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Celio Redfly
By David Ciccone, posted Thursday, Mar. 20th, 2008
Reader Comments: 22
A must have tool for the Mobile Warrior
I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to test the Celio Redfly. I haven't had much time with the device yet but I can tell you I did have a WOW factor moment. When I received my beta unit I was first blown away with the stylistic design and the small form factor. Now don't get me wrong this isn't your traditional consumer device, which Celio has done a good job communicating to the media that this is a full enterprise device. For those who don't know the Redfly enables users to use specific Windows Mobile devices and extend that experience into a Laptop type form factor. Not only will it extend your visual experience it also will give you the capability of up to 8 hours of battery life! Users will also be extremely pleased to note that the Redfly will also charge your device while it is being used!!!
The first step once you get your Redfly is to make sure you download the software at Celio either OTA or directly through a PC connection. I chose to go OTA since I was in a rush to a lunch appointment. Right now Celio has certified 7 Windows Mobile devices currently, which from what I was told all the different devices sport different video processors, which need to be tweaked for the Celio. To tell you the truth I don't think this is a big issue since the devices they currently chose are all power devices that are mostly used in the enterprise. No worries though Kirt Bailey, CEO of Celio Corporation assured me they are working 24x7 to get more devices certified.
The second step is to make the USB connection from your device to the Redfly. I chose to bring my retractable USB cable and plugged it right in. Instantaneously I was greeted with the traditional Windows Mobile screen I was accustomed to on my Tilt. This is where I had my first WOW factor. At times we take our Windows Mobile devices for granted and really don't realize how powerful they really are! When connected to the Redfly I really felt like I was in front of a fully operational laptop! The first thing I did was launch my email and started to respond to some of my clients who were waiting for responses. While I was pounding out emails I noticed a yellow light on my Tilt? Hmmm... Could this actually be charging? It was! Now that got me thinking about how much time I really can get off of this device. Early tests state you should be able to get up to 8 hours via USB.
During the time that I was sending emails off I received a phone call which thankfully I had my BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth headphone on. This was another WOW factor for me as I was participating in a conference call with one of my coworkers who just emailed me a PowerPoint presentation which was over 8MB! Since the Tilt has 3G I was able to pull the presentation off of email and review the entire presentation on the Redfly while I worked hands free on the call!
My conference call lasted 35 minutes and my next task was to make the wireless Bluetooth connection. Once again users should note you do not need ANY cables when connecting your Tilt since the Redfly has the necessary drivers already installed on the device to make the Bluetooth connection. Obviously users will see a slight decrease in speed but for some the lack of wires might be outweighed by the decrease in speed. One downfall obviously is that you lose your charging capabilities so I prefer carrying my retractable USB cord.
So far I am extremely excited about what Celio is doing. I am sure this device will be a home run in the Enterprise sector since it has numerous vertical applications it will fit perfectly in.
The beautiful design of the Redfly really shows in this photo. 
The Redfly craftmanship is fantastic. No rough edges and no uneven gaps
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I think you are looking at this from the wrong perspective. First, the primary audience is the enterprise market - not the individual user. Despite that fact, let's look at some of the advantages of the device.
Yes - it has no operating system. Which means that you don't have to by an extra copy of an operating system, and configure that system, making sure patches are applied etc. This means that you also won't have to UPGRADE to a new operating system when the old one is made obsolete! Plus you don't have to purchase an additional copy of office productivity software!
If you use this device with a program like Go To My PC - you will have all of the functionality of your PC from a remote site, while only needing to carry a small form factor with a long life battery.
Let's look at a typical mobile professional. He has an office destkop PC. He's paid for that hardware, plus the operating system, plus the office productivity software on that PC. Now, on the road, he uses a laptop - again paying for the hardware, operating system, and office productivity all a second time. Add a Windows Mobile Cell phone for receving email on the fly. You've purchased three separate devices, and two complete sets of operating system software and productivity software. Eventually, the operating system software and office productivity software will have to be upgraded - and new hardware will need to be purchased, as the old hardware wears out or needs to be replaced.
Now, let's look at the same professional with a Redfly instead of the laptop. In this case, using Go to My PC (or some similar service) along with the Redfly, the user does not have to purchase a SECOND copy of the operating system and office productivity software - he simply uses the one set on his office PC through the Redfly. There is only one set of software to purchase, updgrade, and maintain. Plus, the other benefits of a Redfly, such as battery life, weight, and instant - on features. That's why the Total Cost of Ownership is so much less with the Redfly.
Yes - it doesn't have an OS or any hardware - but as long as Celio keeps putting out drivers for new versions of Windows Mobile as it becomes available, then it will never be obsolete either!
If you look at the entire picture, you can see where it might be worth the cost in the long run.
Posted by dashbaugh, Tuesday, Jul. 22nd, 2008
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I LIKE IT! I carry my Samsung 760 smartphone everywhere already and use it for email and GOtoMYPC to run orders for my Internet Business. I sometimes carry a bluetooth keyboard on longer trips to use with the phone so I can respond to emails faster. Thus, the only thing my current setup is missing is a better display. I would swap my bluetooth keyboard for this RedFly rather than carry a true notebook computer.
Yes, could have an EEE or HP Mini Note for the same money but the battery life on those is 2 to 3 hours if you are lucky....that's not acceptable for any real road warrior. And I hate having to wait for any notebook to boot!!! Often I have just minutes while on the run, waiting to board a plane etc., to check my email or run an order and waiting for any windows UMPC to load up drives me crazy. Those who don't understand the joy of an instant-on device apparently have much more time than I do. Add in the 8 hours battery life and I am sold because I can do MORE work on this setup, more conveniently, in more places...for three times as long as any notebook.
And here is another point that nobody above seems to understand...I save money every month not paying my wireless carrier the extra charge to use my smartphone as a tethering modem for a real notebook.
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Quando, quando, quando? Lots of interesting reveiws and opinions BUT no mention of dates. Google cannot help. Does anyone here have a date for when this will go on sale?
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I checked into this some more and the video over at MSmobiles is quite impressive. It really does a great job with the rendering for just about everything coming out of the WM device.
The major problem that I see here is the price point, $500 bucks a pop is a bit much and why not go for the HP MiniNote for that matter and get more bang for the buck?
Posted by Physboy, Thursday, Apr. 10th, 2008
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I was able to get a loaner Redfly from the Celio team at CTIA 2008 and use it to create a blog post review from my hotel. It worked great. If your interested in my post and some pics of the setup see: http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/adamma
Note that the Redfly was connected to an ATT Tilt using the 3G WWAN network, connecting to a published desktop in Boca Raton FL to create the actual blog entry.
Posted by amarano, Tuesday, Apr. 8th, 2008
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I like the device and agree, this device fills a niche market. Unlike all of you guys, I don't have a laptop or a UMPC, but I would use this with my Windows Mobile Phone to expand the screen size and allow easier input. It's an input/output enhancement device. I think that it functions similiarly to a docking station, but you can take it with you. You get a better monitor,and a faster way to enter data (keyboard, mouse, thumb drive).
I cannot ignore the convenience factor either. It connects in seconds and I don't have to pull it out of my pocket when I bluetooth connect.
But the biggest stickler is the price. I cannot see ever spending $500 for it. I would pay a maximum of $150. If I had $500.00 to buy this, I would buy a better device with greater features.
Of course, all of the above is moot if it doesn't work well with the software on the master device.
Gene
Posted by CleanGene, Thursday, Apr. 3rd, 2008
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I like the concept of having my Tilt being a replacemnt for a low end laptop for business use, which is what Redfly would be for me. The only sticking point for me would be the price. If they could shave some of the cost off of this, I would buy this for use with my Tilt.
Posted by brat1475, Tuesday, Mar. 25th, 2008
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Without rehashing all of the pros/cons above, I do see a compelling use case here, especially when teamed with Application Delivery methods like Citrix XenApp and Citrix GoToMeeting to provide security and access to application that don't run natively on the mobile device. With the bigger screen, keyboard and mouse you can get a full PC-like experience from your laptop. Or just use your laptop if you don't buy into this concept. Given the enterprise focus from Celio, seems like a nice fit to target Citrix customers. Check out some blogs on the Citrix community site to help fill in this picture:
http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/adamma
http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/chrisfl
Chris's "The Nirvana device a Smartphone as a PC alternative" has a call out to RedFly as part of this post.
Redfly to me is an enabling technology, and doesn't need to be a direct replacement, unless you want it to be.
Posted by amarano, Tuesday, Mar. 25th, 2008
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Redfly I believe will release this driver and a software which will allow this same exact process to function on your current laptop, umpc, and etc. It will only be successful if they find away to cancel out the onboard processor of the device inorder to mimic the battery life of the redfly (hint this will have to run outside an os and would actually have to be chosen at boot) This is just their foot in the door I am sure they will have more to come. I am suprise it doesnt have a set of speakers. I must same my reaction is the same as anyone here... I couldnt see me spending that much for it at all. When the software is made to be implimented on any device you may have money. Point blank the software is the best thing they have going for them hopefully they realize it and run with it.
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Right now Celio is certifying drivers so it wouldnt be fair for me to talk about Sling. Not all applications work 100 percent since this device is 800x480 so many developers werent thinking about it. Now I would say 85 percent work fine...
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Here is how I see it. I take my 1900.00 hp2710p into McDonalds for a quick lunch. I have to awaken it from sleep mode, get it tethered to my i760 or try to find a wifi connection. OR I can turn on the redfly and hit one button and boom, Im there. Already had the BT turned on my phone. Better yet plug in the cable and hit the on button on the redfly, and boom youre surfing in under 10 secs and charging the phone. I can save my tablet for a real meeting and dont have to sync my phone to my laptop to get the work I did on it moved over because its already on my phone. This is a sweet device. I sure would loved to see Sling mobile work on it though.
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I would not have a use for this. I would rather use a laptop. As far as it saving companies money. I would think that you can get a pretty decent laptop for the combined price of the Tilt and Redfly. You also have to consider that large companies would buy their equipment in bulk and would get a discount for this. I am not sure that you could get that big a discount on a device like this to make it worth it.
The other issue to take into consideration is support costs. Having to connect this to a cell phone just adds another potential point of failure.
I find that a large percentage of people in corporate America are not that technical. They want a simple solution that they don't have to worry about.
In my opinion this is the Folio reinvented.
Posted by agent680, Thursday, Mar. 20th, 2008
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I think if you read my article it states it would be a great Enterprise solution. Companies do not want to pay for people to all have laptops. I dont think I am saying this is a consumer play at all. For me this is a nice device to throw in my bag. Why? Instant on with a nice full screen. Could I bring my laptop? Sure.. But I would still need to tether my Tilt to my laptop. With the Redfly I can have instant on within seconds..
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I don't get it either - why not just a small laptop? I have the tiny Sony Vaio which I carry with me - I use it along with GOTOMYPC.
Posted by Laura, Thursday, Mar. 20th, 2008
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I agree with Chris. I think this product is for a niche market and will appeal only to a few.
Don't think of playing any type of multimedia on the RedFly as it has no internal speakers.
From what I have heard the price of this thing is 500 bucks. IMHO, a waste of money for what you are getting.
Posted by JNGold, Thursday, Mar. 20th, 2008
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Foleo had its own OS.. The Redfly has no OS at all. So its more of a portable display with great battery life. For me its one less item in the bag for short meetings as I dont have to lug my laptop.
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A phone is a phone for doing things quickly like email responses, a brief look at excel, word and pdf's etc, then if i need to do something in more detail I get my laptop out. What can this give me that would stop me getting a full blown laptop out, all I can see is a bit more screen real estate and a larger keyboard without the power or OS, I guess it boots quicker but thats all. Its just a Foleo in disguise and that was shelved for the same reasons. Whats the retail price???
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Why Chris? Your feedback would be fantastic.
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l really don't get this at all. I can never see a use for this.
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Phys yes sorta... But this has NO operating system.
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Is this like the WM version of a Folio??
Posted by Physboy, Thursday, Mar. 20th, 2008
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Isn't there some software that would allow one to connect the phone to a laptop, alleviating the need to buy and then carry another device?
Posted by Justia, Thursday, Mar. 20th, 2008
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