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Switched On: REDFLY seeks your green before Halloween
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. A special note this week; this post marks the fourth year of Switched On columns for Engadget, and we'd like to give a big thanks to Ross for all his hard work and intriguing ideas. We're looking forward to the next four! -ed. Palm's abandoned Foleo had a split personality. It was positioned as a smartphone companion, but it was also a new platform. Consumers expected to pay less for the former and saw no need for the latter. But the idea of a small, inexpensive notebook computer certainly struck a chord and now many major PC manufacturers sell Linux and Windows-based "netbooks" that generally start at $499 or less. They are even starting to migrate toward the 10-inch screens that Foleo champion Jeff Hawkins promoted as ideal for accommodating a full-sized keyboard. However, ceci n'est pas une Foleo. While the big boys have pursued one part of the Foleo's promise, Celio Corp. is taking on the other part. The REDFLY "smartphone terminal" (a description that leaves no doubt off the bat that this is currently an IT-focused product) looks like a small notebook PC, but it does not have any processing capabilities of its own. Instead, it uses the operating system and wireless connectivity of a growing list of supported Windows Mobile smartphones. Wrapped in a smooth rubbery plum coating, its industrial styling includes an 8.3-inch screen that runs at a resolution of 800 x 400. Its slightly cramped keyboard is on par with those of 9-inch netbooks and certainly more comfortable than that on the Eee 701. And its short but very wide trackpad tops has two large buttons where you'd expect them to be.After downloading a video driver for a supported Windows Mobile smartphone, the REDFLY must initially connect to a Windows Mobile smartphone via a USB cable; after that, you can use USB or Bluetooth for a wireless connection with the phone. Almost any application that can be used on the phone will accept input from the REDFLY keyboard and trackpad and display on its screen. But not all applications are, of course, created equal.
