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Virgin Mobile looks ready to euthanize Helio brand, Ocean 2 vanishes

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 28th 2009 @ 5:02AM

Back in our day, the kiddies all ran around with Helios, VK Mobile looked like it could be the next Pantech, and "Kickflip" was a phone, not a skateboarding move. Okay, fine -- we knew like one or two people that used Helio, VK Mobile never even made a dent in the US market, and skateboarding had a lock on kickflips long before the wireless industry did -- and actually, that perfect storm of bad news may have ultimately led the once-promising MVNO to the sad situation we have here today under Virgin Mobile's stewardship. Virgin has now all but erased the memory of Helio from its website, leaving just the Ocean and Mysto to soldier on -- and the phones now go by their ODM's names (Pantech and Samsung, respectively) rather than Helio proper. The strangest part is that the Ocean seems to have outlasted its replacement, the Ocean 2, which is now gone -- unless you hit up Virgin Mobile's Korean language site, a sub-brand in itself that it inherited from Helio and has a track record of giving members of the community better, faster access to hot devices. Any way you slice it, though, it never made sense for Virgin to run two brands -- Helio's fate was sealed the moment the sale was finalized, but considering the company's spot-on mantra of "bring awesome Asian phone tech to North America," we'll always have a soft spot in our hearts for these guys.

[Via MobileCrunch]

MetroPCS and Virgin Mobile scrap over MetroFlash program

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 30th 2009 @ 7:19PM

Last year, MetroPCS kicked off the respectably ballsy practice of inviting competitors' subscribers to bring their CDMA phones over to get flashed for use on its network, prompting Virgin -- a carrier that plays in the same value space as MetroPCS -- to take issue. Long story short, Virgin ended up filing a lawsuit against MetroPCS citing a couple claims: one, that MetroPCS is willfully interfering with Virgin's customer contracts, and two, that the flashing ultimately results in a trademark violation since Virgin's logo is still on the phone. Funny how law works, isn't it? Anyhow, a court's thrown out the contract claim but is allowing the trademark issue to proceed, making this an interesting one to watch. In the meantime, anyone looking at bailing to MetroPCS and planning on taking some hardware along for the ride might want to look into that sooner rather than later -- you never know what sorts of injunctions might come out of this.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Sprint's Dan Hesse talks Android, Pre, iPhone, 4G on Charlie Rose

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 11th 2009 @ 8:44PM

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse recently sat down for an interview with the master of one-on-ones and black backdrops, Charlie Rose, and while much of the talk was spent traveling down memory lane and revisiting Hesse's two-decade rise through the ranks at AT&T before fleeing in 2000, there were some great quotes that came out of it:

"We're getting ready to launch a couple of new Android devices." We know one's the Hero, and the other -- if we were the betting types -- is the Samsung InstinctQ.
Rose: "The merger with Nextel was a bad idea?" Hesse: "In 20 / 20 hindsight, it was, yes... the premium that Sprint paid for Nextel was too much." Sprint's gone back and forth on the idea of spinning off Nextel over the past couple years, so it's not a surprising thing for him to think -- but to hear Sprint's CEO actually say out loud that he thinks a very active part of its network shouldn't have become part of the company is a little bombastic.
"Our prepaid brand is Boost." Nothing wild and crazy about that statement, though it does reaffirm that Virgin Mobile is destined for assimilation. The whole thing's kinda funny considering that Boost dabbled in CDMA before reversing course, and once again, Sprint will be dealing with large installed bases of both iDEN and CDMA prepaid customers.
On touchscreen smartphones: "Those are the most expensive phones for us to sell, and those are the ones where we need to make sure that the customer stays with us [and] doesn't churn, because we're out a lot of money... those are expensive devices." Theoretically, an aggressively-priced subsidized smartphone could still end up leaving a carrier in the red if you broke your contract early on and paid the ETF, but we doubt that's a huge problem -- especially for a CDMA carrier like Sprint. He goes on to say "I'm already looking at 4G versions of smartphones," so that's really encouraging to hear, particularly if you're into WiMAX.
"Customer will pay premium for simplicity. Simplicity is everything... Digital One Rate which we launched back at AT&T, that was all about simplicity... people paid more. It wasn't a price cut." Translation: "Unlimited makes you feel like you're getting a deal, but rest assured, we're banking."
In response to Rose asking how Sprint uses the Palm Pre to take on Apple and RIM: "It was really kind of Palm's decision to take on Apple. And Palm has had [a] long standing relationship with Sprint." It's interesting to hear Hesse seemingly back away from a fight with Apple and chalk up the situation to happenstance -- RIM not as much, considering that Sprint carries a number of BlackBerrys in its lineup and will certainly continue to do so. Talking more about pitting the Pre against the iPhone, he goes on to say that Palm's handset is "doing well. But you've got to almost put the iPhone, to be fair, in a separate category. The Apple brand and that device has done so well. It's like comparing someone to Michael Jordan." If that's not a tactful acknowledgment that the iPhone is a bona fide wireless superstar, we don't know what is. Hesse's giving the iPhone the respect it's rightfully earned -- as any strategically-minded executive would.
"The biggest impediment to mobile growth is you got processors are getting a lot faster, screens are getting sharper, they use more and more power, and battery technology is not moving very fast... That's the one breakthrough that the industry needs. It needs battery breakthroughs." It's good to hear that Hesse understands as well as everyone else that the wireless industry needs to be focused on making power draw a non-issue, but he sounds less convinced of the solution: "I don't know. Solar we hope, and renewable energy sources." When Sprint gets some cash socked away, it might consider throwing some R&D money at the problem -- it'll be first to market with something resembling a "national" 4G network, after all, and the situation's only going to get worse.

Who knew you'd find out so much about the inner workings of the States' third-largest carrier from watching PBS?

[Via Gizmodo]

Contest rules reveal LG Rumor 2 coming to Virgin Mobile USA

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 27th 2009 @ 9:16AM

We guess we can probably start to expect a lot of "synergies" between Sprint's lineup and Virgin's now that the two companies are in the process of uniting in holy matrimony, so here's a little sneak preview of what's to come. The Rumor 2 from LG -- which Sprint has had in the lineup for a few months now -- is coming to Virgin Mobile next, a tidbit revealed only by reading the fine print in its "Twitter Rumors" giveaway. Actually, you really didn't have to read that hard at all; you could've seen the "Twitter Rumor2 Giveaway Description" text at the top or made a simple deduction from the use of the word "rumor" in the contest's name, but anyhow, yeah, it's on the way. No word on price or date, but this particular contest ends on the 29th, so it's conceivable we could see an announcement before the month's out.

[Thanks, Stephen]

Samsung Link launches on Virgin Mobile Canada

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 29th 2009 @ 2:14PM

Here we were, just minding our own business and thinking that the Samsung Link was going to be christened by Bell, then bam -- out of nowhere, Virgin goes and steals some thunder. If you're looking for EV-DO, go ahead and keep right on lookin' because you're not going to find it here -- but otherwise, the Link offers portrait QWERTY on the cheap alongside a 1.3 megapixel cam, microSD slot, and stereo Bluetooth. If you like what you see, you can go ahead and grab it now for CAD $99.99 (about $92) on prepaid or CAD $29.99 (about $28) on a three-year deal. Sorry, Bell guys -- it's coming soon. We think.

[Thanks, Daniel]

Update: As commenter live_strong points out, Bell's bought out the remainder of Virgin Mobile Canada that it didn't already own -- so this is all making a whole lot of sense, though as far as we can tell, customers who are on the Bell branded service still won't be able to get in on the Link just yet.

Samsung Mantra comes to Virgin Mobile

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 12th 2009 @ 8:54AM

When you first click over to the Mantra's product page, your immediate thought is "why the hell would I pay $59.99 for this?" But then, it all comes back to you -- the fact that Virgin has no contracts, for example -- and you realize that it makes perfect sense that the MVNO would be charging a hair under $60 to get Bluetooth, a pair of color displays, and a VGA camera. In an age where heavy subsidies have become the norm, we bet it can be a tough sell for anyone coming from the world of postpaid, but then again, there's definitely something to be said for having the freedom to walk away after a couple months if you like. The Mantra's available now, and if you buy, don't bother bringing your signin' pen -- you won't need it.

Virgin Mobile USA launches prepaid Broadband2Go 3G service

by Paul Miller posted Jun 10th 2009 @ 3:51PM

Virgin Mobile's just announced a prepaid 3G service under the Broadband2Go moniker, which will offer customers a contract-free internet option. The Novatel MC760 USB dongle -- which will be available exclusively at Best Buy -- will run $150, with fixed data rates of $10 for 100MB, $20 for 250MB, $40 for 600MB and $60 for 1GB. The $10 bundles will expire ten days after purchase, while the rest of them will expire after 30 days. Pretty pricey if you ask us, but then -- most things with no strings attached are, right? The new service will be available starting late June.

[Via Electronista]

Virgin Mobile getting contract-free data card next month

by Chris Ziegler posted May 22nd 2009 @ 5:41PM

Were it not for Helio, Virgin wouldn't be a carrier that we'd associate with anything other than the most basic handsets -- and data cards certainly don't seem like they'd be on any company exec's mind. Thing is, direct competitor Cricket recently got into this game with a $40 unlimited contract-free data plan, so it's a segment that's getting more difficult to ignore -- even in the most heavily value-weighted side of the business. We've nabbed a screen shot out of Best Buy's inventory system that shows a "Broadband 2GO" device (at least, we think that's what it says) scheduled to hit shelves on June 14 for $149.99 -- not the cheapest modem in the world, but again, there's no contract involved here. Data is data, so if the reception's good and the speeds are decent, why not?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Virgin Mobile post earnings, gets a boost from new unlimited offering

by Chris Ziegler posted May 12th 2009 @ 12:29PM

Sound familiar? Ultra-cheap unlimited plans are doing well (in some cases, too well) for everyone that's offering them these days, and it seems that Virgin is no exception to the rule. Following the April 15 launch of its $49.99 unlimited plan, the company announced during its earnings call this week that it's seen a five-times-over boost in unlimited plan adds (yeah, bargain pricing will do that), which dovetails nicely with the MVNO's claim earlier in the year that the crappy economy really set it up for big wins in '09. Notably, the quarter saw income rise 301 percent year-over-year to $19.1 million while operating revenues rose 2 percent to $337.3 million, so things are looking up for these guys just months after financials were looking weak -- so strong, in fact, that they've revised their full year cash flow and earnings upwards. Does this mean we get new Helio gear soon?

[Via mocoNews]

Bell buys out remainder of Virgin Mobile Canada

by Chris Ziegler posted May 8th 2009 @ 10:20AM

Virgin Mobile's sundry networks around the globe are a curious hodgepodge of locally-owned and Virgin-led ventures; in the States, for example, a bunch of random companies have skin in the game, including Sprint and SK Telecom. Up in Canada, the MVNO began life as a 50 / 50 joint venture between Bell and Virgin -- and Bell has now agreed to snap up Virgin's stake in the firm for CAD $142 million, which works out to about $121 million. To make sure the brand stays around for a good, long time to come, Bell has also announced that it has secured an "exclusive, long-term" licensing deal with Virgin to use the Virgin Mobile marque. It sounds like Bell has every intention of continuing to operate Virgin Mobile as a separate entity, though it'll combine some retail efforts and work to streamline operations by jointly acquiring handsets and the like. Considering that Bell's about to flip the switch on its HSPA network, it seems like this could end up working out swimmingly for Virgin subscribers up there.

[Via MobileSyrup]

FCC approves Haier C300 in Virgin Mobile clothes, puts lab engineers to sleep

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 22nd 2009 @ 9:29AM

As far as we can tell, this totally nondescript candybar that just "rocked" the FCC as the C300 from Haier doesn't appear under the official Virgin lineup by any catchy name yet, which would put it solidly in the unreleased, unannounced category. Our normal instinct when that happens is to get excited -- maybe break out the bubbly and celebrate our fascinating find with a night of sinful debauchery -- but in this case, this thing is so positively uninspiring that we're having trouble getting fired up about the ordeal. The phone's ugly (at best) and ultra low-end -- you won't even find a camera on this one -- so we're guessing you'll find this in your local CVS for $20 or so within a few weeks, quite possibly without the fanfare of an official press release. One thing we can say for certain: this won't be a Helio-branded device, if you catch our drift.

Update: Rich over at Phone Scoop points out that the C300 is CDMA800 only, which would seem to preclude it for action on Virgin Mobile USA; makes you wonder why they bothered with an FCC approval then, but who are we to question Haier's wisdom?

Virgin Mobile planning to add a little touch to its lineup

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 21st 2009 @ 9:38AM

Virgin Mobile's CEO, Dan Schulman, stated while at the Dow Jones Wireless Innovations Conference last week that Virgin's planning on adding some more touchscreen to its world. What sets is, of course, your and our first question, but sadly it's one we don't have an answer for, yet. Though whatever it or they end up being, he went on to say that it is part of a move to smarter phones targeted at low to middle-income youth on prepaid. Of course, Virgin's core business is the prepaid world, though contracts are always available if you're inspired to stick about. With CTIA just around the corner, we're thinking we could hear a little more then.

[Via Crave]

Samsung's m320 arrives on Virgin Mobile Canada

by Darren Murph posted Feb 25th 2009 @ 11:22AM

There ain't anything fancy about Samsung's m320, but that's why it's completely free on a 3-year contract. A number of months after splashing down on Sprint, the flip phone has arrived in the Great North, bringing with it Bluetooth, a VGA camera, speakerphone, calling / texting capabilities and a 1.9-inch 145 x 128 pixel inside display. Oh, and if you're looking for the no-strings-attached version, that'll run you $79.99.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Virgin Mobile hikes rates in Canada, adds $35 setup fee

by Donald Melanson posted Feb 2nd 2009 @ 9:17PM

Well, it looks like the budget-friendly carrier options in Canada just got a little less budget-friendly, as Virgin Mobile has hiked its monthly rates by about 17% across the board, and added a new $35 "account setup fee." That makes the new $25 "Starter" plan the least expensive option available, with it including 100 text messages, 100 minutes, and 1,000 evening and weekend minutes. Other plans will run you $30, $40, or $50 a month (each $5 more expensive than before), while the top-end $60 a month plan is the only to remain unchanged. Additional bundle packages have also received a hike, and will now run you anywhere from $11 to $22. According to MobileSyrup, there's a number of reasons for the rate increases, including the fact that the discount carrier apparently hasn't posted a profit since its launch in 2005, and that they're now looking to build some actual walk-in stores, in addition to the usual kiosks. Even more interestingly, they're also saying that the price increases could be in anticipation of some pricier handsets in the offing, perhaps even including the BlackBerry Storm by the end of the year.

Virgin Mobile: bad economy is just what we needed

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 7th 2009 @ 1:14PM

Scant few companies prefer a crappy economy in which to do business, but Virgin's latest financials suggest that this kind of operating environment might just be the sweet spot. 'Course, Virgin's US offerings are all about "value" -- prepaid and all -- and it seems that the Sprint-based MVNO is getting mad play from that angle, reporting close to a quarter million net adds in the fourth quarter of '08. For the record, that compares with forecasts of 60 to 100K -- and yes, granted, they closed on the Helio deal in the quarter, but beating estimates is always awesome.

[Via mocoNews]