LOS ANGELES—Forget about “Tokyo Drift,” the latest sequel to “The Fast and the Furious” movie franchise. Now there’s the Helio Drift, a souped-up handset from mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C.
The Drift, from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., will be equipped with two new location-based services from Helio: Google Maps for mobile, with Global Positioning System capabilities, and Buddy Beacon, which allows Helio subscribers to broadcast their location to other Drift users.
Google Inc.’s Google Maps is available for free to a variety of mobile phones, but generally does not work with the GPS capabilities of those phones. Helio’s flavor of the application does integrate GPS information, allowing users to press the zero key on their Drift to have their location automatically selected as a starting point for directions or business searches.
Helio’s Google Maps for mobile also includes real-time, colored-coded traffic reports for more than 30 major U.S. cities, turn-by-turn directions and satellite imagery.
Helio’s Buddy Beacon service “uses GPS technology to let you tell all your friends where you are,” according to Helio spokesman Rick Heineman.
Heineman said Buddy Beacon allows any person listed on a subscriber’s personal buddy list (who also has a Drift handset) to see that person’s location on a map. Users can choose whether to refresh their location when they move, and can send text messages to friends asking them to turn on their own Buddy Beacons.
Buddy Beacon users can turn themselves “invisible” to specific users, or can turn off the service altogether.
Heineman said Helio does not store location data on its users.
Buddy Beacon and Google Maps are included in Helio’s “All-In” service plans, which range from $65 per month for 500 voice minutes to $135 monthly for 2,500 calling minutes. Data charges apply for a la carte plans.
Samsung’s Drift is available in black and white, and sells for $225—$25 more than Helio’s other two devices, the black Hero from Pantech Corp. and the pearly Kickflip from VK Mobile. The Drift features stereo Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera and 128 megabits of expandable memory. The Drift also allows users to view Microsoft Corp. Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, Heineman added.
Heineman said that although the carrier’s new GPS services are not currently available on the Hero or the Kickflip, the MVNO is “working on ways to integrate” the services into the devices.
Heineman added that Helio has sold out of the Kickflip in some channels, but the company expects a new shipment of the devices to arrive soon in preparation for holiday sales. VK Mobile—which, like Helio parent SK Telecom, is based in Korea—recently filed for bankruptcy.
