Celio Redfly On Sale for $199

Posted By: Ryan Kairer Thursday, September 25, 2008 3:48:55 PM

Celio RedflyThe Celio Redfly mobile companion has just been reduced to $199 in the PalmInfocenter store. Celio Corp is running a seed unit program offering the device for just $199 for a limited time. The Redfly connects up with your Windows Mobile smartphone over USB or Bluetooth to give you a larger keyboard and an 8-inch 800 x 480 pixel screen, all while utilizing the same apps and memory from your device. It also packs in a 4,500 mAh battery which typically lasts 8 hours and can also recharge your smartphone.

The Celio Redfly is available now for $199, which is 50% off the normal $399 MSRP. It is compatible with all Palm Treo's running Windows Mobile, including the new Treo Pro and 800w.

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'Seed Program', huh?

Gekko @ 9/25/2008 3:58:45 PM # Q

hmmmmn....

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
Ryan @ 9/25/2008 4:01:11 PM # Q
The CEO explains it on their blog:


Well, a bunch of us were sitting around the conference room table early this week discussing how once someone actually tries a REDFLY for a few hours, they just don't want to give it back. We also find that once someone has a REDFLY in their hands, they tend to do a lot of word-of-mouth marketing for us.

So, we thought, "Why don't we take part of the marketing budget for a few weeks to subsidize a special seed program? That way we can get a large number of units out into the market, seed some mobile enthusiasts and get them to help spread the word by showing REDFLY to people."

We've done just that. We have set aside a large (but very finite) number of REDFLYs for this special program. They're sitting on palettes right now in the warehouse ready to ship.

http://blog.celiocorp.com/2008/09/25/get-redfly-for-199/

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
mikecane @ 9/25/2008 4:12:23 PM # Q
Well, I have to hand it to them, that's pretty sharp thinking. I wish more companies thought like that. I don't have a WinMob device, but if I did, this would be tempting.

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
Gekko @ 9/26/2008 5:59:14 AM # Q

what's the *conceptual* difference between this and the fooleo?

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
hkklife @ 9/26/2008 8:52:55 AM # Q
The Fooleo had *SOME* inherent built-in functionality. It had a Opera web browser built-in (but no e-mail client), 128mb RAM, a 416mhz CPU, SDHC + CF slots and TV-out. The Fooleo actually had a WindRiver Linux-based OS and users could install 3rd party apps etc. It also had wi-fi built-in so it could do SOME stuff without a smartphone. The Redfly depends on its host smartphone for EVERYTHING. The Redfly is basically an external keyboard/display that installs a driver on your WinMob smartphone.

Basically, the Fooleo had less power & functionality than an EEE (or similar netbook) but much more than the Redfly.

The Redfly is finally where these silly things need to be price-wise ($200) but that's apparently limited-time/going out of business/clearance pricing. And the Redfly is even more crippled than the Fooleo was. Not to mention the Opera browser on the Fooleo, crippledas it was, is still considerably better than the mobile IE found on WinMob is when blown up on the Redfly's bigscreen.

The only possible hope for a device like this would be to have better-than-Fooleo functionality at Redfly pricing with full native connectivity and storage capabilities. Otherwise, it's easier to just carry an XP-based netbook that you KNOW works and can sync with your smartphone the old-fashioned way.



Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
Gekko @ 9/27/2008 12:18:07 PM # Q

my question is, what would make redfly a success given that fooleo was a fail?


RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
mikecane @ 9/27/2008 3:25:54 PM # Q
Gekko, nothing. Which is why I said it'll be $99 on ebay by year's end.

OTOH, it might appeal to Suits and the like. You guys are, after all, weird.

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
hkklife @ 9/27/2008 8:16:26 PM # Q
The Fooleo was doomed from the start by several things:


1. (Relatively) high expectations from Palm, the "instant-on, value added bundled software PDA/smartphone company"

2. Palm would never have gottten desperate to unload Fooleos at $199. HAD the Fooleo actually made it to market, they'd just keep them around ad infinitum at $500 ala the LifeDrive and then quietly EOL it from one day to the next.

3. The Redfly might be a bit, ahem, "easier" to manage due its utter lack of an OS & inherent functionality. So it could pick up a few sales to the "suits" as Mike mentions but nothing that's gonna give it EEE-style numbers!


I never expected the Redfly to succeed where the Fooleo failed.

It would take the Fooleo's feature set & hardware PLUS the Redfly's $199 pricing and would STILL need a software bundle & hardware (CPU, storage etc) boost to have even a slim chance of succeeding.

The trick I'd like to see would be one of the many "me too" netbook companies come up with some kind zero configuration one-touch pairing with certain smartphones. Past that, a small netbook w/ either wi-fi or a 3G datacard will probably do what everyone who would've bought a Fooleo or a Redfly would want it to do.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
TooMuch @ 9/28/2008 5:14:50 AM # Q
The one thing that makes a Redfly attractive vs. Foleo/UMPC/netbook is that the smartphone is the central memory unit. After pairing and turning off the Redfly there is no need to sync, transfer, etc. any data back to the phone as the smartphone is the central memory unit. That is the quickest sequence for mobility.

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
nastebu @ 9/28/2008 9:32:26 AM # Q
Aren't we going to the cloud as the "central memory unit"? One of the killers of the iPhone is there's basically no need to sync with mobileme. Dates and contacts sync from the server. With the right third party software so do the todos, although I have mine set up to sync via wifi automatically when it logs on the network.

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
joad @ 9/28/2008 1:39:53 PM # Q
This device is going in a direction that I like, though the fact it only runs on WinceMob for now is disappointing.

The holy grail for PDAs and Smartphones has been larger keyboards and more readable screens while making the overall size smaller and lighter.... This type of thing offers a possible compromise - grafting on enhanced hardware to the existing smartphone CPU during times of extended use.

Palm would have been WAY more ahead and visionary by doing something like this - possibly with a docking station built into it or a USB interface with charging abilities. I coined the term "Fooleo" and watched as that pig sank under the weight of its ridiculous redundancies. THIS "Redfly" idea is what the Jeff Hawkins of the early 1990's would have been aiming for.


Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.

RE: 'Seed Program', huh?
mikecane @ 9/28/2008 6:02:36 PM # Q
>>>Palm would never have gottten desperate to unload Fooleos at $199.

Bloody hell. You just jarred my memory. That was actually something I was going to suggest in the third part of my Foleo series at the old blog. No wonder I instinctively liked Redfly's strategy! It was precisely my own! Ha!

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I sorta like Engadget's spin

SeldomVisitor @ 9/25/2008 4:28:09 PM # Q
- http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/25/celios-redfly-down-to-199-still-198-too-expensive/

RE: I sorta like Engadget's spin
dagwud @ 9/25/2008 5:56:39 PM # Q
Foleo me once, shame on Palm.
Foleo me twice, shame on Celio.

(Sorry. Couldn't help it.)

-
PalmPilot Pro (1997) -> III (1998) -> Vx (1999) -> m500 (2001) -> m515 (2002) -> Tx (2007)

RE: I sorta like Engadget's spin
mikecane @ 9/25/2008 6:00:53 PM # Q
Nah, come on. Engadget is being a pack of snarky bastards. Even *I* said it'd be worth $99.00. So $199 is not bad for what it *does*.

RE: I sorta like Engadget's spin
joad @ 9/28/2008 1:48:35 PM # Q
One nice feature: no licensing problems running with the unlimited data plan built into the Treo. Web surfing would be a heck of a lot more workable on commutes and such, with a lot less weight. Too bad we're still stuck with Blazer and Opera for Browsers...

It's not worth $400 to me, presently not $200 either. Around $100 it'd be a likely impulse purchase. Of course, without Palm drivers it's worth $0.


Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.

Reply to this comment

OT: I must be out of the loop

Gekko @ 9/25/2008 6:44:55 PM # Q

i had no idea such animals existed. it's amazing how far we've com in the last 10 years...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcUpPQy_ndI


RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
SeldomVisitor @ 9/26/2008 3:45:51 AM # Q
Complete with stylus!

Dick Tracy would be envious.

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
mikecane @ 9/26/2008 10:30:34 AM # Q
Enjoy the leukemia created by the RFI/EMI!

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
Gekko @ 9/26/2008 11:44:44 AM # Q

gotta love that song in the demo video!

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
Gekko @ 9/26/2008 11:46:19 AM # Q

mikecane - i would think you'd love this type of gadgetry as it comes right out of your science fiction genre of days long gone.


RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
abosco @ 9/26/2008 1:36:07 PM # Q
Wow, very cool technology. If you buy one, also plan on surrendering your genitals, because you won't be needing those for a long, long time.

That chick's voice is mesmerizing:

Song: Sugar in the Marmalade
Artist: Janice Wei
Album: Day & Night

Lyrics:

Be there, be there love i'll give you
tonight you build my star in the sky
be there, be there love i'll give you tonight
come on and dance

sugar in the marmalade
sweet like lemonade
sugar in the marmalade
love will come our way

(A) ooh baby love me
miracles happen you're near
say three words, baby, you will see
see that you'll be all for me

(B) you're my everything
wanna kiss you til break of spring
singing love songs for you and me
take my hand and run with me

(C) sugar in the marmalade
sweet like lemonade
sugar in the marmalade
love will come our way
say my name and the magic will begin
love will take us to many different place
can you do it baby can you do it baby
can you do it baby

Repeat (B) (C)

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + S710a

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
mikecane @ 9/27/2008 7:17:24 AM # Q
Gekko: I grew up and got all scientifically interested. So now I know RFI/EMI on your frikkin wrist for 18 hrs/day is Not Good. But you don't need to procreate, so do go buy.

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
SeldomVisitor @ 9/27/2008 8:09:38 AM # Q
> ...So now I know RFI/EMI on your frikkin wrist for 18 hrs/day
> is Not Good. But you don't need to procreate, so do go buy.

Hmmm...he uses his hand to...uh...procreate?...hmmm...

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
Gekko @ 9/27/2008 12:23:46 PM # Q

mc - all that shit you eat isn't good for you either, but that doesn't stop you does it?



RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
mikecane @ 9/27/2008 3:24:16 PM # Q
Hey, Gekko, we'll see who survives American Gotterdammerung.

I'll tell you right now, the first one to shed tears will be you.

You guys can't take it:
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/chronicles-of-depression-20-257-suicide/

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
Gekko @ 9/27/2008 4:22:23 PM # Q

i'll live to piss on your grave, cane!

RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
abosco @ 9/27/2008 11:08:09 PM # Q
Can I piss on the grave of Palm first?

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + S710a
RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
joad @ 9/28/2008 1:00:25 PM # Q
Palm beat you to it.


Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.
RE: OT: I must be out of the loop
mikecane @ 9/28/2008 6:03:46 PM # Q
>>>i'll live to piss on your grave, cane!

Make sure you squat, so I can reach up and tear you a new one.

Reply to this comment

I Like Mine

dentenman @ 10/1/2008 7:16:44 PM # Q
My Redfly arrived at my door yesterday, and I must say, I'm a fan.
Although I wouldn't have paid the list price, its a great companion and time saver for me and at two-hundred bucks is about what I'd expect in value.

I've already used it in a couple of meetings and didn't have to stop to pick up my laptop. It's simple and performs just as advertised.

-Treo 750W, Treo 650, Tungsten T3, T, IIIxe

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