REDFLY Mobile Companion
Discontinued 15th July 2008
The REDFLY Mobile Companion looks
like a laptop - but it isn't. Instead, the "Mobile
Companion" is a giant accessory for your Windows-based
mobile phone that gives you a decent sized keyboard
and screen to work with, rather than the cramped controls
of a smartphone.
It isn't the first time that we have
seen something like this, last year's Palm
Foleo was very similar. But there is one key
difference - the Foleo was cancelled, but the REDFLY
Mobile Companion is available to buy right now.
The
basic concept behind the REDFLY is that your Windows
based mobile phone is actually pretty powerful, and
one of the main limiting features is the physical size
of the device itself. So, the REDFLY Mobile Companion
simply acts as a terminal to the phone, and the phone
runs the applications and transmits them back to the
REDFLY. The Mobile Companion really does very little,
except provide a decently sized QWERTY keyboard, an
8" 800 x 480 pixel display, VGA output (so it can
be used with a projector), 8 hours battery life and
a couple of USB ports plus an optional mouse.
If you have ever used Windows Terminal
Server or Remote Desktop Connection, or perhaps VNC,
GoToMyPC, Citrix or pcAnywhere then you will have
used a similar "thin client" technology. All
the processing is done on the phone, the phone handles
all the network connectivity and stores all the data.
The REDFLY itself is just an accessory.
The advantage with this arrangement
is simplicity. Once the Windows smartphone is set up
with the appropriate network connectivity (e.g. email,
VPN access etc) then very little work needs to be done
to add the REDFLY. And if the REDFLY is lost or stolen,
no data breach can occur without the mobile phone it
is paired with. The phone and the REDFLY will work in
exactly the same way, giving a great deal of flexibility,
and because the REDFLY is so simple, then there is very
little to go wrong.
Also,
if you don't want to carry the REDFLY then you don't
need to, as your phone has all the same information.
Of course, if you lose your phone then it's a
different matter, but since Windows Mobile features
a remote wipe function for stolen devices then any damage
should be limited.
There are a couple of drawbacks that
we can see with the REDFLY Mobile Companion. Despite
all the cleverness that has gone into it, the fact is
that it relies on a device running Windows Mobile for
processing, and these tend to have limited processor
speeds, not much memory and severely cut-down applications.
Another one is cost - at around £300 / €430 /
$500 or so, the REDFLY is not cheap. In fact, you can
get a very basic Toshiba laptop for that price, but
a standard laptop would lack the simplicity that the
REDFLY brings.
Ultimately,
this kind of device is not for everyone. You will either
want it, or you won't. This is the kind of thing that
might appeal to corporate IT departments, or to consumers
who are looking for a really simple but flexible mobile
computing solution.
As we said, the REDFLY Mobile Companion
is currently tied to Windows Mobile devices (although
it may support other OSes in the future). At the moment,
the only supported handsets are the HTC Mogul/XV6800,
HTC Tilt/TYTN II, Palm Treo 750 and 700w/wx and the
Samsung SCH-i760. The HTC Dash/S620, HTC Touch, Motorola
MOTO Q 9c/9h/9m and the Samsung SGH-i617/BlackJack II
should be supported from July. In theory, pretty much
any Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0 or 6.1 device should work
with the REDFLY Mobile Companion, but only a small number
are officially supported (the list is here).
The REDFLY Mobile Companion is shipping
now worldwide. You can find more information about this
device at the Celio
Corp website.
|
REDFLY
Mobile Companion at a glance
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Available:
|
Now
|
Network:
|
None
|
Data:
|
None
(used Bluetooth PAN)
|
Screen:
|
800
x 480 pixels
|
Camera:
|
No
|
Size:
|
Subnotebook
format 152 x 229 x 25mm
/ 0.9 kg
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
No
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
No
|
Java:
|
No
|
GPS:
|
No
|
Battery
life:
|
8
hours approximately
|
|
|