Roundup: Virgin Mobile absorbs Helio, Kindle for students, and more
Mobile voice network operator Virgin Mobile USA has finished absorbing rival Helio — We heard a rumor, more than once, that “massive firings” were being considered, but Virgin Mobile tells us that this won’t happen. Instead, some employees have been “rebadged” to work at its IT partner, IBM.
Amazon is developing a student version of electronic book-reading device Kindle — The question many students surely want to know: Will electronic textbooks on Kindle be any cheaper than the… Continue Reading
Virgin Mobile buys (once) high-flying Helio for $50M, as mobile consolidation begins
Virgin Mobile USA has agreed to acquire Helio mobile phone division from SK Telecom and Earthlink for an investment that totals $50 million.
The deal is part of a consolidation trend in mobile. Nokia this week agreed to buy Symbian, the mobile phone software maker, for $329 million. And Microsoft agreed yesterday to buy Portugal’s Mobicomp. Mobicomp is a mobile software company specializing in the storage and backup of data.
The deal ends a high-profile attempt by… Continue Reading
Roundup: Virgin Mobile acquires Helio, Starbucks to stop music sales and more
Here’s the latest action:
New partnership brings Helio to Virgin Mobile — Virgin Mobile USA will acquire the U.S. arm of South korea-based SK Telecom, namely, a mobile operator called Helio, according to the Financial Times. Both mobile operators have been struggling to make money by piggybacking on the infrastructure of existing carriers. This announcement doesn’t offer any sense of how they might bounce back; it just seems loaded with more bad news, like the estimate that… Continue Reading
Roundup: Tidbits on Jangl’s demise, Virgin considers Helio hookup, VCs looking overseas, and more
updated
The back-story on Jangl’s slow death — Yesterday, we reported on Jangl’s asset sale process. A tipster tells us that Seattle-based WhitePages had offered to buy Internet phone company Jangl for $20 million, but then kept the company in diligence for more than a month and walked away at the last minute — giving Jangl no choice to but throw in the towel when it ran out of time and options. Whitepages flew down from Seattle… Continue Reading
Rumor: Helio to announce firings this week
updated
Helio, the mobile phone service provider, is getting ready to announce a new round of firings this week, a source close to the matter tells us. These layoffs are expected to include senior level officials within the company.
[Update: Spokeswoman Brooke Hammerling has responded, saying the rumors are "totally false."]
This rumor follows Earthlink founder Sky Dayton’s resignation as chief executive of Helio, at the end of last month, and continued evidence company is losing money and… Continue Reading
Roundup: Virtual sex bed suit, Geni, Gay.com, Netvibes, Helio and more
Here’s the latest (ahem) action:
Second Life avatar sues another avatar, over virtual sex bed — We should have predicted this. Second Life entrepreneur Kevin Alderman has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Second Life resident Volkov Catteneo. This is apparently the first time an avatar has sued another avatar in the virtual world. Alderman, who has made money before in Second Life by selling a virtual island for $50,000 (real money), says his avatar, Stroker Serpentine… Continue Reading