RedFly Mobile Companion for Smartphones

[Pete Paxton]

http://www.celiocorp.com/products.php

"Smartphones have laptop power in a pocket-size design. But the pocket-size design has a natural limitation in the size of the keyboard and screen. Celio Corp extends the Smartphone with the most valuable features of a laptop. The REDFLY Mobile Companion is a sleek clamshell design that includes an 8" display, a full function keyboard, and a touchpad mouse. Measuring just 1x6x9 inches and only 2 pounds, the REDFLY Mobile Companion offers over 8 hours of battery life and boots instantly! It also adds three new features - instant VGA output, access to USB flash drives, and the ability to charge your smartphone via USB. REDFLY is very unique - it changes the resolution of your smartphone display so that applications, web sites, email, and attachments all have more room to play! Setup is simple; you load the REDFLY Interface Driver on your compatible smartphone and connect via USB or Bluetooth. No configuration required and no settings to choose. REDFLY unleashes the computer in your smartphone!"



Let's start with the good news. The RedFly Mobile Companion is a keyboard and screen for your mobile device. How many times have you been using your device and suddenly wished you had your laptop for more screen real estate and a true keyboard? With the RedFly you get just that. Please understand that this has no memory, no hard drive, and no WiFi. However, in addition to the larger screen and full keyboard, it does have a mouse and usb ports. The dimensions are very small and light making it great for portability. What do I think of it? I think it's cool - sorta. Now for the not so good news. According to Brighthand, it will be released in March and it will go for $500! Yes I said $500 for a device that is not a stand alone computer and depends 100% on your mobile device for usage. Many months ago I created a post ranting about the now canceled Palm Foleo. That was a device that at least would have had it's own WiFi and a flash drive. In my opinion, the pricing on the RedFly is ludicrous. $500 for a smartphone add on? I like the idea but why not just buy a discount laptop with 1.5ghz, 1gig ram, 80gig HD, DVDRW, a 14.1" screen, and full Windows Vista? For maybe $200 I'd think about it but I think $500 is laughable. It is supposed to be demonstrated at CES so maybe we'll find out more info soon.  So tell me how you feel. Do you agree with me about the pricing or am I way off base?

[Pete Paxton]

http://www.celiocorp.com/products.php

"Smartphones have laptop power in a pocket-size design. But the pocket-size design has a natural limitation in the size of the keyboard and screen. Celio Corp extends the Smartphone with the most valuable features of a laptop. The REDFLY Mobile Companion is a sleek clamshell design that includes an 8" display, a full function keyboard, and a touchpad mouse. Measuring just 1x6x9 inches and only 2 pounds, the REDFLY Mobile Companion offers over 8 hours of battery life and boots instantly! It also adds three new features - instant VGA output, access to USB flash drives, and the ability to charge your smartphone via USB. REDFLY is very unique - it changes the resolution of your smartphone display so that applications, web sites, email, and attachments all have more room to play! Setup is simple; you load the REDFLY Interface Driver on your compatible smartphone and connect via USB or Bluetooth. No configuration required and no settings to choose. REDFLY unleashes the computer in your smartphone!"



Let's start with the good news. The RedFly Mobile Companion is a keyboard and screen for your mobile device. How many times have you been using your device and suddenly wished you had your laptop for more screen real estate and a true keyboard? With the RedFly you get just that. Please understand that this has no memory, no hard drive, and no WiFi. However, in addition to the larger screen and full keyboard, it does have a mouse and usb ports. The dimensions are very small and light making it great for portability. What do I think of it? I think it's cool - sorta. Now for the not so good news. According to Brighthand, it will be released in March and it will go for $500! Yes I said $500 for a device that is not a stand alone computer and depends 100% on your mobile device for usage. Many months ago I created a post ranting about the now canceled Palm Foleo. That was a device that at least would have had it's own WiFi and a flash drive. In my opinion, the pricing on the RedFly is ludicrous. $500 for a smartphone add on? I like the idea but why not just buy a discount laptop with 1.5ghz, 1gig ram, 80gig HD, DVDRW, a 14.1" screen, and full Windows Vista? For maybe $200 I'd think about it but I think $500 is laughable. It is supposed to be demonstrated at CES so maybe we'll find out more info soon.  So tell me how you feel. Do you agree with me about the pricing or am I way off base?

[mpaquette]

That price is plain crazy. I'm not even sure about whole idea of it. If I want a big screen, I'll use my laptop. I carry my phone for portability, why would I want to carry that thing around as well? I predict it ends up on a 2008 top ten dumbest gadgets list.

[Jason Dunn]

I think this thing is quite cool, and I'm hoping to see it in person at CES. $500 is a reasonable price, assuming it lives up to the specs. Saying that you'd go buy a cheap laptop doesn't make much sense, because that's not the issue here at all. You're not going to find a 1 inch thick laptop with an 8" screen and 8 hours of battery life for $500, anywhere. The Asus EEE PC comes closest, but that's still a completely different beast.

[Pete Paxton]

You're missing my point. A cheap $500 laptop has a hard drive, memory, an optical drive and so on and can be purchased for the same price as the RedFly which is basically the same thing but it's been gutted so you end up with a small monitor and keyboard but they still want the same price? It's not the device, I just have a hard time justifying $500 for a small keyboard and monitor that I can hook up to my smartphone when a full fledged laptop with expensive parts inside costs the same. Way over priced in my opinion.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Pete Paxton

It's not the device, I just have a hard time justifying $500 for a small keyboard and monitor that I can hook up to my smartphone when a full fledged laptop with expensive parts inside costs the same. Way over priced in my opinion.

Fair enough, so what's the more affordable option for doing exactly this?

[Pete Paxton]

I guess I just don't quite see where this fits in. The purpose for many to purchase a smartphone or pocket pc is so they can leave the laptop behind and carry a "mini laptop" in their pocket. If I'm going to add this to my portable device, why not just grab the laptop and get some real work done. Most people who own a smartphone already own a laptop so this is tagging on an extra $500 for something that isn't pocketable. I guess I just don't see where it fits in and how it's a better solution than either carrying just a smartphone or bringing the laptop I already own. What I'd rather see is a laptop that can function as a laptop but can also allow me to hookup my smartphone to it and use the keyboard and monitor. So if I took a $500 laptop and took out the dvdrw, HD, ram and other parts, would you buy it from me for $500 because it's small and your smartphone can use it as a monitor and keyboard? Really? This device just seems impractical and is way too expensive for an add on.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Pete Paxton

This device just seems impractical and is way too expensive for an add on.

Fair enough, we just disagree. I still want one.

[Pete Paxton]

I'm looking forward to your review

[Kacey Green]

If I could use a real, desktop grade browser, instead of PIE and its competitors this would be perfect for me at work. (Assuming I can easily and quickly change the browser ID between desktop and PDA)

[swapnilgyani]

Originally Posted by mpaquette

I predict it ends up on a 2008 top ten dumbest gadgets list.

LOL!! I agree...just cant see the logic behind this "gizmo"