U.S. Army ignores our advice, outfits troops with REDFLY terminals
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted October 16th 2009 1:23PM
posted October 16th 2009 1:23PM
Ah, the REDFLY Mobile Companion. We've had some laughs at its expense, sure, but never doubted that someone out there would find a use for the thing. And what do we have here? It looks like our favorite Foleo doppelgänger is among a number of portable gadgets providing the backbone of the U.S. Army's "Go Mobile" system. Based around a WinMo phone that soldiers can use to connect to the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) service for all their mission critical e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and documents, the kit includes a wireless smart card reader for authenticating onto Army networks, a printer, a charging kit (including various solar options), a pico projector, VR goggles simulating a 50-inch display, and an unspecified "dumb terminal" which -- as the picture above suggest -- could only be our old friend from Celio. Which is fine, sure -- but what ever happened to those bad-ass exoskeletons we were promised all those years ago?
You'd think with all the billions of dollars being poured into the US Military, they come with something even a little bespoke. Instead of just getting a bunch of third-party gadgets, throw them together, and let the soldier deal with the rest
Bring On the Bad Ass Exoskeltons we need em quick so we can fight the lhc!
Just give 'em a Gameboy. They've already proven themselves in combat situations.
ITT: People don't understand what Engagdet is talking about
I'm very glad to see this post is attracting so much feedback. As one who is intimately involved in this deployment, I can admit that I started out with the belief that the solution should really be focused on just the approved mobile devices (many Windows Mobile 6.x devices today) and the required bluetooth SmartCard/CAC readers--those two items are the only required "backbone" of the solution. All of the peripherals that you see were actually selected by active duty service members to complement the minimum solution after working with them hands-on rather than being gadgets included by civilians or contractors. For me, the best PocketPC I can find and a bluetooth CAC reader make the solution complete since I'm typically near a laptop, too, but others have found the RedFly to be invaluable for instant-on access to email.
If there are peripherals that you feel would complement the solution (WinMo 6.x-based), please feel free to post them here for us to further investigate.