Celio Corporation REDFLY Mobile Companion

[sskarlatos]

The advent of integrated thumb keyboards on Windows Mobile devices has meant the demise of compatible portable Bluetooth keyboards. The current class of devices are almost full-fledged computing platforms, however the size of the screen and keyboards limits their full potential. The Celio Corporation identified this need and created the REDFLY Mobile Companion - a combination full QWERTY keyboard and 8" LCD screen. This accessory looks more like an Ultra Mobile Personal Companion (UMPC) than an accessory for a Windows Mobile device. Let's see how well it performs its job as a Mobile Companion to our beloved Windows Mobile devices. Read on for our video review series!

The REDFLY DOES support USB hard drives.

[sskarlatos]

Originally Posted by annonymous23

The REDFLY DOES support USB hard drives.

I tried it with a Western Digital Passport hard drive and it did not work.

The documentation also states that only flash drives, keyboards and mice are supported with the USB port.

Please let me know specifics of your configuration.

[arb]

The price of this device is too expensive compared to the newer netbooks coming out from Acer, Lenovo, Asus, and HP....


Is there really a market for this type of device in the market space priced between $200.00 - $400.00???

[Brandon Miniman]

Originally Posted by arb

The price of this device is too expensive compared to the newer netbooks coming out from Acer, Lenovo, Asus, and HP....

Is there really a market for this type of device in the market space priced between $200.00 - $400.00???

Funny you ask this. I was emailing Stephen back and forth, trying to speculate on whether this company will be around in a year because of the price.

I think that if this product came out a year ago before the advent of all of these ultra-low cost devices, it would have had better chances of success. But now, there are just WAY too many alternatives to deploying WinMo devices + REDFLYs in corporate environments that are more ecomical.

[arb]

Brandon Miniman,
You are right, corporate space is going to have a hard time justifying this platform over the standard Windows platform which can be configured with a corporate standard image.

Companies today don't want to introduce something into the environment for fear of data hackers or data loss (stolen).

Even if we go to more an individual user, the prices of gas and food are constantly on the rise and less money is becoming disposible....

[Brandon Miniman]

Yeah, it's a tough sell.

Andrew - what does a Microsoft Migration Specialist do?

[arb]

Originally Posted by Brandon Miniman

Yeah, it's a tough sell.

Andrew - what does a Microsoft Migration Specialist do?

In a nutshell, I help companies with the deployment of new technology. Before Windows Vista came on the scene, the most common need was companies wanting assistance creating a standard Windows XP desktop environment for their needs or customers that needed data converted over from one database platform to a Microsoft based solution (cough SQL, cough)...

[sskarlatos]

I do think they have a niche in certain enterprise organizations. Take a mobile sales force that needs some basic application access (maybe like salesforce.com), email, web browsing and a phone. Why equip them with a laptop and a smartphone. You could accomplish the same with one device (the smartphone) and the REDFLY accessory. That means your IT organization only has one device to manage rather than two (laptop and smartphone). The real problem, as everyone mentions is price, at $499 + the cost of the smartphone, I am not sure the TCO is all there. Cut that price in half and then I believe you can make a very good case in large organizations.

[Jaime Rivera]

Interesting.

How expensive could building a REDFLY be?

I have to be honest with you guys, I love the concept and I would prefer it over my current combination of a Portable Keyboard and a Device, but... I'm gonna have to agree on the fact that I could buy 8 keyboards for that price!

The Niche is there, but the smartest way to approach it is with a competitive price that'll stimulate the need for a change.

[arb]

This is an example of poor timing in the market.

Transversely, what if this company designed a unit marketed toward the iPhone crowd? I think we would all be thinking about this device differently.

I really would give this a year, then wait until they become discontinued, then purchase one for $99.99 or less....

[Pony99CA]

Originally Posted by arb

Transversely, what if this company designed a unit marketed toward the iPhone crowd? I think we would all be thinking about this device differently.

Well, according to the Celio blog, they are looking into supporting other platforms.

They've also dropped the price from $500 to $400. While I agree that's still too expensive (for me), remember that many laptop docking stations (without displays) cost $200 or more.

I know that I'd seriously consider buying one if the price was $200 or less. I spent about $100 for the original Stowaway keyboard, I think, so I could justify another $100 for a display.

Steve

At first I didn't really get this thing, but the more I look it it, the cooler I think it is. With Vista's disk thrashing, my Vista based full notebook just does not wake up quickly to do anything. It wakes up, then thrashes for a bit, and it is unresponsive during that time. My personal PC (an OQO) does the same thing, but worse. Whip it out to check a website quickly, get directions, or check emails... not going to happen.

So, what do I reach for? My WinMo phone. The Celio connects in seconds and is ready to go... sweet. I'm fine with the thumb keyboard and other text entry options on my phone, so the Celio keyboard is not of high interest. The screen however, now that's got potential. The phone with Opera is plenty powerful for most internet sites; Pocket Word is decent for notes, for real word processing there is SoftMaker. No longer is the screen the limiting factor. Very cool. I'm warming up to it.

[Brandon Miniman]

Originally Posted by Bristolview

At first I didn't really get this thing, but the more I look it it, the cooler I think it is. With Vista's disk thrashing, my Vista based full notebook just does not wake up quickly to do anything. It wakes up, then thrashes for a bit, and it is unresponsive during that time. My personal PC (an OQO) does the same thing, but worse. Whip it out to check a website quickly, get directions, or check emails... not going to happen.

So, what do I reach for? My WinMo phone. The Celio connects in seconds and is ready to go... sweet. I'm fine with the thumb keyboard and other text entry options on my phone, so the Celio keyboard is not of high interest. The screen however, now that's got potential. The phone with Opera is plenty powerful for most internet sites; Pocket Word is decent for notes, for real word processing there is SoftMaker. No longer is the screen the limiting factor. Very cool. I'm warming up to it.

Do you have one?

Brandon,

I do not have one at the moment, but I was able to play with an early unit for a bit. As a business traveler, this is of high interest (I travel over half of my time, Tokyo last week, Seoul this week, Munich next). The folk at Celio advised me to wait until the new units were announced, I'd love to get my hands on the new smaller version.