Helio ships Mysto phone for everyone
updated 08:55 am EST, Wed January 16, 2008
Helio Mysto Ships
Helio this morning announced the widespread availability of the Mysto. Previously only available in a Korean version for those willing to get the device early, this conversion of Samsung's Ultra U600 slider continues to revolve around Helio's signature GPS features but adds a pair of crucial software features. Called Tellme, the first feature lets users find nearby locations through simple speech: holding a button and mentioning the name of a store will find the nearest location and provide directions. Equally new to Helio is WHERE, a set of GPS-connected web widgets that adds geotagging to Twitter posts, finds nearby gas stations, or checks local weather without the need for entering information by hand.
Like virtually all current Helio phones, the Mysto also supports Google Maps and the in-house Buddy Beacon feature. It also supplies a 2-megapixel camera with MPEG-4 video capture, a microSD slot that holds up to 4GB of storage, and a 3G connection over EVDO that can be used both to stream video and to upload content to Flickr or YouTube. Helio expects the Mysto to be available online and at all its shops no later than tomorrow and sells the phone for $149 when paired with a contract or $320 without the same commitment. WHERE is free with an unlimited data plan, though TellMe costs an additional $3 per month on top of any existing calling and data subscriptions.
