Didn’t see this one coming… Apparently Branson’s Helio-hawking MVNO Virgin Mobile is about to be gobbled up by the nation’s number three. Sprint has officially announced its intentions to acquire the popular prepaid peddler and according to the release, it’s a done deal. Sprint will cough up $483 million in total for the acquisition, though its current 13.1 percent stake in the company factors into that figure. The carrier will also cover VM’s $250 million in debt at closing. We’re not yet sure how the VM brand will be positioned in Sprint’s arsenal — perhaps it will remain a separate brand or maybe it will be folded into Boost Mobile — but the bottom line is Sprint sees plenty of potential in the prepaid market. You know what they say… There’s no money like up front money.

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If you’ve always wanted unlimited voice and data on the smartphone of your choice but VOCE disappeared before you could jump on board, Zer01 Mobile might just be the way to go. After all, $79.99 per month (up from $69.99 when the service was first announced) gets you unlimited voice (MoIP), data and messaging on AT&T’s data networks and an extra $10 gets you unlimited international calling to around 40 countries. The only catch is that Zer01 has to install its proprietary software on your phone (or you can purchase a device from the company itself with software preloaded) because it uses data networks for all connectivity. This means that voice, not just data, is also carried through the data networks — yay MoIP. Zer01 assures us that its call quality doesn’t suffer when your data connection is weak thanks to the proprietary technology it uses. Right now Windows Mobile phones are being supported but BlackBerry, Android and other OSes are going to get support soon. Lastly, there are no contracts involved as the service is entirely prepaid. Interest piqued?

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Patience Virgin Mobile subscribers, patience. Last month we scooped an upcoming mobile broadband offering from Virgin Mobile that is slowly but surely making its way to Best Buy Mobile. Shortly thereafter, we scared up some possible details as far as pricing and data cost are concerned. Well folks, it looks like we might be getting closer to launch time as one of our readers tossed on his mining hat and managed to dig up some dirt. Found camping out on a Best Buy image server, two images of an upcoming Virgin Mobile USB modem sit ready and waiting. We’ve verified their presence on Best Buy’s servers and the item numbers match so you’re indeed looking at what will be VM’s first mobile broadband accessory here in the US. To refresh your memory, Virgin Mobile will supposedly offer both prepaid and postpaid mobile broadband packages and the modem will run $150. Hit the jump for one more shot.

Thanks, Andrew!

Ok, so it’s probably not the most exciting phone you’ll see here on BGR today but Boost Mobile users may be happy to learn they finally have a QWERTY option. The uniquely styled Motorola i465 Clutch is now available to the masses and the price point is more than fair — $129.99 out the door. As far as specs go; Push to Talk / Walkie Talkie, threaded SMS and MMS, POP3 email support, Bluetooth and a VGA camera are the highlights. Oh, and did we mention the QWERTY keypad? It’s easy to dismiss this little ugly duckling of a handset but if you’re a Boost customer who has been waiting for a real messaging option, the Clutch is going to be… Umm… Pretty clutch.

[Via Phone Arena]

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We’re not sure how many readers out there are sitting on the edges of their seats waiting for more info on Virgin Mobile’s upcoming broadband card we scooped last week. If there is even one however, we would be remiss if we ignored him or her. Consider this unconfirmed for the time being, but a tipster whose intel has panned out in the past just hit us with the missing puzzle piece from our scoop — prepaid pricing. Virgin Mobile is all about prepaid after all, so we were pretty curious to find out how attractive its prepaid pricing structure would be. Answer: meh. It looks like VM will offer $20 prepaid cards alongside its broadband offering and each card will be good for 250MB of data. We’re not yet sure if additional denominations will be available. 250MB for $20 might not seem like a great deal but it’s actually not terrible — users looking for a mobile broadband solution for light use while traveling every few months for example, will definitely save hundreds of dollars or more by avoiding a monthly subscription fee.

So to recap what we have so far: $149.99 for the card / Postpaid options: 5GB of data per month for $40 or 1GB of data per month for an unknown fee / Prepaid option: $20 per 250MB prepaid card.

You know everyone has a mobile broadband card when Virgin Mobile is going to be carrying one… We just got word, and this screenshot, from one of our ninjas saying Best Buy is going to be carrying the data card starting June 14th. Just like everything else from Virgin Mobile, there will apparently be a prepaid option as well! Do you find yourself constantly worrying that you’re about to pass the 5GB softcap on your plan? If so, prepaid can definitely put an end to your troubles. Pricing isn’t solid yet but as far as monthly plan options go, we’re told it should be competitive with Cricket — possibly $40 for 5GB and a cheaper 1GB plan as well — and the card itself will run $149.99. Details on how prepaid will work are not yet avaialble.

After one long year of waiting in agony, excitement, disappointment, despair and lastly hope, it looks like the Helio Ocean 2 has finally materialized and it appears to be a sure thing now. The packaging looks very similar to the first Ocean, though it is now just called Ocean 2 given the Virgin Mobile acquisition of Helio. There’s no mistaking this for anything else as it looks very much like the original and exactly like all the leaked images from a few months back. Word seems to be pretty solid that this is coming on February 12, so we’re just days away from salvation. The second generation Ocean has an upgraded version of the Ultimate Inbox which now threads SMS messages and has Google Talk included. The browser now supports full HTML and with 2GB of internal storage, you won’t be aching for memory as often as you did with the first Ocean. Hit the read link for a full unboxing treatment.

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Helio fans have had enough torment for the last year. First, there were rumors that the company was going to go completely bankrupt. Then there were mixed feelings about the MVNO being acquired by another MVNO – Virgin Mobile. To top it all off, die-hard Ocean lovers kept getting their hopes and dreams shot down every couple of months with news of the Ocean 2, only to have it never arrive. Well, we hate to put you on that rollercoaster of emotions but a pretty solid source put word out that Helio is planning to put out the Ocean 2 as early as next month. But with the iPhone, Bold, Curve 8900, Storm, Palm Pre, G1, and HTC Fuze, how well will the Ocean 2 keep up? Not many even know about the original Ocean let alone rumors of a second iteration coming out. As much as we loved the first Ocean, we’re afraid this might be too little too late – even for some of the biggest Helio fans. No word on pricing as of yet, but with the original Ocean’s $299, don’t expect anything too tempting.

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To those of you hoping Motorola’s business strategy team would be planning a bombshell to start Moto’s post-layoff announcement press on a high note, it unfortunately looks as though that won’t be the case. It won’t be the sexy Moto Flash or Calgary – hell it won’t even be the sort-of-sexy Niagra. Instead, we’re looking at a likely candidate in the EM326g. Sporting a slider form factor, textured back, 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, microSD slot and a full-sized headphone jack, this thing is about as well-equipped as the four-year-old RAZR V3i. What becomes apparent when you take a look at the back cover however, is the handset’s destination – NET10, where the EM326g is indeed an upgrade from some of the prepaid MVNO’s current offerings. If NET10 and Moto can get the price low enough however, this handset will likely do well among users looking for a slightly more stylish phone with some additional though basic features. Expect an official announcement soon.

[Via Engadget Mobile]

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When Nokia announced it would be withdrawing from Japan and starting a new MVNO, we weren’t sure what it had in mind. History shows that MVNOs typically aren’t very successful because of the small market for such operators (almost always being dwarfed by mega-carriers), but Nokia has really shocked us with this one. Their new venture is called Vertu Club, which is essentially further isolating an already lonesome market. This particular MVNO is, you guessed it, only going to carry Vertu handsets. The first Vertu store will be the Ginza Flagship store opening in February 2009, but since the MVNO won’t launch until the second quarter, customers will only be able to buy unlocked Vertu models when the store opens. When you think of an MVNO and the reputation it carries, and the fact that Nokia and NTT DoCoMo’s joint venture will operate on a premium membership basis, the Vertu Club almost seems like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Oh well, the exclusivity premise worked out great for Voce…

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Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia, in a pretty bold move, will make its way to Japan to start its own MVNO. We’re not quite sure what Nokia is thinking, given the lack of success of MVNOs in the past, but they will be piggy-backing off of NTT DoCoMo’s network next year. Unlike other MVNOs, however, Nokia will be offering up high-end devices in order to compete in Japan’s tough mobile market. The only device we’ve ever really liked to come from an MVNO is Helio’s Ocean by Pantech. Nokia may be the world’s largest handset manufacturer, but they hold only 1% of the market share in Japan. It’s going to be interesting to see how this one shapes up as Nokia faces some serious competition with the likes of Sharp and Matsushita dominating that market.

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Despite the fact that the image above is a joke and that crazy wooden phone is not actually an IKEA handset, we are certainly not joking when we tell you that IKEA has just become the most recent addition to the MVNO game. The Swedish manufacturer / retailer let the cat out of the vacker yesterday when it announced plans to offer a new mobile phone service. Dubbed “Family Mobile”, the forthcoming service will run on the back of T-Mobile networks and will become officially available this Friday. Don’t get too excited now; IKEA is starting off slowly and will initially make the service available to Loyalty Card holders in the UK. It appears as though affordability and cost management will be the underlying themes and the only pricing information available at this point is 9p per minute for calls and 6p per text. Pricing is fixed regardless of time and day and so far all we know is that £10 prepaid cards will be available. IKEA employees who partake will also receive a bonus credit of £5 on their SIMs to start them off. Classy. So the next time you head out to your local UK IKEA for some Swedish meatballs and a $7 desk that will take no less than 36 hours to assemble, don’t forget to drop by the mobile counter and check out the goods.

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Thanks, to everyone who sent this one in!

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The Helio Ocean is many things, but hackable? Never…at least not until now. An enterprising Ocean fanatic has managed to install the ubiquitous Opera Mini browser onto the device. Given the closed nature of the phone, this is quite a feat. There’s nothing terribly wrong with the built in Helio web client when it doesn’t force you into the mobile mode, but options are options, and we’re glad to have a new weapon in our arsenal. Be warned, however, that this is far from a clean process. Most importantly, however, the hack renders the QWERTY keyboard useless as long as Opera is open. Whack! Even so, we applaud the effort, and hope that this is but the tip of the Ocean-hacking iceberg.

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Free wireless service? Well friends, it might have arrived. Mosh Mobile is an Indiana-based MVNO (running on an undislosed parent network) that claims to provide a completely free wireless experience. Whoa! What’s the catch? You have to put up with text-based ads that are pushed to your phone at undisclosed intervals, web-based ads, and more. According to the company: “The service will be supported via advertisements delivered by text message, the wireless web portal, inserted in to wireless pages, the free wireless applications and will be targeted to various usergroups.” That doesn’t sound too bad, does it? The service includes unlimited free calls, unlimited data usage, unlimited SMS, and a variety of other Mosh-specific services. You’re also entitled to 3 free ringtone downloads, and 1 free video ringer per month. This sounds like a pretty appealing proposition if you ask us, but until someone hits us with a invite, we’re gonna have to plead ignorance. Even so, the move towards socialized wireless service is under way….Viva La Revolucion!

[Via TechCrunch]

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