Amended. Wallace wrote in to clarify her remarks from CTIA. Here's the most recent word: "It is more accurate to say that we have the ability to review enhancements that Sprint may make to its network in general, not automatic access; and that WiMax, like anything else, could be an opportunity for us in the future. That said, it's not on our roadmap at this time."
Original post. Since Virgin Mobile bought Helio in June, one of the big questions has been the fate of the Ocean, Helio's messaging phone and the best device that struggling little carrier ever had. At CTIA today, Virgin Mobile spokeswoman Jayne Wallace committed to releasing its follow-up, the Ocean 2 - but alas, in 2009.
"The Ocean 2 is not going to be 2008," Wallace said. "It has been manufactured, and there is a commitment to putting it on the market, but it's going to be in early 09 ... just because the shell has been manufactured doesn't mean it should be released right now. We want to put it out when it's the best it can be."
What to do with Helio's handsets and services isn't the only future planning that Virgin's working on. Since Virgin's host network, Sprint, is adding WiMax over the next few years, Virgin may hop onto that bandwagon too, Wallace said.
"As Sprint adds things to their network - as they add WiMax, for instance - we'll have access to these things. WiMax isn't on the drawing board for any time soon, but when we have the handsets that can fulfill that [system], it's an opportunity."
Virgin's looking at a lot of changes now that they've absorbed Helio. They're talking to LG, Samsung and Kyocera about new phones, and they're looking at filling in their lineup from low to high end, Wallace said. They're not intending to carry smart phones, but beyond that, we should look for a lot of new offerings from Virgin in '09, she said.
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