Oh, how I shall miss Helio.

In light of this morning’s long expected announcement that Virgin Mobile had purchased Helio, a Q&A has gone up to answer some of the more pressing questions.

It’s all pretty straightforward: there will be no service interruption, new members are welcome, contracts are still valid, and they anticipate the Helio brand will eventually be dissolved.

HELIO and Virgin Mobile USA are teaming up to combine our strengths and deliver a superior mobile experience. On June 27th Virgin Mobile USA announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire HELIO.

HELIO gains access to Virgin Mobile USA’s extensive distribution network and broad customer base, while Virgin Mobile USA gains access to HELIO’s exclusive, high-end devices and premium services. Both companies look forward to coming together to bring exciting prepaid and postpaid opportunities to their customers.

Q: What does this mean for current HELIO members? Can I still use my HELIO device, while keeping my HELIO service plan and number?

A: Current service plans will continue without interruption – it will be business as usual. HELIO members are at the center of this transaction and we’ll continue to bring them the innovative mobile services they’ve come to expect.

Q: Can new members still sign up for HELIO service?

A: Totally. HELIO will continue to offer exclusive, high-end devices and our innovative All-In plans.

Q: Will the HELIO brand be retained, or will everything migrate to Virgin Mobile USA?

A: Over time, we expect that all aspects of the customer experience will be integrated under the Virgin Mobile USA brand. Integration of the direct sales channel will start immediately, and we expect that existing HELIO products and services will soon be offered through the Virgin Mobile USA website at www.virginmobileusa.com.

Q: So what’s next?

A: We’re excited by the possibilities our new, combined team offers. We’ve some big ideas, but as you can envision, a tiny bit of housekeeping is in order before we share them. Stay tuned!

Q: Does this affect my current contract with HELIO in any way? When Virgin Mobile USA does acquire HELIO, can I end my current contract without paying an early termination fee (ETF)?

A: HELIO contracts remain in effect and unchanged by this transaction. HELIO members who wish to end their contract early will still be subject to an early termination fee (ETF).

Via Mobilecrunch

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For whatever reason, we’ve been following The Dark Knight like it’s our job, posting the latest trailers and gossiping like a bunch of hens. So envision our delight when we read the first published review of the latest Batman motion picture in Rolling Stone, a publication that’s usually too cool for the room for us to […]

For whatever reason, we’ve been following The Dark Knight like it’s our job, posting the latest trailers and gossiping like a bunch of hens. So imagine our delight when we read the first published review of the latest Batman movie in Rolling Stone, a publication that’s usually too cool for the room for us to enjoy. Surprise, surprise, though: they liked it! Like, 3.5 out of 4 stars liked it!

Veteran critic Peter Travers offers nothing but praise for this, director Christopher Nolan’s second shot at making a Batman motion picture. (Travers gave Batman Begins three stars.)

He calls the script “deft,” praising Heth Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. No “his daddy made him do it” pseudo-intellectual drivel here; the Joker enjoys being a deranged creep. Travers says Ledger, who died this past January, deserves an Oscar, sentiment that’s gathering momentum.

Extraordinary, what is essentially a fill-the-seats summer comic book movie “brings pop escapism whisper-close to enduring art.” Christian Bale’s role as a “lost warrior,” comparing him to Al Pacino in ”The Godfather II,” means we’re treated to another solid 2.5 hours of smart entertainment.

And come on, it’s Batman, the best superhero ever by a country mile.

So yeah, the movie’s fantastic. Can’t wait.

Via [crunchgear]

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Over the past year, China Mobile and Apple have been dancing about in a bid to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest mobile market. The main hang-up has centered on revenue sharing demands from Apple. China Mobile announced this day that Apple has dropped this demand and negotiations are underway.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, stated earlier this week he would like to see the iPhone enter the Chinese market. An executive of China Mobile confirmed that the two companies are now in negotiations.

“We’ve broken through the biggest obstacle and we are negotiating at the working level,” Gao Songge, deputy director of China Mobile’s general department, stated.

No timetable for a Chinese launch of the iPhone was given. It is speculated that it will take place later this year, but months after the iPhone’s 22 nation begin date coming on July 11. China Mobile is the world’s largest service provider with around 540 million subscribers.

Via Mobilecrunch

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The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum announced yesterday it will meld its activates and membership list into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo) with the hope of creating a strong base for promoting a mobile Linux operating system. Entities like Symbian and Android are competing with Linux to create a worldwide standard for an open mobile phone operating system.

“LiPS Forum is proud of our standardization efforts, development activities and other accomplishments of the last three years,” LiPS Forum president Haila Wang said in a statement. “Our membership concurs that LiPS’s greatest impact can be realized by adding our members’ expertise and resources to LiMo Foundation. Together, the member companies can superior strive for a unified and ubiquitous Linux-based mobile platform.”

Mobile technology fans should find the race for a standard operating system a good competition. Android was created by Google, the World wide web search engine giant, with all the money and innovation that company can bring to the race. LiMo has a head start over Android, with the first handsets that use Linux software entering the market in a few months, well ahead of Android. Symbian is a tough competitor too. It is expected that the world’s largest manufacturer of handsets, Nokia, will buy the company.

I don’t know if bookies in Britain have put odds on this race but it is becoming the Olympics of technology. Whoever wins, it should be good for the mobile industry. No mobile operating system will dominate the market like Windows controls the Computer world any time soon, which makes the contest fun to watch.

LiPS

Via Mobilecrunch

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Over the past year, China Mobile and Apple have been dancing about in a bid to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest mobile market. The main hang-up has centered on revenue sharing demands from Apple. China Mobile announced today that Apple has dropped this demand and negotiations are underway.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said earlier this week he would like to see the iPhone enter the Chinese market. An executive of China Mobile confirmed that the two companies are now in negotiations.

“We’ve broken through the biggest obstacle and we’re negotiating at the working level,” Gao Songge, deputy director of China Mobile’s general department, said.

No timetable for a Chinese launch of the iPhone was given. It is speculated that it will take place later this year, but months after the iPhone’s 22 nation start date coming on July 11. China Mobile is the world’s largest service provider with around 540 million subscribers.

Via Mobilecrunch

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From the cool

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Here’s the press release for now. There will be a conference call at 11am EDT that I will broadcast on CrunchGear live. More as we get it.

WARREN, N.J., June 27, 2008 – Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. (NYSE: VM), a leading national provider of wireless communications services, this day announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK) providing highly advanced postpaid products and services with unique user applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Virgin Mobile USA will acquire Helio from SK Telecom and EarthLink for limited partnership units equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA class A common stock, with a value of $39 million based on the closing price of Virgin Mobile USA’s class A shares on June 26, 2008.

The transaction is expected to shut in the third quarter of 2008, subject to receiving regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Dan Schulman, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Mobile USA, stated, ”We believe that the acquisition of Helio and the related strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group are of enormous benefit to our business, both financially and strategically. The reduction of our long-term debt and the increase to our revolver will realign our capital structure, providing us with greater liquidity and increased flexibility to grow our business. At the same time, we’ll acquire an asset which will add to our scale, allowing us to reduce our network costs and assure that Helio’s customers are immediately profitable when brought on to our cost structure. We expect the combined elements of this deal will drive increased Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.”

Accelerating Virgin Mobile USA’s Growth
Upon closing, this transaction is expected to accomplish a number of important steps for Virgin Mobile USA. Strategically, the acquisition of Helio grants Virgin Mobile USA to add a set of unique and differentiated data applications to its suite of products and services, greatly enhancing its offer across its customer base. Entry into the postpaid market will also give the Company access to approximately 140 million prospective customers1. Including reductions in Virgin Mobile USA’s network rates and an improved capital structure, this transaction is expected to be accretive to Adjusted EBITDA in 2008, excluding non-recurring transition costs, and to be accretive to Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow in 2009.

With the acquisition of Helio, Virgin Mobile USA will gain an established and highly advanced postpaid billing and customer care platform. In addition, Helio has approximately 170,000 existing subscribers with an ARPU of approximately $80 and a handset inventory of approximately 85,000 units with a book value of approximately $17 million2. Acquiring Helio’s customers and expanding its offer portfolio is expected to increase Virgin Mobile USA’s volume of minutes and drive down the Company’s cost per minute under an amendment to its PCS Services agreement with Sprint (NYSE: S).

Schulman added, “This strategic acquisition integrates Virgin Mobile USA’s brand recognition, scale and extensive distribution with Helio’s accomplishments in advanced handset and content offerings. It provides us with a firm foundation to create a truly holistic, leading-edge product suite to service all of our existing and prospective customers. With about 20% of our disconnects currently going to postpaid products, we believe this new platform will be a powerful retention tool as we offer a one-of-a-kind and desirable postpaid substitute to our customers.”

Helio has been at the forefront in developing leading data services, in partnership with You Tube, Google and MySpace. Virgin Mobile USA will use this unique intellectual property to strengthen its competitive position in the prepaid, hybrid and postpaid markets while moving its handset lineup upmarket. Consequently, the Company expects to drive incremental growth in data revenues in the future.

Source: Nielsen Mobile, 2007. Total registered postpaid lines of 223 million; 60% spend less than $70 per month.
Helio Balance Sheet as of June 16, 2008. Fair value might be materially different upon fair value analysis post-close.
Strategic Investments Made at $8.50 per Share
Virgin Mobile USA also announced today that Virgin Group and SK Telecom will each invest $25 million of equity capital in the Company, creating an aggregate investment of $50 million. The investments will take the form of mandatory convertible preferred stock, convertible to Class A common stock at $8.50 per share, pending shareholder approval. The preferred shares will carry a four year maturity and a 6% annual dividend. Upon approval of Virgin Mobile USA’s shareholders, the preferred stock will convert into Class A common shares when the shares reach the conversion price or upon maturity.

Through its holding of limited partnership units and preferred stock, SK Telecom is expected to own the equivalent of approximately 17% of Virgin Mobile USA, and will take two seats on Virgin Mobile USA’s Board of Directors.

Jin Woo So, President, Global Business of SK Telecom stated, “This transaction and our long-term, strategic investment in Virgin Mobile USA continue SKT’s strong momentum in the U.S. market, and will grant Helio and Virgin Mobile USA to realize significant synergies and strategic benefits. Virgin Mobile’s scale, strong brand power and expertise in prepaid with Helio’s leading technology, innovative services and experience in postpaid will together form a powerful new platform that will bring new value and flexibility to customers. We believe the strength of the business model will serve to enhance the value we built at Helio, and we look forward to a long-term partnership.”

Improved Capital Structure
Virgin Mobile USA intends to use the proceeds from these strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group to pay down a portion of its existing senior secured loan. SK Telecom and Virgin Group have also concurred to provide an additional $35 million and $25 million, respectively, to increase Virgin Mobile USA’s existing revolving debt facility, which will support the Company’s ongoing strategic growth. The additional revolver is expected to be used in part to fund debt and net working capital liabilities associated with restructuring and improving the efficiency of Helio’s ongoing operating costs, up to a maximum of $25 million. Following this additional investment, Virgin Mobile USA’s total revolving debt facility is expected to be $135 million. At close, approximately $15 million of the revolver is expected to be drawn to repay Helio’s outstanding debt and to fund one-time integration costs and transaction fees, resulting in an estimated undrawn balance of $75 million at close. The Company expects to use the revolver to fund up to an additional $10 million in restructuring and integration costs over the next 12 months, and for working capital as needed. Virgin Mobile USA intends to pay down $50 million of its existing senior secured loan upon close of the deal, which was approximately $269 million on March 31, 2008. Under the terms of its amended credit agreement, the margin on the outstanding balance of the senior secured loan will increase 100 basis points to LIBOR+550.

John Feehan, Chief Financial Officer of Virgin Mobile USA, stated, “The strategic investments made by Virgin Group and SK Telecom will significantly improve the capital structure of our business by increasing our liquidity, and allow us to pay down $50 million of our senior secured loan. Combined with the Adjusted EBITDA accretion we anticipate, this reduction in debt will substantially increase our covenant headroom, while reducing our debt service on the senior secured loan by a net 17.7%. The improved capital structure, with the incremental cash flow we expect to generate, will provide us with a great deal more flexibility in funding the growth of the business and in servicing our debt.”

Operational Synergies and Improved Network Rates
Under the terms of the agreement, Helio will make significant cost reductions before the expected close of the transaction. Also after close, Virgin Mobile USA anticipates to make further improvements to Helio’s operating and customer acquisition expenses, through handset volume discounts and improving Virgin Mobile USA’s network rates through an amendment to its PCS Services agreement. In aggregate, Virgin Mobile USA anticipates Helio’s SG&A expense to be reduced by more than 70% by the end of 2008, with the majority of savings coming from the rationalization of distribution and headcount reductions. Virgin Mobile USA also expects to see significant cost savings as it centralizes the Helio offerings under the Virgin Mobile brand.

Virgin Mobile USA has also reached an agreement with Sprint to revise the terms of its existing network contract, and anticipates to accomplish a minimum of an 8% reduction in its effective cost per minute in 2009, with further reductions over the next three years. Under the new amendment to the PCS Services agreement, Virgin Mobile USA’s cost per minute is tied directly to the volume of network traffic it generates, and will no longer be dependent on Sprint’s network costs. Virgin Mobile USA will achieve reductions to its per minute rate upon achieving certain targets for the volume of minutes used by its customers. This new volume discount structure grants Virgin Mobile USA additional flexibility in pricing, while substantially reducing the Company’s third-party risk. Additionally, effective July 1, 2008, Sprint will provide a $2.50 network usage credit to Virgin Mobile USA for each gross customer addition, with a cap at $10 million.

Top-Tier Customer Platform
SK Telecom and Helio have built a proprietary postpaid customer platform, with highly advanced web architecture. This platform features a broad range of fully integrated functionality for postpaid, prepaid and hybrid customer support, including real-time rating engine, billing platform, and credit review. It will allow Virgin Mobile USA to immediately enter the postpaid market, implementation for which on a stand-alone basis would require a minimum of 12 months.

Greatly Expanded Handset and Data Offerings
Helio has built its reputation by providing its approximately 170,000 customers with highly sophisticated data services, and Virgin Mobile USA will leverage these advanced applications along with Helio’s established postpaid platform, social networking content and feature-rich handsets to provide its customers with the latest in wireless products and services. This acquisition will allow Virgin Mobile USA to provide current and future customers with very special user applications on Sprint’s high speed EV-DO network, including Google maps with GPS, as well as integrated You Tube and MySpace applications.

Via Mobilecrunch

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Maxtor just released their Maxtor Central AXIS 7200 RPM NAS, which offers 1TB of storage, DLNA Compliance, and an HTTP-based interface that grants for multi-user remote access with admin and guest privileges. Since the interface is an HTTP-based app, it works with any platform with a web browser, and the DLNA compliance means you can send photos, video and music to devices like Xbox 360, PS3 and countless televisions. Expect the Maxtor Central Axis to hit stores in July for $330.

SEAGATE’S NEW CENTRAL AXIS NETWORK STORAGE
MAKES BACK UP AND ACCESS TO FILES EASIER THAN EVER

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. — June 25, 2008 — To address the growing consumer need for storage in the home, Seagate (NYSE: STX) this day announced the Maxtor® Central Axis™ network drive, a network storage drive that can be used by the whole family. This latest drive from Seagate provides a terabyte of storage that each personal in the home can back up to. In addition to media streaming capabilities for video, photos and music, the new Maxtor Central Axis network drive also includes an easy-to-use remote accessservice that allows people to easily and securely retrieve content stored on their network drive through any World wide web browser.

A concept once only reserved for the small business and enterprise space, networked storage
is increasingly becoming a viable option for multiple-computer homes. According to Yankee
Group’s 2008 Device Survey, of those who bought network routers for the home, 75.9%
did so with the intent of providing multiple personal with access to the Internet. The
challenge of these multi-computer households is the ability to share and back up files from
each computer. Maxtor Central Axis network drive allows for each personal in the home to
be automatically backed up, so important files and precious memories are sheltered from
virus infections or disc drive failures. Sharing files from computer to computer is simple when
there is one repository for any file that you would like to share. Additionally, since the storage device
is connected to the router and not formatted for an individual computer, files can be accessed and stored from both Mac OS X and Windows operated Computers.

“The days of external storage simply serving as an extension to a full hard drive are over – the era of personal digital content has seen to that,” stated Josh Martin, senior analyst of Yankee Group’s Media and Entertainment devices.

“Survey data indicates that over 41% of recent external storage buyers did so to back up their data not because they ran out of room on the primary personal. With the emotional connection people have to their pics and videos, I believe the trend will only continue.”

The Maxtor Central Axis network drive liberates content that was once trapped on individual personal. This simple to use solution enables multimedia file sharing from each computer in the home as well as from common entertainment devices, which are DLNA compliant, such as Microsoft® Xbox® 360 and Sony® PlayStation® 3™. Watching home movies, viewing photos of the last family vacation and listening to music can now all be enjoyed in the living room through networked console players instead of having guests crowd around a personal monitor in the den or a small laptop computer screen. This storage device helps put your digital entertainment back in a room where the whole family can care about it.

“Our Central Axis solution is a snap to set up and use for nearly each member of the family. Any household with a network would benefit from having a way to back up every Personal computer in the home and share files between them,” stated BenHur Castor, director of product line management for Seagate’s Consumer Solution Division. “Back up is essential to make certain pics, videos and other important files live beyond the life of an individual computer. The Central Axis network drive provides a complete solution for back up storage as well as file sharing in the home and from the road.”

In addition to providing networked access to important files, Maxtor Central Axis network drive provides a way to easily share and access files when you are not on the network. With the ever-growing dependence on access to information and digital content, whether that be multimedia content, spreadsheets or business-related documents, you’ll find there are times when you’ll need to access these files remotely. Retrieving content that is saved to a network drive when you’re not local to the network has always raised concerns about security and complexity. Most applications involve installing software on the personal accessing the drive. Many remote access applications also require a breach in a firewall, leaving the network and your data open and vulnerable to attack.

With Maxtor Central Axis, you can easily log into the remote access service from an World wide web browser to securely access and share the files stored on the networked storage drive. There are no applications to download or plug-ins required. Central Axis establishes a secure connection to the service without the need to disable firewalls. All that is needed to access the drive from any Web browser is a username and password.

Central Axis Network Drive
Designed as a home network storage drive, the Maxtor Central Axis 1TB capacity drive is expected to be available in the US in July from major retailers, distributors and on the internet stores, as well as at www.maxstore.com, for a recommended retail price of $329.99. Availability in Europe and Asia will come later this year. Please visit www.maxtorsolutions.com for more information, including local distribution channels and retail outlets.

Via [Gizmodo]

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