This Just In – Celio REDFLY!

I’ve been waiting impatiently to get my hands on the Celio Corp. Redfly. After seeing this device at CES, I got the opportunity to interview Kirt Bailey, CEO of Celio Corp, and Brad Warnock, VP of Marketing, and learn more about the features of the Windows Mobile companion device. (If you missed the series, you can go back and read the Overview, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 in the archives.)

While the REDFLY is definitely being marketed as an enterprise device, it should appeal to many users. I covered the hardware basics before, but fundamentally, this is a small clamshell device with an 8-inch screen, touch-typable keyboard, touch pad mouse, Bluetooth, 2 USB ports, and VGA out. No processor, no memory, no hard drive. It connects either via USB or Bluetooth to a Windows Mobile phone and extends the experience of your WinMo phone to a more usable interface then the little 2-3 inch screen provides.

My initial impression – this is a very well made device. It feels solid, much more so than I would expect from something this size and just 2 lbs. Connection with the phone (an AT&T Tilt) was quick and painless and the refresh rate seems quite reasonable. I’ve only started playing with it so far, but I plan to do some real testing over the next few days.

What do you want to know about this new category of device? I do plan to do an InkShow on this as soon as I’m more familiar with it, but your questions will help to guide me as I look into the Redfly.