Comments on: Is Helio's cool factor enough?

Initial results are in for the new cell phone service backed by SK Telecom and EarthLink, and they don't look pretty.

[bradyjfrey]

Not. Cool.

"There's no doubt the service is cool."

What? Those phones are lame - I thought about switching, then I
realized it wouldn't work on mac or linux and so wouldn't sync
with all my stuff. Then I went to go play with the phones - albeit
they're much better with a little bit of software than the
competition, but the plastic feels somewhat cheap and clunky,
and the overall look and feel doesn't seem cool or sexy. The lack
of compatibility I almost looked over, but the rest just left it
dead. I'll keep my Razor until iPhone hits the streets, sad to say.

I found their marketing and advertising entertaining... but other
than that, I don't get how they fit cool. Amp'd seems to suffer
the same problems, but their commercials aren't even
entertaining - trying too hard to fit in doesn't fit in.

[Miklay]

What?

You're not to into this, are you? My Ocean is hooked up to the Mac as we speak!

[alenas]

They need FREE incoming calls

US is probably one of the few places in the world (if not the only) where you have to pay for incoming calls.
Helio is cool - and devices are cool - and they could easily give free incoming calls - that would make revoliution in US cellphone market...

[jsmooy]

Cell phones anywhere?

What about basic service connection that's available anywhere on the planet? NYC lost all cellular service as the towers came down because the Cell phone towers were atop the WTC. What happened to satellite service for cell phones that can pick up calls in any rural or remote area? Might this have saved James Kim's life?

[eeemang]

what a dumb comment

Let's all introduce 8 different topics at any time ! All with silly questions ! !
The WTC was NOT the only cell tower for all of NYC.

[Stating]

Everybody's Chasing The 20 Somethings

The subtext of Helio's "cool factor" marketing is that they are targeting the twenty-something crowd. This seems to be the same market that all the other cellular and media company players are courting. You would think that anyone over age 35 doesn't exist.

One of these days maybe vendors will get a clue and start marketing again to the over 35 crowd. The first ones to do this will find that they have the field wide open to themselves, while the laggards continue to chase after the same baby-bust, limited income, crowd.

[iokinetics]

margin matters

35-something = higher income, but price conscious + resist changes

20-something = limited income, but reckless spending + resist status quo

For growth and margin improvement, the later makes more business sense to chase after.

[heliorider]

$99 Unlimited $99 Helio Ocean

Helio now has unlimited calling for $99 and through the dealer promotions at www.heliopromo.com you can have the Helio Ocean for under a $100. That is a compelling offer for anyone that uses a lot of minutes.