Virgin Mobile and PCD to launch the Shuttle

by Stevie Smith - Sep 12 2008, 11:46

NASA may be preparing to officially decommission the long-serving space shuttle, but Virgin Mobile USA and Personal Communications Devices (PCD) are hoping to keep the name alive -- at least in the consumer electronics world -- through the launch of their high-speed 3G Shuttle phone.

Tenuous product links aside, the new slider Shuttle arrives as Virgin Mobile USA’s very first EV-DO handset and has been designed to deliver high-performance data speeds perfect for mobile video and Web-based media entertainment.

And, what’s more, the Shuttle will also be made available through a pay-as-you-go service structure, which means it may prick the ears of those mobile phone consumers not enamoured by usually restrictive customer contracts.

The Shuttle’s emergence follows on from Virgin Mobile USA’s summer 2008 acquisition of wireless carrier Helio and is the first handset to be produced boasting several integrated features from the Helio portfolio. Some of those elements include enhanced access to social networking destinations and mobile sites thanks to partnership deals with the likes Accuweather, ESPN, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Yahoo! and others.

Other Shuttle features include handy uLocate services such as popular friend-finding tool ‘Buddy Beacon’ and local-information application ‘Where,’ which will culminate in marking the handset as Virgin Mobile USA’s first to contain location-based software.

In terms of bullet-point appeal, the Shuttle comes with a solid selection of prerequisite contributing elements and extras such as a humble 1.3 mega pixel camera, a 2.0-inch display screen, video capture, an integrated media player, stereo Bluetooth, and slot support for storage expansion via an SD memory card.

Virgin outlines that the slender and lightweight Shuttle (3.9 x 1.9 x 0.7-inches and approximately 3 ounces) comes complete with a preloaded array of games, room for 500 contacts, and is capable of providing 235 minutes of talk time and almost two weeks of standby time on a single charge.

Notably, the Shuttle joins Virgin Mobile USA’s product line-up as an attractive and cost-effective mobile solution thanks to a selection of calling and messaging plans, such as the $80 USD Totally Unlimited package, which provides limitless calling unencumbered by roaming charges, activation fees or a mandatory two-year service commitment.

The Shuttle will be looking to blast off retail shelves when it launches exclusively through Best Buy Mobile and BestBuy.com this coming September 28.

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