Helio's Pantech PN-810 QWERTY device pops up in FCC

And here it is, Helio's coup de grâce. The QWERTY handset we'd heard Helio was cookin' up with Korea's Pantech actually hit the FCC some time ago, but the shots we were able to glean from the test apparatus documentation were teasers at best. Thanks to the wonders of expired confientiality agreements, that same FCC documentation now yields a bounty of goodness, including a user's manual and a full array of pictures. The so-called PN-810 gives the illusion of a dual slider, but actually employs two distinct layers to provide two completely different keypads depending on the slide direction: QWERTY in one, numeric in the other. Key features (other than the unusual form factor, of course) include a 2.1 megapixel cam, Bluetooth, and the full array of goodies that comes with Helio membership. A release date remains uncertain, but the PN-810's been chilling with the feds for some time now, so we wouldn't be terribly surprised to see it hit in the near term.

Gallery: Helio's Pantech PN-810 QWERTY device pops up in FCC

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[Matthew @ Feb 21st 2007 3:23PM]

Why oh why can't sprint get something like this? Helio has got it done right.

[capn @ Feb 21st 2007 3:30PM]

note to engadget - update your picture gallery gui. you've got too much content at the top of the page and i always have to scroll down to see the pics - or i'm forced to view my browser at full screen. thanks!

[Ryan Block @ Feb 21st 2007 3:48PM]

Sorry, we trimmed out as much as we could!

[TimBob @ Feb 21st 2007 4:07PM]

Marketing stickers still on the digicam they are using for these pictures? What kind of techo-weenie is this photog?

[GJP303 @ Feb 21st 2007 5:13PM]

Its amazing what you will discover by the reflection on the screen on devices. lol

[ChrisGilmore @ Feb 21st 2007 4:25PM]

I would very much love one of these SmartPhones - but there's one problem getting in the way for me. I do not use the actually a lot. Well, I do but it's very hit and miss to whether or not I use it in a certain week. However, I would love the functionality with them for e-mail & pocket word etc. They're all on contract which is unsuitable for me. I prefer the Pay as you Go price plans.

[Adam @ Feb 21st 2007 4:26PM]

yes please get a smaller versio of the engadget emblem in the photogallery!

the phone is slightly interesting, but it's so effing huge! Make it even twice as thick as the razr and i'd consider it (although the iphone is so close...!!!)

[Invader J @ Feb 21st 2007 5:52PM]

BTW - chances are there's a Danger-created OS on there, under the Helio standard stuff. =) Not just pipe-dreaming - there's actual data behind that statement.

[Garman @ Feb 21st 2007 5:54PM]

Design wise for the hand I love the landscape/portrait hand options

1) If that ball scrolls at all like an HTC device then the numeric slider offsets it placement so you can hold like an ipod and scroll better with the thumb and

2) The keyboard slider whether in or out allows you to hold it like a PSP.

The best of both worlds

[Ben @ Feb 21st 2007 11:28PM]

Why cant VZW get a cool phone like this?

[KC @ Feb 21st 2007 11:29PM]

This device needs to be everything it's hyped up to be because Helio has not exactly lived up to their original promises....

[joe @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:02AM]

dayuuum! looks great!

[Poom @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:47AM]

Such a Mylo ripoff... Shocked nobody has said this.

[Jay @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:43PM]

Poom,

Nobody - including Engadget - has pointed out how this is a blatant Mylo rip-off for the simple fact that it's not an Apple product. Only products in crap white plastic with "i" before their names are good enough to be copied.

Compare Engadget's response to any new mobile phone with a big screen or touchscreen interface or music support since mid-January......

[joefy @ Feb 22nd 2007 6:01PM]

we are talking about this at http://www.cellphoner.net!

[joe @ Feb 22nd 2007 10:12PM]

how da hell is this a mylo copy? just because it had round edges? lol

frankly i like this much better than mylo. mylo looks too busy to me.

[eric @ Feb 26th 2007 5:48PM]

why do people hate on helio. helio does not suck as bad as t-mobile, amp'd mobile or any other mobile!(yes i have one and thats why i am in the defensive) and the sevice is great. i currently have a drift. is f-ing awesome. so until you have played fortune golf, watched ludacris, southpark, filmed your brother sing the national anthem, and heard that britney shaved her head all in the same hour! then say something. helio rocks hope this pantech phone rocks as hard!

[torilyn73 @ Mar 5th 2007 10:06PM]

This phone looks amazing... I would love it if Helio would release this!! As for the size... I refuse to buy a small phone. I chose the Hero over the Drift because the drift was just too small. The Hero was pushing it for me. Previously I had an LG VX8000, this is a big chunky clamshell phone. It was weird to go to something as small as the Hero. So if this soon to be released phone is at least the size of my hero... I will definitly be ordering it. I love the service from Helio so far... haven't had any trouble. And I live in the country... no dropped calls!

Just my two cents!

[T Medler @ Mar 15th 2007 7:00PM]

This phone looks amazing i cant wait to be able to get mine, and i cant wait to get helio service, I sell helio and they have a AWSOME product, plus ill get half off my rate plan! so thats going to be sweet, the only problem i have is that right now i have the samsung X820 one of the worlds THINNEST phones and switchin to that might throw me off for a little bit.


But looking at the pic of the charger port either that port is going to be HUGE or the phones really not as big as we think it is. I've been serching for it on other sites and buggin my Helio Rep like crazy tring to get something, anything on details either of the phone or a release date, if i find out you guys will be first to know count on it!

[Ray @ Mar 24th 2007 7:43PM]

"The dual-sliding messenger device, already called "Oz Smartphone", should sport an EV-DO radio, a 2.1 MP camera with flash, Bluetooth connectivity, , and a 260k TFT LCD. "Smartphone" suffix suggest some kind of a mobile OS run on Oz, and our guess is that it will most likely be the Windows Mobile"


so will it really be a smart phone with windows mobile? if it is, it would be awesome and the best device. i thought about the iphone, but this has my attention now.

[helio user @ Apr 13th 2007 5:45AM]

i'm not gonna front i have helio service and the service is great! u get way more for ur money that sprint, t-mobile, cingular (at&t) or alltel could ever offer. as a matter a fact i work at a retailer that sells all those other phone sevices and nothing come close to helio. they have the hottest phones, best customer service and now this pn-810 (which is NOT a mylo rip-off). jump on the helio bandwagon now, because i have a feeling that this phone is going to do well and may i be so bold to predict, i think the apple phone is not gonna do well as expected (remember the psIII? lol)