Formed from the same genetic ooze as Pantech's Slide Duo smartphone and rebranded Helio Ocean handset, the Matrix is a mildly frustrating device: spec'd with the best, but dressed in the worst. An HSDPA-enabled handset with GPS, a full QWERTY keyboard in addition to a dialpad, and two cameras should have the software to leverage the hardware, but AT&T and Pantech have chosen to stick with an in-house OS rather than opt for Windows Mobile as they did with the Duo QWERTY smartphone. Still, it doesn't look like a bad feature phone for people who message more than they talk, and it's available today at AT&T stores. [Crave]

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Not so long ago, the FCC leaked the Helio Ocean 2. But those pictures were black and white technical drafts, not featuring nearly enough colours and blinky lights to captivate our stimuli-needing attention spans. But a new FCC filing includes real shots of the new Helio Ocean. And from what we can tell, it's got a fancy, iPhonesque silver frame around the face. How do these designers know that we can't resist metal-coloured paints? Our one weakness! [FCC via Electronista]

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Virgin Mobile USA is soon to launch its first handset that uses tech from newly acquired Helio. Just as predicted, the slider phone will indeed include advanced features like social networking and other mobile services "through partnerships with Accuweather, ESPN, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Yahoo!" and others. There's also Virgin Mobile's first location-based services like "Buddy Beacon" (a friend-finder) and "Where," which supplies local service info. The 3G EV-DO handset is set to cost below US$100, have a 1.3-megapixel cam, Bluetooth and a 2-inch screen, and will be exclusively out at Best Buy Mobile and BestBuy.com on 28th September. Press release below.

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Virgin Mobile today finished its acquisition of nerd fave Helio. The deal was finished today with US$38 stock transaction to EarthLink and SK Telecom. This means that Virgin is hands down the largest MVNO in America, and it also means it could expand even more sing it can now offer both pre-paid and post-paid plans as well as the high-end devices from Helio. But the question remains: Will it be able to make money? [Press Release]

This is some pretty exciting news for us Palm fans who've been waiting (and waiting and waiting) for something new from the handset maker. It turns out Palm has hired Matias Duarte to design the UI for the next Palm OS. You probably haven't heard of him, but he's the guy behind the impressive interfaces for the Sidekicks and Helio's phones. The idea of giving this guy a large install base and a touchscreen to play with is a good one. Palm's got an uphill battle to take on the iPhone, but this could be how they do it. [Engadget]

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In today's news of Virgin buying Helio for 39 million US dollars, it has been revealed that the advanced features Helio was known for (and paid dearly for in the end) will be ported over as Virgin takes over... Read More »

It appears that the rumours were right, kinda fake telecom provider Virgin Mobile will buy kinda fake telecom provider Helio. Once the acquisition is complete, Virgin Mobile will consume Helio and hopefully become stronger from the nourishment, but the... Read More »

Is this the Helio Ocean 2? According to someone on the Helio City forums who grabbed this screenshot from a since-removed YouTube video, yes. Is Helio even going to be around long enough to release another version of the Ocean? We'll see, but I'm not placing any bets one way or the other. But the fact that this shot makes the phone look very similar (and just as thick) as the original doesn't make me optimistic. [Helio City via Engadget]

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A tipster told us that the talks between Virgin Mobile and SK Telecom/Helio are going nowhere, with Virgin backing out unless there's some sort of bankruptcy declaration or huge liquidation. Our tipster says that Helio's corporate stores and kiosks... Read More »

Engadget got their hands on a Helio Ocean 2 shot, and it looks quite similar to the sketch we saw on the FCC site a while back. If this is it, it's still rounded and dual-sliding like the first, but supposedly has various upgrades like a 3-megapixel camera, 1GB internal storage, 30FPS video recording and a touch-sensitive D-Pad. We're not sure how we feel about that touch sensitive part—most TS D-Pads we've used have been kinda awful—but we can't wait for the final version. [Engadget Mobile]

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