January 02, 2008
Helio Ocean - THE cool smartphone for 2008? Maybe
Are you familiar with Helio yet? If not I bet in 08 you will be! Helio has a slick device called the "Ocean" that may make waves big time as the new year rings in. Starting at about $199 (with plan) the device bundles all the popular things that you, hip, mobile users want and need - things like social networking ala MySpace, integrated GPS, Google maps, a swift 3G network, Music (audio and videos), YouTube access, gaming, messaging, and cool cutsom ring tones and images for customizing your device. Sure you can get all this on other smartphones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Palm etc... but these guys have made all this stuff front and center, simple to get to and cool... all important factors that will lead to sales. See www.helio.com - plans start at $55 p/month and include all you can eat data and messaging! North Americans still haven't embraced the "smartphone" yet, maybe this will help stimulate some more interest... no smartphone yet - smarten up!
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Since this is a Geospatial blog, I wanted to comment on some super cool GPS features of the Helio Ocean.
1) Geo-tagging. You can attach the latitutdinal and longitudinal coordinates of exactly where you shot a video and photograph. (2MP dig camera and 2 hours of video capability) You can then PC-FREE (no computer or datacable needed) upload OTA (Over The Air) to YouTube and Flickr. (Flickr shows on a map using the Geo-Tag exactly where you shot the photograph)
2) GPS - There are multiple LBS (Location Based Services) available on the Helio Ocean.
a) Google Maps - This is not just a maping service. It actually provides up to 300 feet of accuracy, knows your location (as shown with a blue blinking dot) and comes with a full business search, directions, restaurant menus (and any other data they provide), and LIVE TRAFFIC!
b) Buddy Beacon - Imagine taking your AOL, Yahoo, or MSN IM list onto a map. You can see where your friends are and meet up! This is not a voyeristic service, but more of a 'pinging' service. Helio uses color codes to indicate the time inbetween your last 'ping.'
c) Garmin - Voice Turn-By-Turn GPS. Need I say more? This is $9.99/mo or $3.99 per day. Excellent addition, but Google Maps does the same thing without voice and re-routing. Depends if you want to spend the $$.
I was gonna buy the Ocean at helio.com, but I googled for a better deal and found the Ocean at hellohelio.net is 150 with a 50 mail in rebate - so I got ocean for only $100 there. just my .02
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