RedFly Mobile Companion for Smartphones

[Pete Paxton]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.celiocorp.com/products.php' target='_blank'>http://www.celiocorp.com/products.php</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;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&quot; 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!&quot;</em><br /><br /><img width="325" height="279" border="0" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/spt/auto/1199330297.usr11642.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />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 <a href="http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13591">Brighthand</a>, 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&quot; 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.&nbsp; So tell me how you feel. Do you agree with me about the pricing or am I way off base?<br />

[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]

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]

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

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

[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]

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


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

[alese]

Asus EEE for $400 with WinXP installed and a Software for remote control of the PPC (Free) would give you same functionality and size but with added benefit of beeing able to run REAL XP applications and do real browsing.

So for me this is too expensive for a BT Keyboard and an 8"screen, if on the other hand it would be something like $200 then...

[Jason Dunn]

Asus EEE for $400 with WinXP installed and a Software for remote control of the PPC (Free) would give you same functionality and size

The $400 Asus EEE you're talking about would require an additional $99 for a Windows XP Home license - you can't forget about that. And the EEE PC would have half the battery life or worse - you can't forget about that either. Now it may be that a $500 EEE PC with XP, even with half the battery life, is a better all-around companion...but it's not like you can get a matching solution for $300 and the REDFLY is somehow overpriced against the competition.

Maybe when I see this in person I'll change my mind, but for right now I think this has promise. :)

[The Yaz]

I spoke to my IT manager about this product and she thought it would be an interesting concept. Currently, Her team for desktop support have Blackjacks and desktop stations. The department also has locked in storage one laptop that is signed out when a member of the team is called into a project meeting.

The idea is that for the price of the laptop kept in storage, the department could have two of these mobile companions. That way, team members could link to their outlook and other files during meetings without having to bring the laptop or try to take notes with the Blackjack's small size.

The neat part is that without memory or a hard drive, the companion saves you from having to worry about leaving personal files behind as you would on a normal laptop.

Just a thought...

Steve :cool:

[Sven Johannsen]

You guys don't have very long memories. Remember the Palm Foleo?
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9436/palm-officially-introduces-the-foleo/

Same idea. It died on the vine. I agree with both you guys. Jason, it is a neat concept, and there is nothing that compares to it, to assess the value. I don't think the price is outlandish. If I get a BT keyboard and mouse for my SP/PPC, I'll spend $150-$200. I get a large screen with this which doesn't even really exist. If I have a PPC with VGA out I could probably get a small VGA capable screen of of one of the car trick-out sites, but then we are up to $350-$400 and a bunch of stuff to juggle. My issue is probably more the weight. My little Sony Vaio is only about 3lbs and it has a hard drive, DVD, etc. 2lbs is a bit iffy I think.

Pete, I do think it is a little high for what it is, only considering what you can get for that amount or just a little more. I would hope this device is pretty much instant on, which is one of the reasons even my small laptop doesn't cut it in some situations.

It's an interesting idea, not new though by any means. Kind of hope this one actually materializes.

[Jason Dunn]

You guys don't have very long memories. Remember the Palm Foleo?

I'm quite certain that we all had the Palm Foleo at the forefront of our minds when discussing this (I know I did).

It's an interesting idea, not new though by any means. Kind of hope this one actually materializes.

What device does what this does? Remember the Foleo was supposed to sync with the device, not be a conduit for viewing/data input. That means duplication of data, potential sync problems, data security issues, and other factors. I've never heard of anything like this device - what device were you thinking of that duplicates this one?

I know it seems like I'm defending this to the death, but I reserve the right not to like it after seeing it in person. ;) I just think people are being a bit hard on it without knowing much about it.

[jlp]

reminds me of the Palm Foleo. I did believe in it tho.

It had a quite bigger screen, 10" I think and had an instant email sync button that was to work with most/all smartphones.

To everyone's amazement Palm cancelled it just weeks if not days from the original launch date.

I think what killed it was the Asus EEE that was falsly announced to be $199 (some sites even said $189).

It's quite after the Foleo was officially cancelled that Asus DOUBLED the EEE price at $399!!!

I think the fully capable EEE with just 8 GB of memory is even much more than that!!!

[jlp]

Ahem.

I'm browsing with my Samsung Q1; on it the right portion of the site is off screen (beyond the native 800 px wide) so I didn't see there was a second page.

I hadn't seen Sven's remarks; but most of my previous post is still valid tho.

[Sven Johannsen]

What device does what this does? Remember the Foleo was supposed to sync with the device, not be a conduit for viewing/data input. That means duplication of data, potential sync problems, data security issues, and other factors. I've never heard of anything like this device - what device were you thinking of that duplicates this one?
Maybe I am mistrepresenting or misremembering the Foleo. My take was that it was more of a terminal for the phone device than an independant unit with sync capabilities, which made it seem much the same as this unit. Not sure how much you could have done with either unit, if the phone weren't in the picture, but primarily I pictured them both as a dumb terminal to the phone.

[alese]

The $400 Asus EEE you're talking about would require an additional $99 for a Windows XP Home license - you can't forget about that. And the EEE PC would have half the battery life or worse - you can't forget about that either. Now it may be that a $500 EEE PC with XP, even with half the battery life, is a better all-around companion...but it's not like you can get a matching solution for $300 and the REDFLY is somehow overpriced against the competition.

Maybe when I see this in person I'll change my mind, but for right now I think this has promise. :)

This is all true, but the difference between both devices is actuall usability.
On one side you get $500 screen and keyboard, that can do only what your WM phone is capable, including crappy browsing, limited (very) office compatibilty and all other limited things...
On the other side you have $500 ultra small laptop, that has lower battery life, but that can do in addition to everything the REDFLY is doing also all the real computing stuff, like real browsing, complete office compatibility including ability to create, not only show Power Point presentations and no limited experience (except when it comes to HW limitations - screen resolution for instance).

Look it's not that I don't find the idea interesting, it's just that one can do the same and more with the same amoint of money in pretty much the same package, and while battery life is important, I guess most people would go for features/funcionality over battery life...

[BBF]

I don't know if I could stand using the mobile versions of word, excel and pocket IE on a bigger screen. Their lack of useable functionality compared to the full versions would just be emphasized.
Anyways, it only has an 800x480 screen, that's not enough of an increase in resolution from quarter VGA... I have troubles working on laptops with 1024x768 screens.

I really don't have any problems with activesync automatically syncing files between my laptop and my pocket PC, so the (gasp) "horror" of having two copies of files is not a problem for me.

If you gave me one, I'd probably try it out, but for $500 no way. I wouldn't even get one if it were $200. I just don't see how it fits in with my laptop and smartphone and with way I work. If I wanted to carry another piece of kit when I travel it wouldn't be this thing, since it can't replace my laptop... it'll just be another fragile computer like item I'll have slop out at the TSA check station and take care not to lose or break. It certainly would not be carried along during daily activities... I don't use or have a man-purse. ;)
I also cannot see how it can fit in at my work place... we already all have laptops with media bay batteries that will last pretty much the whole work day while in meetings. (I know it's not in the same price range, but since we already have these laptops, the extra battery costs ALOT less than this device.)