One of the first places we stopped last night was the Celio booth to see the Redfly device. We showed you a quick pic right from the booth in near real-time, and based on reader comments, it sounds like there’s some interest in the unit. We actually got some "behind the booth" hands-on time with the unit thanks to Kirt from Celio and here’s a few thoughts in hopes of addressing your questions:
- We asked about the $499 price tag indicating that folks might be reluctant at that price point. Celio’s response was that the Redfly isn’t really a companion to your device; it’s an extension of your smartphone and gives you instant access to your data on an easy to carry package. The company designed and makes the hardware themselves, so my impression is that this is part of the reason the price is higher than folks might expect.
- You can USB or Bluetooth tether the device. We saw both and in particular, the Bluetooth (2.0)implementation was pretty impressive. Little, or in some cases, no latency between actions on the Redfly and retrieval of data from the phone. It supports Windows Mobile 5 and 6.
- In terms of size, the device is very comparable to the Asus Eee PC, perhaps a tad thinner and smaller. I checked the keyboard size and it’s near identical and I can touch type on the Eee. It’s a bit cramped, but it beats a QWERTY keypad on your smartphone!
- There is no operating system nor storage on the device, which is different from the similar Foleo. The Redfly is a true extension of your smartphone in terms of display and data. Think of it as a small, 8-inch portable monitor and full keyboard for your phone. This is not a UMPC.
- Availability is expected in March of this year and we’re on the list to get a review unit; hopefully before then. The unit looked well-designed and built based on my few minutes of scrutiny
Overall, it was an interesting device and I could see heavy smartphone users who want a larger display and external keyboard to give this a look. Will it sell at that price? In the enterprise, which is probably more smartphone-centric than the consumer side, it might because I don’t see folks in corporate buying an Asus Eee PC for $100 less. I’m wondering what the price would be if the unit were manufactured by an OEM… might be more appealing to more folks.
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