has just announced the first of five Helio stores. Beginning with the opening of their flagship location on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California in early October. Additional stores will open between October ’06 into early ’07 in cities including New York, Denver, San Diego and Palo Alto. We will also be opening additional stores throughout ’07 in major markets.

All Helio stores will be in hand-picked locations that are destinations for our community. We won’t be found in a run down strip-mall or generic office complex. Our locations, like our store environments, will be Helio-centric, fun, cool spots.

Helio stores will be larger in size – these aren’t boring corporate phone stores. There’s room for interactivity, exploration and socializing.

As you enter a Helio Store you will be drawn in by our free-standing towers which display our devices and promote first in market services like MySpace Mobile, Helio on Top and the amazing stuff we’ve got in the pipeline.

Helio stores will feature unique entertainment pods throughout the store so customers can experience and sample live devices. They will be able to pull up their MySpace account and check in with friends, play a multi-player game, or watch high quality videos on the devices. There will also be a central lounge where our community can gather to hang out or spend additional time exploring and discovering Helio.

Members will be treated to a boutique-like experience. Each pod acts like a self-contained store where a customer can sample services, purchase a device, accessorize it and check out. Nobody will be inconvenienced by lining up at a traditional cash register (you can go to the DMV if you want to wait in line). Or if new members are getting their existing numbers ported to Helio, there’s no need to stand around and count the minutes. Helio stores have a comfortable lounge to kick back at and rap with friends or check MySpace accounts while the transfer takes place.