Helio's two-way Ocean slider phone debuts
updated 08:15 am EDT, Mon March 26, 2007
Helio Ocean
The US virtual network operator Helio provided an early start to the CTIA mobile phone expo with the introduction of the Ocean. Known as the Pantech PN-810 during its time at the FCC, the device is one of America's few dual-mode slider phones that both shifts one direction for dialing and another for text messaging. The design keeps the size small compared to other text-centric phones, the carrier says.
More specs and a gallery follow after the break.
As with the Drift and Heat, the Ocean is also ready for all of Helio's features with a 2-megapixel camera, GPS for navigating and finding nearby friends, and both 200MB of flash plus a microSD slot for storing AAC/MP3/WMA songs or MPEG-4/H.264 video. New, however, is presence detection that can pinpoint AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Helio owners who are nearby. Helio intends to launch the phone at a $295 price before service plan discounts.
