Virgin Mobile has released the Arc, another in a long, long line of prepaid models designed to keep the upfront payment to a minimum at the cost of a killer feature list. Still, though, the UTStarcom-sourced flip makes out with Bluetooth, dual color displays, and a VGA camera for its $49.99 asking price, and the red / black color combo doesn't look half bad. We'll have a closer look at the Arc in the next few days, but if you simply must have one now, they're on sale immediately.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Money-losing companies with interesting technology and a small, if rabid, customer base still frequently tend to sell for healthy chunks of change -- especially in the wireless space. Look at Trolltech, for example, the mobile Linux company that never really made any money, yet somehow managed to be acquired by Nokia for its talent and IP, which apparently carried a value of over $150m. We know Helio was burning cash on a whole 'nother level, but that doesn't entirely explain why SK Telecom was so absurdly desperate to dump their $500m investment. At a $39m acquisition price, SK didn't just lose its shirt -- it lost that, the shoes, and then the pants. You know, the pants with a half-billion dollars in them.

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Do you hear that, Helio? That [cue Sir Richard Branson's soothing voice] is the sound of inevitability. Rumors have been swirling for a few weeks now that SK Telecom -- Helio's majority owner -- is getting ready to cut, run, and offload its share to Virgin Mobile, rolling the scrappy MVNO into the one and only virtual network in the US that's been met with substantial, quantifiable success (more recent stock woes notwithstanding). Now, the Financial Times is reporting that a deal is cued up and ready for a public introduction as early as this week. The sooner, the better, because tons of questions remain about the fate of subscribers and the introduction of the pretty hotly anticipated Ocean 2, a device that at one time could've been Helio's savior; too late for that now, we guess.

Virgin Mobile has always positioned itself as a super-crazy-value carrier in the US, and that trend certainly continues with its latest plan option, "Totally Unlimited". The idea's about as simple as the name implies -- the MVNO hooks you up with unlimited calling at any time of day or night for a shade under $80 a month, which already positions it favorably against all the nationals and major regionals -- but the coup de grace has to be the contract-free nature of the whole thing. When you sign up, Virgin doesn't want your soul for two years, and it doesn't even want your credit card if you'd prefer to pay your dues with a crumpled-up wad of cash every month (where you got that money is none of our business, after all). Unlimited text and pixture messaging can be added for another $10 monthly, which ends up pitting Virgin squarely against the $89.99 plan offered by one of its corporate parents, Sprint (which doesn't actually own much of Virgin Mobile anymore, so we guess there's probably not too much love lost there). Look for Totally Unlimited to hit the streets on July 1.

Virgin Mobile's warnings of a bleak quarter were pretty dead-on, with a mere 17,772 net adds coming on board during the three-month time frame ending March 31 -- not quite the blockbuster 309,721 reported in the same period a year ago. Similarly, revenue and income both took a dive, supposedly in part due to a big marketing push focused on the MVNO's new pricing plans. If there's a silver lining on the dark, rumbling cloud, though, it's that the CEO believes they'll start to see some positive growth again in the third quarter after a weak second (for his sake, we hope he's right). Also notable was a mention that although the company had no strategic partnerships, alliances, or investments to announce, it was definitely open to "non-organic growth" in the form of another MVNO or "capability." Wonder what he may have been talking about there?

[Via mocoNews]

In case you hadn't noticed, Virgin Mobile rocks an ever-so-slightly higher end lineup north of the border than it does in the US, and to that end, it's just released the RAZR 2 V9m. We all know the drill here by now: 2 inch external QVGA display with music controls, 2.2 inch internal QVGA display, stereo Bluetooth, EV-DO, microSD expansion, and a 2 megapixel camera, all of which are ready to sit just above the KRZR in Virgin's stable. Grab it now for $149 CAD (about $147) on a three-year deal.

[Via Mobile In Canada]

MVNO Virgin Mobile is taking a rather unusual approach to advertising its new plan features and pricing structures unveiled today, pointing out that they provide "smarter choices in a tough economy." For monthly plans, those "smarter choices" include unlimited nights and weekends starting at 7pm (well, we suppose weekends start at 12am, but you get what we mean) and unlimited messaging for a reasonable $10 monthly. Prepaid plans, meanwhile, are now offering the capability to "roll forward" up to 5,000 unused minutes when the account is re-upped within 30 days. Minute packs are now available in $20, $30, and $50 increments equaling 200, 400, and 1,000 minutes, respectively, knocking the per-minute price down to 5 cents at the highest level. The new goodies are all available immediately.

[Via Phone Scoop and MobileTechNews]

Virgin Mobile's slowly (and we do mean slowly) moving into the 21st century with its ultra-cheap prepaid offerings; in the past they've frequently foregone features most of us consider standard like Bluetooth and external displays in an effort to keep the sticker shock to a minimum, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Virgin's getting close to being able to offer a circa-2008 feature set in 2008. Here we have the Flare courtesy of LG, a glossy lil' flip that serves up a color screen out front, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and mobile web access for a penny shy of $30 -- contract-free. The FCC filing (it's the LX175) reveals a lack of EV-DO, but seriously, what do you expect for the price?

[Thanks, Eric C.]

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?

Emphasizing that Virgin Mobile India's launch is a "brand franchise," not an MVNO, Virgin chief Sir Richard Branson has unveiled the partnership with Tata Teleservices to bring the company's marque to a range of CDMA handsets in one of the world's largest and fastest-growing mobile markets. The franchising scheme is an interesting one because it allows both Tata and Virgin to hook up with other partners, and indeed, Branson has already said that he'll be shopping the service to GSM carriers later this year. As part of the launch, Virgin Mobile is touting ten "industry firsts" -- and while most of them are marketing mumbo jumbo, it's notable that every single phone offered by the carrier MVNO brand features a color display and FM radio. The service is available now.

[Via mocoNews]

Who wants to talk to customer service if they don't have to? Lucky Virgin Mobile customers (and soon-to-be customers) just got a free pass to spend a little less time on the horn with company reps thanks to the MVNO's deployment of Telespree's over-the-air provisioning wizardry. Apparently, the entire process now requires zero human intervention from beginning to end for both new customers and upgrades alike. Kinda ironic that we're buying a phone to talk to others and we no longer have to talk to others, isn't it?

Virgin Mobile's October IPO raked in a solid $412.5 million -- a little bit off its highest estimate, yeah, but still boatloads (and when we say "boatloads," we mean "hundreds of millions of dollars") higher than what it had thought it could get when it first announced its intentions to go public. A new class action suit alleges that the $412.5M figure was inflated, though, by Virgin's fudging of third quarter revenue figures which conveniently have since been revised down to indicate a $7.3M loss. Unfortunate coincidence? Maybe, but Virgin's stock fell a solid 14.4 percent on news of the redone numbers, so we can understand that a few shareholders might be grumbling about the sitch. Meanwhile, the MVNO's form letter reaction to the news is in full effect, claiming that the lawsuit is "completely without merit," so we're guessing this one's gonna be tied up in the legal system for a hot minute or two.

It seems the $467.5 million Virgin thought it could muster in its IPO filing was a little optimistic -- though it still fared far better than it thought it would a few months back. Shares of Virgin Mobile started trading today on the New York Stock Exchange at $15 a share; multiply that by 27.5 million and you arrive at a healthy $412.5 million in proceeds. Most of the money is earmarked to repay debts and to buy back 16.7 percent of Sprint's ownership, making the relatively successful prepaid MVNO a more independent entity. No word yet on whether it can spare a few dimes to research bringing higher-tech handsets to its lineup, unfortunately (bear in mind this is the carrier that just discovered Bluetooth a few months back).

[Via mocoNews]

It may not be quite the $506 million it was looking for a few months ago, but $467.5 million still seems like a princely take for a young MVNO that had expected a mere $100 million when it initially announced plans to file for an IPO early this year. The initial public offering for 27.5 million shares of "VM" has finally been filed, with Virgin Mobile looking to pocket $15 to $17 per share. Revenues from the sale will go toward paying back debt and "general purposes," which we're guessing -- nay, hoping -- equates to reinvestment in the company's offerings (bear in mind that this is the same Virgin Mobile that started offering its first Bluetooth enabled handset just a few weeks back). The move will reduce ownership by both of the company's corporate parents; Sprint's stake falls from 47 percent to 17.2 percent, while Virgin Group drops from 47 percent to 35.7 percent. It's been stated that Virgin Group won't see any cash from the IPO, so we're guessing Sprint will considering its far lower post-IPO share. Cha-ching!

[Via Phone Scoop]