It’s all about working smarter, not harder (or more expensively). Instead of banking on their recent success and going on a spending spree, Earthlink and SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM)-backed Helio is actually letting off 100 of it’s 700 employee-strong workforce – mostly in sales. The move comes amidst the strongest sales figures yet for the burgeoning MVNO and is attributed to cutting back on the sales force that was needed during Helio’s initial launch period.

With an expected $100 million in revenue, the company isn’t hurting too badly – neither is it a huge success. But, it seems like a prudent decision to scale back on operating costs as sales start to pick up – the “spend less as you make more” type of mentality. Sounds good to us. Amp’d would have done well to take a page from Helio’s MVNO playbook.

[Via: GigaOM]

Helio keeps adding cool devices to its portfolio. Latest one is coming from Samsung and is called Fin.

Beside having the slim body, this blue-black colored clamshell hides lots of goodies under the hood. There’s the 3G EV-DO/1xRTT radio, 3 MP camera, built-in GPS, 2.3″ 262k color QVGA screen, voice dialing and standard microSD expansion slot. In terms of preinstalled apps, Fin truly shines — there’s an array of integrated Web 2.0 apps and services, we’ve previously seen with Ocean. For instance, Fin is coming with the RSS reader; unified access to email, text messages, and IM sessions; tight MySpace integration and HelioUP, which allows direct upload of (geo-tagged) photos to Flickr and upload of videos to YouTube. Impressive, huh?

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European readers are probably shaking their head in shame, but here in America we actually have to hack our devices in order to get Java support. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is even worse, they don’t let you use Bluetooth. The creative people over at HelioCity got Opera Mini to run on their Ocean and provided the instructions here.

If you’re a Helio Ocean owner I highly recommend you check it out. Now if they get to work on the GMail application than the device would kick a lot more ass.

Helio’s iPhone-fighting Ocean handset just got another weapon in its arsenal – Exchange ActiveSync support! Contacts, calendar, and email (as long as you have the support of an Outlook Exchange server) are all synced on your Helio Ocean. And, the new Helio file Viewer makes viewing all those Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF file attachments that much easier.

The best part? Helio is offering their Exchange ActiveSync and File Viewer service for FREE! Well kind of. Helio plans on hooking you into using their product by giving you 60 fee-free days of service, but, on that 61st day, Helio’s going to hit you with a $10 per month fee.

If you’ve got an Outlook Exchange server handy (oh, and a Helio Ocean, of course) this sounds like a pretty good deal to us. We’ll just conveniently forget the fact that our Windows Mobile-packin’ HTC TyTn has built-in Exchange support.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

Here’s something that could turn you to Helio’s service. I guess many of you folks liked that dual-sliding Ocean, which packs both a numeric keypad and a QWERTY keyboard. I know I did. Well, the MVNO just added some enterprise touch to it. First, they’ve added the Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Exchange ActiveSync support that will help you beam your PIM data (contacts, calendar and email) from a corporate server to your Ocean, and the other way around. Then, there’s the new Helio File Viewer that can open Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Acrobat documents — i.e. email attachments are now fully readable.

The catch is that in order to power-up your Ocean, you’ll need to pour out additional ten bucks per month on top of your current bill, although Helio is offering a free 60 days trial. Now, only if we could edit documents…

[Via: Engadget]

Since Helio won’t be getting any revenue from the YouTube application, Video Virus, that was recently offered free-of-charge, the MVNO is going to need another influx of cash. It’s a good thing SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) and Earthlink just dropped a $200 million care packaged in Helio’s lap. Reuters is reporting that the green-behind-the-ears MVNO has spent their initial $440 million in funding and requested, like so many college students, that parents SK Telecom and Earthlink “send more money.” SK Telecom and Earthlink are each planning to pass a $100 million check to Helio – a healthy sum indeed.

We’re sure Amp’d Mobile is a different kind of green right now. Green with envy. While fellow MVNO Helio is raking in cash allowances like some high-society trust-fund baby, Amp’d Mobile is asking for permission to borrow money from Verizon (NYSE: VZ).

[Via: Reuters]

Competing with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is not easy, especially when you’re shooting for the same market. That’s probably one of the reasons Helio decided to free-up the YouTube access for its users. Previously, the MVNO charged few bucks a month for YouTube, but now it’s free! The best thing about it is that you’ll be able to access it over 3G (EVDO) — meaning faster data transfer where available (metro areas). Suddenly, the power is in the Ocean owners’ hands — they can upload AND download (for free) movies from YouTube!

[Via: Gizmodo]

Helio has this thing called “Helio Up.” Think of it a set amount of space for you to upload whatever it is you recorded at that party last night. On Monday things are changing, pictures can be sent to your Flickr account and videos can be sent to YouTube. This is effectively an American Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95, but only if it wasn’t for the horrible browser.

All of coworkers, well ex-coworkers now, upgraded to the Ocean the minute it landed. They all love it.

[Via: CrunchGear]

We’ve got word from the Consumerist that some poor, naive Helio customer got duped into a 2-year contract with Helio. We all firmly believe that the MVNO fad is just that – a fad. But that doesn’t excuse Helio’s ridiculous customer service policies.

This guy was talked into signing a Helio contract by a Helio representative who told him that he would be getting into a 1-year contract. With a classic bait-and-switch maneuver, this poor sucker was unwillingly forced into a 2-year contract.

Repeated calls to Helio resulted in a $20 service credit and a “promise” to deal with the Helio rep. Right, that totally seems fair.

Typically, I thought start-up companies liked to KEEP their customers, not lose them. Coupled with some of the other things I’ve read, not to mention the coverage isn’t great, I really think Helio is destined to go the way of Amp’d Mobile.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! MVNOs are going to the way of the mullet – and it’s about time!

[Via: Consumerist]

It’s not the May 21, as we previously thought – starting from today you can buy yourself the new Helio Ocean on Helio’s website and stores for $295. Third-party retailers will have Helio’s dual keypad flagship handset for sale till the end of this month.

We’ve already said everything about this device — it has all the things you need, some you may need and even other you won’t use anytime soon. There’s a GPS, a 3G radio, MySpace integration, support for various IM clients, and much more.