ultimately become the MVNO's top of the line handset just this side of the Ocean with a 2 megapixel camera, microSD expansion, and the now-typical GPS and EV-DO data. There's a catch, though; it turns out that Helio will start out by soft launching the phone through its "Helio powered by SK Telecom" division that caters directly to the Korean American market. A full-scale launch is planned for January, but we've been told that folks should be able to approach staffers at Helio's New York and Santa Monica stores with a nudge nudge, wink wink starting December 26 and get hooked up for $149 (even though no Mystos will be on display). Good luck, shoppers!