Guest Paul (MVP) Posted September 26, 2008 Report Posted September 26, 2008 The image above probably says it all really... until the 31st October you can grab a Celio REDFLY - their Smartphone companion device - for only $199 as part of a special 'seed program'. While the device is great, at the initial $499 or later $399 it was a tough call against one of the new generation of Netbooks (depending on your usage scenario of course), but at $199 it's a very much more appealing proposition! To learn more about the REDFLY you can check out my original 'Ask Paul' thread. In Celio's own words, the REDFLY is 'a sleek clamshell design that includes an 8" display, a full function keyboard, and a touchpad mouse. Measuring just 1x6x9 inches and only 2 pounds, the REDFLY Mobile Companion offers over 8 hours of battery life and boots instantly! It also adds three new features - instant VGA output, access to USB flash drives, and the ability to charge your smartphone via USB.' The killer features for me have always been the instant usability (no data held on the device), the stunning battery life and the great size. I know we have some REDFLY owners here on MoDaCo... pitch in with your thoughts on the device (and the price drop!) P PS I added one to the cart, and it came to $250 including UK delivery!
Guest Syphon Filter Posted September 26, 2008 Report Posted September 26, 2008 Lets be serious for a moment. In my opinion the Redfly is complete waste of time! Why would you drop $199 on this when you can still get a netbook for (almost) comparable money? You cant even use this thing without a smartphone! It's just TERMINAL. Even with the instant usability and battery life, it just seems like a waste of time. Netbooks FTW!
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted September 26, 2008 Report Posted September 26, 2008 Valid points... things I think in the Redfly's favour: - Awesome battery life, phone still charged after 8 hours tethered use - Data connection anywhere you phone was one - Super-easy deployment to staff for a business that has already deployed WinMo devices - No data duplication - No data loss if Redfly is lost It is a niche, but for people it DOES suit, I think it's excellent. P
Guest fatbutcher Posted September 26, 2008 Report Posted September 26, 2008 ooh, now thats the right sort of price. Anyone using one of these in anger with a diamond/compact? I know its not on the supported devices list, but does it work with VGA devces ok now?
Guest fatbutcher Posted September 26, 2008 Report Posted September 26, 2008 Lets be serious for a moment. In my opinion the Redfly is complete waste of time! Why would you drop $199 on this when you can still get a netbook for (almost) comparable money? You cant even use this thing without a smartphone! It's just TERMINAL. Even with the instant usability and battery life, it just seems like a waste of time. Netbooks FTW! The main draw for me is having it to extend the battery life of my phone when I'm away, you could spend half as much on a external battery extender, why not pay a bit more and get an external keyboard and screen too. Of couse at the price it was before I totally agree.
Guest Balifly33 Posted September 26, 2008 Report Posted September 26, 2008 (edited) Has anyone tried getting one of these to work with an Omnia? Checked W/ CelioCorp and got the following response: While it is our intent to support all Windows Mobile based phones, we are not currently supporting the Omnia I900 phone. We do however, have this phone on our horizon for the future. My suggestion is to check our web site often for continual phone and driver updates. Have a Great Day! I'm Hopeful! Edited September 30, 2008 by Balifly33
Guest whatledog Posted September 26, 2008 Report Posted September 26, 2008 Has anyone tried getting one of these to work with an Omnia? Yeah, if I were to get an Omnia, I'd think about getting something like this. Being able to use the keyboard only at times when I need to and, still have the thinness (is that a word?) of the Omnia for everyday carrying around would be cool. But that's what my bluetooth and/or wireless KBs are for, right? Uh, Maybe a "no" on the redfly....
Guest Balifly33 Posted September 27, 2008 Report Posted September 27, 2008 I've got a Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard but i cant seem to locate any drivers to get it to work on my Omnia... Sucks, I'm diggin the Redfly I just dont wanna pony up 2 bills if its not gonna work with my phone. I imagine its just a matter of time till a driver is developed my only concern is the unusual screen size of the Omnia.]
Guest pbarclay Posted September 27, 2008 Report Posted September 27, 2008 As far as I am aware, there aren't any Think Outside drivers for WM6+ devices. I tried downloading a driver from the Think Outside website when I purchased my Touch Dual and then realised that the only option is to rely upon the inbuilt drivers that support the device. Basically, once you have paired it as a bluetooth device, it should work fine and should not be affected by the screen pixel count. However, the support for the iGo keyboard on the Touch Dual is a bit weird. The Touch Dual has a half keyboard which can work in XT9 mode. This must be disabled for the iGo to work as it keeps trying to autocomplete words which is very irritating. So, it must be used in ABC mode but this also causes weird entries unless the on-screen keyboard is displayed when everything works fine. If other keyboard layouts are displayed, such as letter recogniser, it also tried to autocomplete. Needless to say, it is a pain having to ensure that the device is in the correct mode but well worth it for Word documents. I have just spent 3 days at a conference in Italy and it was an ideal setup for note taking during the lectures. Unfortunately some of the symbols do not work such as £ nor do the application launcher buttons. However, the sheer brilliance of the iGo keyboard's design and portability together with fantastic battery life makes it ideal for anyone who uses a Pocket PC. The iGo is great on a small desk but even works when sitting on my lap, making it ideal for all talks.
Guest whatledog Posted September 28, 2008 Report Posted September 28, 2008 As far as the Igo KB goes, I use it with a wizard with wm6.1 on it. I took the ppc5 driver and installed the cab. You cannot pair the kb using start/settings/bluetooth/...; you must use the igo program to pair the device. It seems to work ok for me. I just hope the Omnia will be the same way, WHENEVER ATT BRINGS IT TO THE US ;)
Guest Metoo Posted September 28, 2008 Report Posted September 28, 2008 (edited) PS I added one to the cart, and it came to $250 including UK delivery! Don't forget to allow for import duty, VAT and courier admin fees on top! Edit: All the "Buy Now" links redirect to their Amazon.com store, which won't allow delivery to the UK anyway... Edited September 28, 2008 by Metoo
Guest Markda2000 Posted September 28, 2008 Report Posted September 28, 2008 Don't forget to allow for import duty, VAT and courier admin fees on top! Edit: All the "Buy Now" links redirect to their Amazon.com store, which won't allow delivery to the UK anyway... Paul How did you manage to get to a "check out" for a Uk delivery?
Guest ZSX Posted September 29, 2008 Report Posted September 29, 2008 (edited) As far as I am aware, there aren't any Think Outside drivers for WM6+ devices. There are unofficial drivers. I am using a Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard with my Diamond and my Trinity, both on 6.1. Edited September 29, 2008 by ZSX
Guest Ice Man Posted September 29, 2008 Report Posted September 29, 2008 Any news if this will expand to work with the Omnia Paul, also do you know if there is support for bluetooth mousage?
Guest Balifly33 Posted September 30, 2008 Report Posted September 30, 2008 There are unofficial drivers. I am using a Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard with my Diamond and my Trinity, both on 6.1. Where perhaps did you come across these unofficial drivers; i'd really like to know as my Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard is collecting dust on my shelf.
Guest whatledog Posted September 30, 2008 Report Posted September 30, 2008 Where perhaps did you come across these unofficial drivers; i'd really like to know as my Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard is collecting dust on my shelf. I just used the ppc5 drivers on my wizard with 6.1 on it. Try that.
Guest Matchstick Posted September 30, 2008 Report Posted September 30, 2008 Expansys UK seem to have caught onto the price drop and are now listing the Redfly for £126.07 inc VAT http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?partner=modaco&i=164172 Now to see if I have any £10 off vouchers left...
Guest nokiaguy Posted October 1, 2008 Report Posted October 1, 2008 just need a bit of clarification- can the driver be downloaded over the air straight to the phone?im currently using a t mobile vario3
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted October 1, 2008 Report Posted October 1, 2008 Wow, now THAT is a good deal IMHO! 126 quid - 10 quid voucher... P
Guest Metoo Posted October 1, 2008 Report Posted October 1, 2008 Wow, now THAT is a good deal IMHO! 126 quid - 10 quid voucher... P Informative review here might help you decide whether it's going to be a useful, or redundant, piece of plastic. I don't like the sound of it struggling with anything other than basic WM apps, seems a bit of a waste of time if it can't even do what it is supposed to do! http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/13/re...phone_terminal/
Guest Matchstick Posted October 1, 2008 Report Posted October 1, 2008 Wow, now THAT is a good deal IMHO! 126 quid - 10 quid voucher... P Sadly it appears that it's a Special Offer price (might be nice to say that somewhere on the page) so it doesn't work with vouchers, but still that's a damn good price.
Guest Markda2000 Posted October 1, 2008 Report Posted October 1, 2008 Sadly it appears that it's a Special Offer price (might be nice to say that somewhere on the page) so it doesn't work with vouchers, but still that's a damn good price. ordered mine and the voucher worled too. expecting delivery on Friday. ;)
Guest Matchstick Posted October 3, 2008 Report Posted October 3, 2008 (edited) ordered mine and the voucher worled too. expecting delivery on Friday. :wacko: I got mine yesterday ;) I've managed to get it working on both a Touch Diamond and an Omnia by using the Touch (400MHz) driver from http://www.celiocorp.com/install/beta/ It's not perfect (Opera not working is a pain) but on the couple of train journeys I've done so far it's worked really quite well and I can really see the advantages of using it. Edited October 3, 2008 by Matchstick
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted October 3, 2008 Report Posted October 3, 2008 Sweet, will have to try mine on the Omnia! Not seen the beta area before... P
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted October 3, 2008 Report Posted October 3, 2008 Seems to work OK with the Omnia, flashed Beta firmware too to the Redfly. Bit of graphical corruption up top? P
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