Can the REDFLY Windows Mobile Smartphone Companion succeed where the Foleo couldn’t?

Slashdot It! The first mobile device I saw at CES 2008 earlier this year was the REDFLY Mobile Companion and I was very interested in checking the device out further. Celio Corporation just sent me an early beta version of the REDFLY Windows Mobile Smartphone Companion to evaluate for the next 2-3 weeks. The Palm Foleo project was shut down before launch and I am curious about whether or not a mobile phone companion device like this has a viable market. Earlier estimates had it priced at US$500 and if that is the release price I think that will be too high for most people. I’ll have to check it out in more detail, but if it was something like US$250 then I may see the value in a device like this. I took quite a few photos as you can see in my image gallery and also shot a video of the device in action. Specs The REDFLY is intended to provide you with a larger display and keyboard to use with your Windows Mobile device so you can be more productive on the go. The display is an 8 inch 800×480 WVGA non-touch screen display. The keyboard is quite large and measures about 8 inches wide by 3 inches deep. The device has 2 USB 2.0 powered ports on the back so you can connect and charge your device at the same time. A Bluetooth 2.0 radio is included so you can connect to your mobile devices wirelessly after you first make a cabled connection to setup the device. A non-removable Lithium Polymer battery is used to run the REDFLY and charge your devices. Stated battery life is something like 8 hours. The REDFLY Mobile Companion weighs in at 2 pounds. The device is currently certified to work with the AT&T Tilt, Sprint 700w/wx, Sprint HTC Mogul, Verizon 700w/wx, Verizon SCH-i760, and Verizon XV6800 devices. I also loaded the AT&T Tilt driver on my HTC Advantage and it worked very well, even with my RealVGA utility loaded to give me a richer VGA experience on the Advantage. Further devices will be listed as they are tested. I next need to try out my T-Mobile Shadow device. Via ZD NET Get Daily Updates via Email Protect your computer with Windows Onecare Get paid $7.50 for reviewing my post