After word got out that Britney Spears’ next tour would be sponsored by Virgin Mobile and the Helio Ocean 2, the estimated Ocean 2 launch date finally found it’s first deadline: March 3rd, the first day of the tour. We can now confirm that the Helio Ocean 2 will be coming over 3 weeks earlier, launching on Helio.com on February 12.

The Specs:

• 2.6″ QVGA Screen
• Optical Sensor for touchpad-like navigation
• Dual slider (One QWERTY, one number pad), a la the original ocean
• 5 hours of talk time, 10 days of standby
• 2GB internal storage, microSD support
• 2MP Camera w/ video support, night shot, and geotagging
• Full HTML browser with tabbed browsing
• Upgraded Ultimate Inbox: Threaded text messages, Google Talk
• Access to all the Helio services: Connect, Buddy Beacon, WHERE, HelioUP

Contrary to what we’ve seen in previously leaked images, the Ocean 2 will be launching in the “red limited edition” color scheme you see above, with other colors said to be coming “later in the year”.