REDFLY now available for $499, purpose even less clear

Sure, we just saw the Celio REDFLY unboxed last month, but come on -- you know you really wanted one of the Foleo-like WinMo "companions" all to yourself, and now you can have one -- for $499. Yep, 5 bills to use WinMo 5 or 6 on an 8-inch screen -- and you can't use it at all if you don't have your phone. Or, you could spend your money on something 1000x more useful and get one of the million netbooks that have been released since this thing was first announced, but hey -- don't let a silly thing like common sense stand between you and your phone's desire to be loved. One more short unboxing vid after the break.

[Ben @ Aug 7th 2008 5:13PM]

your nuts... i want it!

[Jeremy K @ Aug 7th 2008 5:43PM]

Shouldn't that be "them," not "it"?!?

[Khris @ Aug 7th 2008 5:43PM]

The only "nuts" are the ones who waste their money on this.

If you really want to spend money on something useless, I'll gladly kick you in the balls/box and only charge you $50 per punt.

[Ben @ Aug 7th 2008 6:08PM]

Let me explain.... Instant on, charges cell phone, i dont need more computing power then my phone has (excel, word, outlook, powerpoint) and internet that doesnt require a tething plan - also at work you can lend it to someone else on business trips without giving them any of your data. Office of 10? buy 3!

[o29 @ Aug 7th 2008 6:08PM]

...what about my nuts?

[o29 @ Aug 7th 2008 6:12PM]

Oh, nevermind. Jeremy beat me to it, and with more wit.

[Surur @ Aug 7th 2008 6:46PM]

Beat 8 hours battery life in active use. Thats a lot of document creation. Doesn't the Eeepc have less than 2 hours battery life?

Its for business, not for pleasure.

[mike @ Aug 7th 2008 7:25PM]

yeah props jeremy.
good one. =P

[Khris @ Aug 7th 2008 9:40PM]

@ Surur

There definitely would be no pleasure using this.

[Tonicboy @ Aug 8th 2008 1:16AM]

@Surur

I like how Redfly "estimates" 8 hour battery life and you generously upgrade that to "8 hours... in active use". Meanwhile, the Asus 901 has been tested at 5 hrs in video playback tests and you downgrade that to "less than 2 hrs". By the way, do you know why this P.O.S. has great battery life? Because a) it doesn't actually do anything and 2) anything that it does do is done by your phone, so say goodbye to your phone's battery. That's ok though, because you can still use this thing once your phone is dead. Oh wait, that's right, this thing is completely and utterly useless when your phone battery dies and your phone is lucky to survive 3 solid hours of "active use". So much for 8 hours of use.

[Lumarti @ Aug 7th 2008 5:16PM]

Fail!

[Aaron @ Aug 7th 2008 8:54PM]

No, my good sir. This is what they call a BEF in the industry, or borderline epic fail.

[Pizzicato @ Aug 7th 2008 5:15PM]

Three words: butt-ug-ly

[sracer @ Aug 7th 2008 5:16PM]

Yes it is available, but not for all smartphones. The Redfly is still in beta test for the T-Mobile Dash. As soon as it is supported, I'll be getting one. Why? Because it will be quite handy on family trips to be able to take a single Redfly that my wife can use with her Dash and I can use with mine than it is to take a full-fledged notebook along.

The nice thing about the Redfly is that you can leverage all of what you currently have on your phone without yet another device to support, maintain fixes, etc.

It's not for everyone, and I'd prefer if it were $300, but it definitely fits a need.

[Sheila @ Aug 7th 2008 6:04PM]

Plus you don't have to have a monthly fee for a datacard or PAM plan and limited to 5gb of data.

[chefgon_ign @ Aug 7th 2008 5:26PM]

Spend the same amount of cash and get a Windows XP netbook. You can tether your Dash to it through USB or Bluetooth to get wireless data on the go. I use my T-Mo Dash for that purpose all the time, it works like a charm.

[sracer @ Aug 7th 2008 6:28PM]

@chefgon_ign:
You miss the point. With a netbook you introduce yet another device that needs to be synced. With the Redfly no additional syncing is required... I sync my WM smartphone to my notebook already. The Redfly simply gives me an alternate way to access the same data... NOT replicate that data.

I use ListPro to organize data. I have the desktop windows version and the Windows Mobile version. Both copies are automatically synced. With the Redfly, I have access to that data because it is already there. With a netbook, I would have to ensure that the data is copied over to the netbook (or put it on some online storage area and hope that I have a net connection when I need it).

[Melmation @ Aug 7th 2008 5:20PM]

I feel this is pointless, nay, I KNOW this is pointless. It's like releasing a mobile phone at 5 times the cost of a normal phone except leaving the phone part out. Why? Really, what a waste of time, resources, materials and human life.

I might just go and invent a laptop shaped companion for my mono bluetooth headset and all you see on the screen is the letters 'ON' and 'OFF' but for it to work you must have it beside your head so you can't see the screen anyway.

Grumpf!

[amb9800 @ Aug 7th 2008 5:21PM]

Well, as a netbook (HP 2133) + smartphone owner, I could see a point in its battery life and simplicity -- no need to deal with PIM, file, or media syncing, because it's all on the phone.

That said, $499 is a bit steep for something of this sort, and I bet its keyboard isn't anywhere close to the 2133's (though most other netbooks' aren't either).

[JohnnyBoy @ Aug 7th 2008 5:42PM]

Is it just me, or does this thing look like it was designed in 1985?

[Christian @ Aug 7th 2008 5:45PM]

I thought the same thing. Apparently for $499, they couldn't afford to hire any industrial designers.

[George @ Aug 7th 2008 6:10PM]

the redfly is too expensive for what it provides. instead of selling it as a stand alone product it should have been a feature on smaller netbooks such as the Eee PC. Now if you think of it the size is similar and the Eee PC can do much more for much less $$$. But lets say that the Eee PC had the ability to switch into a redfly mode and it just gives up it's monitor and keyboard with some usb port to be used as a redfly like device. saves power since no cpu or memory is really being used. THAT would be a much better device and probably up the sales of the EeePC too.

[Jah @ Aug 8th 2008 3:13AM]

I agree. Redfly should port their s/w to run on the EEE and they could say charge $50 fo that and they'll have better sales overall and wee can all buy the EEE901 :-)

[Primo @ Aug 7th 2008 5:52PM]

Maybe there are some numbers you should keep in mind that aren't being thought about, such as upkeep, and upgrading a netbook, which will be surpassed by technology, only have so much room for expansion, etc, etc...especially in a business setting where how many thousands a year do companies spend on training employees to use new technology, and thats already after the initial cost of the device itself.
Now think about the REDFLY, it's are the phones capabilities, as phones capabilities, memory, and processors increase I can still keep and use the same REDFLY without having to upgrade the device itself....If I know my Smartphone/PPC OS, then I know the REDFLY's OS, no training necessary (or added cost for training)...i can carry my Powerpoint presentations, spreadsheets, word documents, emails, contacts and everything else needed right on my phone..I have a VGA out so if I need to throw up a Powerpoint presentation to a client I plug it into a projector and show my Presentation...Try to match 8 hours of battery life while charging your phone on a netbook. How bout I Don't have to pay extra for a data plan? I have my 3g phone and i'm good to go browsing the internet on a full 8" screen.
I think you have been too quick to write this device off, just as you did the Foleo and both here and Gizmodo have written articles after the Foleo was concelled about how it had potential.

[Adam @ Aug 8th 2008 10:49AM]

I agree with Primo. The TCO of a device like this can be a big factor for corporate data centers who are concerned with management costs and security.

PS: I have a Redfly, and I love it! It allows me to quickly access data from work and be done with my work in the time that it takes me to boot up my laptop in a lot of cases. Am I going to get rid of my laptop, no, but there are a lot of cases where I leave it at home or in my travel bag being I don't need the "full" capabilities of a laptop. And just pulling out the Redfly gets the job done a lot more quickly.

[Phil @ Aug 7th 2008 6:09PM]

that indeed has to be the ugliest piece of plastic i have ever laid eyes upon. at least the foleo didn't look like it's cost 10$ to make.

[burntpigeonproductions @ Aug 7th 2008 6:25PM]

This thing is worth 100 dollars, tops.

[jason51873 @ Aug 7th 2008 6:39PM]

agree

[jason51873 @ Aug 7th 2008 6:39PM]

I agree with Engadget - this thing is rubbish!

[Patrick @ Aug 7th 2008 6:40PM]

$100 maybe, not any more though.

[bjsguess @ Aug 7th 2008 7:45PM]

PDANet is your friend.

Why would I want to use Pocket versions of Office? Get a Netbook and have the real versions. You know, the ones that actually allow you to do more than change the font.

Battery life is great and for some people, in some situations, I can see that being a huge plus. For most users I would suspect that having 8 hours is more of a nice to have rather than a need.

As for syncing ... is there some issue I don't know about? My device syncs both with USB and Bluetooth. It takes just a few seconds and copies all my files appropriately. Not seeing the benefit of this at all.

[Adam @ Aug 8th 2008 10:50AM]

If you use the Redfly with Citrix XenApp or GoToMeeting, you can get full Windows App functionality for business users, or just use your phone to connect to your home PC.

IMO there are real advantages to a device like the Redfly, but as with every device, it's not for everyone.

[Matthewmongan @ Aug 7th 2008 8:33PM]

coming from a guy who still uses his Hp Jornada 720:

this thing is a POS. really it is, but the foleo (which still had a stand alone OS) was on to something. a student/writer/average pc user only does a handful of things on their pc. the embedded platform with its instant on boot from rom is perfect for email, IM, web, and office work. thats all i use my laptop for, and it sucks in a classroom because we only got 4 hours on battery (if im lucky) and its 10x the computer i need. if it were my only computer, sure it would be great, but i have a desktop for all the heavy stuff.

the jornada is perfect for the CEO or student who needs to be connected on the go and jott notes on a good keyboard. oh, and i dont care what you say i can touch type on my jornada and if you cant, try harder. so even an eeepc is a bit much for my needs and lacks the power/usage envelope that i desire.

people need to reinvest their time into the system on a chip model and start cranking out embedded systems. the foleo would have worked for me. this however, probably not because it absolutely needs the phone to tether. the foleo started out like this but after people flipped out they created a splashtop like os with limited capabilities that could optionally sync to a treo for internet and doc sync.

[E. Douglas Jensen @ Aug 8th 2008 6:29PM]

I too have an HP 720 but I use my NEC 900 more often because the 720 requires that I carry its dock for any IO or charging, but the 900 doesn't. Of course the 900 is bigger than the 720 but it's about the right size/capability tradeoff for me. The 900 is instant on and I have every program I need for it.

[Aaron @ Aug 7th 2008 8:52PM]

But does it run doom?

[Pat @ Aug 7th 2008 11:32PM]

This gets me back to my NEC MobilePro 780 and a serial cable to an old Nokia checking a PPP connection at 19.2Kbs.

If it supported Blackberry and had a screen for presentations - I would buy them and pull all of the laptops back from all but a few users. Managing access and information thru BES would save me so many headaches.

This is for users in corporate environments, looks poorly executed and missing some key features, but on the right path. You would not believe the actual runtime of Office applications on most laptops, close to 75% of their use is Outlook and Browsing. Other than a road warriors in sales and tech support who don't have desktop or have specific needs this is close.

(I still use my MobilePro, but now it runs NetBSD)

Advice, drop the price, integrate with RIM, and brand it thru the carriers

[Sdakidd @ Aug 8th 2008 12:05AM]

Honestly, why wouldn't you invest the money into a EEE PC and use mymobiler freeware http://www.mymobiler.com/... it doesnt make any sense you would be paying 500 for extended battery life and a "true" screen resolution when you could get a fully functional PC that makes no sense..

[hiko36 @ Aug 8th 2008 2:39AM]

I'm still confused as to what this does...

[Erwos @ Aug 8th 2008 6:30AM]

For $100-$200, I could almost envision getting one of these for an HTC Touch Pro, something like that. But $500 is just way too much, especially considering the limitations that WM 6.1 has.

[reem @ Aug 11th 2008 1:26AM]

it's not the product I don't like (if it came in a different color (like black) I'd like it even more) but it's the price. 5Benies is a more than twice what this thing is actually worth, when it doesn't have an OS, internal memory or even a speaker of it's own. Without the phone it's a $500 paper weight.