One device at CES that seemed to stand out for Windows Mobile Devices and was amidst the buzz at CES that had people talking is the Celio REDFLY . Many have already penned it as the replacement for the Palm Foleo in which it has a similar design and features to. It even won a few awards at CES like the Inovations 2008 Design and Engineering Showcase Award.
The REDFLY weighs in at under 2lbs and provides a Windows Mobile device with an 8 inch laptop sized screen, keyboard and trackpad mouse as well as a charging source for the phone as well. The unit contains a 4500ma Lithium Polymer rechargeable battery with average usage one would expect about an 8 hour battery life between charges and around 5 hours if you are charging your device and using a cellular radio or WiFi. The REDFLY provides a large screen for your Windows Mobile applications whether you connect via USB or Bluetooth.
On the back of the REDFLY are USB 2.0 ports for connecting your device, a USB mouse,USB Keyboard or any other USB accessory you may have and a VGA port for hooking it up to a larger monitor or overhead projector for presentations on the road or in the boardroom with resolutions up to 800 x 480. Drivers for using the REDFLY can be installed by either installing the file from the included CD via ActiveSync or by downloading an installable file from www.celiocorp.com/install.
We had a chance to talk with CEO Kirt Bailey (who was the former Intel Capital director involved with mobility markets) and ask them why the REDFLY would be appealing in today's market and who they were targeting. He told us the REDFLY is a companion device for Windows Mobile devices without having to repeat computing power on a laptop form factor as well as without having to deal with the operating system, hardware, and software expense and support issues involved with laptops and UMPCs. He told us they were mainly targeting companies and enterprise users that have to issue users with laptops and mobile phones. This saves the cost not only of purchasing a laptop, but also the ROI involved with managing and administering the devices, which are estimated to roughly $4100 a year each. Another issues was security because the REDFLY doesn't store any sensitive information and all the data remains on the smartphone, displays can be shared amongst users without risk of data loss or security breach. The units are targeted towards sales personal that mainly live off of their handheld units and only use their laptops to access spreadsheets and web based applications that can now be viewed and accessed on Windows Mobile devices like Salesforce.com or other Web 2.0 applications, but now they have the option of viewing it on a larger screen without having to carry around a heavy laptop that can weigh in excess of 10 lbs if you include the laptop, power supply, accessories,etc. The REDFLY weighs 1.9 lbs.
They also showed us some prototype skinned devices in both hot rod flames and a nice leaf camouflage. They said these were to show options to channel partners for specific branding, but the colors the REDFLY will first be offered in will be blue and red with the other case matching the same color as the touch pad.
Here are some of the REDFLY specifications:
Size: 1 x 6 x 9 inches
Weight: 1.9 lbs
Battery Life: 8 Hours under normal use via USB
Display Size: 8 inch diagonal wide screen
Display Resolution: 800 x 480
VGA Display: Output 800 x 480
Keyboard: 8.3 inch 80-key QWERTY keyboard
Touchpad: 1.0 x 2.9 inches
Special Fn keys: Fn buttons are hot-keys for phone control
(i.e. send, end, OK, esc, left menu, right menu, etc)
Operating System Compatibility:
Windows Mobile 5.0 (Pocket PC and Smartphone editions)
Windows Mobile 6.0 (Professional and Standard editions)
More operating system compatibility to be announced:
See tested smartphone list at www.celiocorp.com/smartphone
Application Compatibility:
Applications and data from the smartphone appear on the REDFLY
enabled display
Ports and Connectors: VGA port, 2 high speed USB 2.0 ports, AC power connector
Smartphone Connection via Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0 EDR (compatible with Bluetooth 1.0, 2.0)
Smartphone Connection via USB: Use USB cable included with smartphone
Smartphone Charger via USB: Able to charge smartphones via USB (as supported by phone)
USB Flash Drive Compatibility: Standard USB Flash Drives (Drives appear on smartphone file system)
USB Keyboard Compatibility: Standard USB Keyboards
USB Mouse Compatibility: Standard USB Mice
The REDFLY Mobile Companion is compatible with Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC and Smartphone editions and Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional and Standard editions. The REDFLY Interface Software will be available for other operating systems in the future. The REDFLY Mobile Companion will be available from Celio Corp in March, 2008 for $499 MSRP directly from Celio Corp. A list of tested smartphones is available at www.celiocorp.com/smartphone.