LOS ANGELES—Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. revealed two components of its upcoming service launch: a partnership with popular social networking Web site MySpace.com and two high-end handsets based on phones from South Korea.
Helio is a joint venture of Internet service provider Earthlink Inc. and Korean operator SK Telecom.
Helio said it plans to offer MySpace Mobile, which will allow MySpace users to access their mail, send messages, read and write blogs, view MySpace profile photos, post photos directly from their handsets, and view and add friends on their MySpace network.
“MySpace Mobile On Helio will allow our members to share their lives as they happen and evolve the MySpace experience from being about what you did last night to about what you are doing right now,” said Rob Gelick, head of Media and community services for Helio.
Helio also unveiled two exclusive handsets, one from Pantech Co. Ltd. and one from VK Mobile. Pantech’s black Hero slider phone features a 2-megapixel camera, removable memory and support for music and video; VK Mobile’s Kickflip offers similar features. The Kickflip also swivels left or right to open, a design that is meant, according to Helio, to “be fun and addicting, like our services.”
Helio said it intends to launch data-centric wireless services this summer using CDMA2000 1x EV-DO networks. The company has also hinted at integrating Wi-Fi-based services into its devices, though Helio did not mention such capabilities in its initial pair of handsets.
