It’s a slow news week so far this week, so I’d like to share my enthusiasm for the Helio Ocean, a smartphone in the vein of the Sidekick III, but with much more functionality and 3g network access. It’s a very slick design, with a dual slide Qwerty keypad, which makes it more messaging and email friendly than the iPhone, and a nine-key keypad for phone dialing. Its proprietary software includes an easy to use UI, with an email inbox for numerous email and messaging accounts, GPS photo and friend tagging, a multimedia emporium, and a browser. Helio is losing a ton of money, but the Ocean holds the promise to revive the Company’s prospects. The Ocean will be available for $295 this Spring. Check out the video!

[UPDATE: check out this extensive 2 part article about the Ocean’s design in Technology Review.]

[UPDATE - 5/13/07: I checked out the Ocean at the Helio store in Palo Alto today.  They had sold through their inventory and had a waiting list for the next arriving shipment on Tuesday.  It has a very solid, quality feel, but is a bit thick and heavy.  I did not have a chance to try out all the cool proprietary software.  So, I’m still impressed, but not quite enough to break my current mobile phone contract.]