G1 Gaming News

Version beta 1.1.3

Helio Ocean 2

Posted by Kingstar on 9:25 AM

Yep, more spy shots, this time of the rumored successor to Helio's impressive Ocean smartphone. Details are sketchy—and no, it doesn't look like there's a touchscreen—but a better camera, Flash support, and a touch pad might all be on tap.Engadget Mobile managed to get its hands on a fuzzy photo, which reveals a sleak new silver-and-black case, reminiscent of the upcoming BlackBerry Bold and, of course, the Apple iPhone.

According to Engadget Mobile's insiders, the Ocean 2 is still a dual slider—that is, you slide open the phone one way for a numeric keypad, another way for full-QWERTY action. Word is that the jumbo-sized display isn't a touchscreen, but that the navigational pad is, indeed, touch-enabled, a la Microsoft's Zune.

Other leaked features include a 3-megapixel camera (versus 2MP on the original Ocean), 1GB of internal memory, Flash support for the browser (take that, iPhone), and 30fps video recording. Nice, but Engadget Mobile's tipsters warn that the Ocean 2's list of features is still in flux.

No word on pricing or release date quite yet—and also, keep in mind that there's still no official word from Helio.

That said, a Helio phone that looks suspiciously like the Ocean 2 cleared the FCC in late March, while the original Ocean—which sold for $300 at launch—is now just $99. Sure sounds like something's brewing. [Photo credit: Engadget Mobile]