Comments on: Amp’d is Done. Helio Surges

By: Tech Bundle - July 23 | franzone.com

Tech Bundle - July 23 | franzone.com — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:46:45 +0000

[...] Looks like Amp’d Mobile is going out of business while their major competitor, Helio is making headway in the market. Read about it on TechCrunch: Amp’d is Done. Helio Surges. [...]

By: Amp’d closes | ugachaka.net :: the caveman speaks

Amp’d closes | ugachaka.net :: the caveman speaks — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:04:45 +0000

[...] A story on TechCrunch over the ending of Amp’d *tear* points out that Helio is still going strong and even surging. I just have one things to say… [...]

By: frank

frank — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:27:48 +0000

and amped mobile went out of buisness cause they plain sucked i seen there phones i mean they were the same as every other company but had like stupid ass packages and crap nothing to seperate the phones
unlike helio every device they have is unique and nice the phone is really made well to the way it slides u can tell it is not cheap made
screw you guys im going home!

By: frank

frank — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:24:18 +0000

i have a helio ocean and love it i dont know why everyone expects the best of the best in every feature the web browsing to me is just find come on guys i mean your either home and u have ur pc or ur at work … WORKING or maybe chilin with some friends do u really need the best god damn browsers in the world to look up a couple things on the net as far as serice goes hell i have better signal better call quality then verizon which i just canceld and cingular b4 verizon the phone is mint does a lot of stuff and its more then half a iphone u guys cant knock a 175 dollar unit selling on finawireless .com and a iphone for 600 bux with no insurance available the serice is good the plans are simple the phone is really good clear display i mean now look at the sidekick to me i think that phone is to damn big and i dont like the phone oh and its on T FUCKN MOBILE the worst possable service out the least amount of towers and droped calls is its second nature. i think once helio catches on it will be a big hit a lot of people u have to understand are scared to go to a new company and gettin out of a contreact whiich most are in they dont wanna pay that plus not knowing what kinda service etc is expected with helio and i have to say i love the damn service and phone u guys wanna bitch about phones go to asia where there on a 5 g network downloading high def vids for there phones with 8 mega pixel cams yes fuckn 8 i seen it un real so stop your bitchin helio is a great device ive read the reviews weeks b4 i got the phone the good out weighed the bad in most cases .i havent had any probs with it.it did crash 1 time big deal phones do that these days yea even the iphone the i phone dont even have stereo bluetooth but the apple team decied to put 4 or 8 gig drive u guys talk about web browsers as if thats the only feature on these phones the iphone will have a better browser that i could expect who cares i aint payin 600 freakin bux on a phone that will 1 day DROP scracth that gorgeous touch screen and screw it all up or break it then ur down 600 plus bux helio also just came out with a fin phone 3 mega pixel which is unheard of in the STATES and helio will continue to have more advaned devices to come by the time we adapt to 3 mega pixel cams like other companies helio will have a 4 mega pixel cam to me a camera is more important that a web browser u can go at home on the net and blazing speeds but u can alwyas say my phone is a high quality camera phone and has a decent browser etc etc so screw off cause im a helio ocean owner and i LOVE IT!

By: jd

jd — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:00:48 +0000

actually, i got service with a $35(somewhere around there) “credit fee” and I have really crappy credit(verizon wanted a $400 deposit and T-mobile $250). Even people with poor credit can get helio, apparently…….

By: smh

smh — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:05:47 +0000

Helio also does a credit check so no poor credit risks can get service w/out a deposit.

By: smh

smh — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 22:54:22 +0000

Helio uses Sprint’s network you dolt

By: TechCrunch en français » La téléphonie mobile gratuite arrive aux U.S avant l'Europe

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:43:45 +0000

[...] nouvelle est arrivée après que Amp’d un très gros opérateur de réseau mobile virtuel ait cessé ses opérations après avoir gaspillé $360 millions de [...]

By: Stephen Welton

Stephen Welton — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:43:43 +0000

I wonder what that means for it’s Canadian retail affiliation with TELUS Mobility???? Anyone got the inside information on that one?

By: The U.S. May Get A Free Mobile Service Before Europe

The U.S. May Get A Free Mobile Service Before Europe — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:25:45 +0000

[...] The news comes as Amp’d, a high profile U.S. MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) has ceased operations after blowing through $360 million in [...]

By: John Mc'Kinley

John Mc'Kinley — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:51:16 +0000

The death of Amp’d and the shortfall to original forecasts by Helio make the case for a US MVNO a real challenge. Only the low-end prepaid players seem to be able to make a go of things (Virgin et al). I only hope that when voice has a national IP path (through Wimax and hopefully the 700 mhz auction), we will see a catalyst for change. More thoughts at http://www.greatfallsventures.com.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:41:38 +0000

Helio actually runs on the Sprint network, not on Verizon’s.

By: bdb

bdb — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:47:42 +0000

Helio and Amp’d both operate(d) on Verizon’s network, isn’t Helio missing an opportunity to provide some consolation to disaffected amp”d subscribers (eg. discount for phone trade-in/ credit for free month)

Unless these folks are too gun shy for early adoption now. Verizon could do the same.

By: Rb

Rb — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:48:10 +0000

Helio sounds great ; but the real webpage browsing is why Im with the iphone

Also with services the Iphone will do instant messaging, and also - with google docs, you could edit word, power point, excel ….

Iphone is good, not sending picture messages? (you could email them) isnt that big of a problem for me

By: spacebas

spacebas — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:27:09 +0000

Helio is the only mobile device (don’t call it a phone) I am aware of that has Google maps integrated with a GPS. That alone is worth the price of admission. What good is Google maps on a phone (iPhone) if you don’t know where you are? I have the Helio Drift and I have yet to see it crash.

By: bdb

bdb — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:57:24 +0000

@D’oh, for someone that “watches this space” you should have been able to provide a more insightful comment. You did not. Shut up.

By: D'oh

D'oh — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:44:17 +0000

“Helio keeps on surging”?! Thanks to the people who called TC on this drivel.

When Helio launched they said the co “hopes to have 3 million customers by 2009″. Well, 2008 is coming soon and 100k pops is a joke this late in the game. They are way behind projections.

TC, please do your homework or risk losing credibility w people who actually follow this space.

By: TOby

TOby — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 05:46:16 +0000

Since there is no “sumbit a tip” feature on this site…

http://www.latimes.com/busines.....s-business

Amp’d will have service to the end of this month or so

By: Lance Weatherby

Lance Weatherby — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 04:28:00 +0000

Prediction.

SK Telecom takes an equity interest in Sprint, rolls Helio into it, cashes out EarthLink, and provides Ocean (and its offspring) to the masses with Mac support.

By: Alan Wilensky

Alan Wilensky — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:39:09 +0000

You can say the Helio Ocean is a killer device - certainly when I went to Helio’s poorly staffed store in Palo Alto, the handsets they allowed me to demo crashed constantly and could not open audio or video content on 3rd party sites. I love to listen to KQED audio on my Blackjack, or audio programing from a number of other streaming sites, but not on the Helio Ocean - why I asked the poorly trained staff?

The answer will stun you: “because Helio wants you to use its paid content and not go to other media sites!”

This is not my opinion, this from Helio staff. I sat in that damned store for two hours trying to get Helio Ocean to play WMV, Quicktime, or MP3 from KQED, which palyed fine on my Blackjack.

and the handset crashed 10 or 15 times.

Ye Gads!

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:27:25 +0000

Anyone know what they are doing with their Canadian operation? Will it be shut down on the same day or will we still have service for a while? I am one of the stupid people who ended up buying into this service and I really want to know where I stand.

By: Jay (living in First Life)

Jay (living in First Life) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:12:32 +0000

Helio will go out of business too. What’s compelling about their business model?

Let’s first analyze what the two core problems at Helio are:

1. Joint venture - we all know that JVs blow. They are very difficult to manage. With $220 MM in initial funding from both SK Telecom (of South Korea) and Earthlink, it was a sticky arrangement to begin with. Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink, runs the company.

2. MVNO model is extremely difficult - you need very high ARPU and to minimize churn. The entire Myspace mobile thing was a good start but didn’t get them enough traction. Helio lost $192 MM in 2006. It is projected to lose $330 - $360 MM in 2007. Losses will widen as the subscriber base grows because even at $100 ARPU, the cost of acquisition is insane and the barriers to switching are not extremely high.

Helio has tried to target the top-end of the market - those willing to pay the most for devices. These are the same people driven by the new and the shiny and they switch as soon as something else comes along - ahem, iPhone.

Good luck. Helio will be dead by March 2008.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 02:40:36 +0000

I don’t know one person who uses Amp’d or owns a Helio. Here in MN, we’re all Sprint, Verizon, or Tmobil baby :/.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 02:31:53 +0000

Amp’d out.

By: David Mackey

David Mackey — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 02:15:57 +0000

MVNO’s? I’ve heard of Helio and Amp’d but need a bit more of a definition on their differentiators.