Helio adopts proprietary media software
updated 03:30 pm EST, Tue December 18, 2007
Helio debyts Player app
In a first for the US, MVNO carrier Helio has released the Helio Player, a piece of Windows software dedicated solely to its own phones. The app was developed by RealNetworks, and is meant to simplify the process of shuttling media between phones and PCs. It is divided into three tabs, one each for Music, Pictures and Video; the highlight is Music, which not only lets users copy MP3, M3A and WMA files to a phone, but import anything bought on Helio's 3G service, or export tracks bought at a reduced rate from within Player.
This tab also lets users pre-arrange tracks into playlists, and listen to music directly. The Pictures tab, meanwhile, supports the creation of albums, and the Video tab is used to copy or play AVI, WMV, MPEG/MPEG-4 and H.264 files. Helio is distributing the software for free, but downloaders must be subscribers, and own an Ocean, Fin, Drift or Heat.
