14 DAY TRIAL // Helio, the US mobile carrier, recently added a TV Guide service for its customers, service that provides TV program listings, show information as well as search functions.
Helio's subscribers will be able to benefit from a personalized listings grid, local listings in advance for 14 days, search functionality (based on title, keyword, time or channel), daily recommendations from TV Guide specialists and program reminders received as text messages via SMS. All this for $2.99 per month - carrier data charges not included. Some may argue about the success of the service, as there are various online websites that provide TV guides with no fees, all an user has to do is access them via its mobile browser. I guess it all comes to how much time you have and how interested you are in having a TV guide on your mobile phone.
The new Helio service competes with another service of this kind, provided by Handmark, mobile content developer and distributor. Handmark's service also offers personalized TV guides and search functionality, as well as a wide range of databases with shows and movies reviews. Unlike Helios's service, the Handmark one is available for Windows Mobile Smartphones, Pocket PCs, Palm and Blackberry devices and it's priced per year, with a fee of $29.99.
Helio currently has its own range of mobile phones, consisting of Helio Ocean, the innovative dual-slide handset that packs both a normal keypad and a fully functional QWERTY one, Helio Fin (made by Samsung) and Helio Heat. The company recently made YouTube available on its handsets for free, allowing subscribers to view, upload and share video content on the famous portal.
Joint venture between Earthlink and SK Telecom, Helio started its operations in 2006 by leasing network capacity from Sprint Nextel. Helio's goal is to promote the latest handset technology to young mobile users.