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REDFLY Windows Mobile Left

Press/News on Wednesday November 4, 2009

REDFLY Mobile Companion C8N Review

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The Celio REDFLY is an interesting idea, and it's executed very well. It looks a lot like a typical netbook, only a little smaller, and weighs about the same as well. But the REDFLY can't do anything on its own. Instead, you tether your smartphone to the device using Bluetooth or USB. Your smartphone's display goes black (though the REDFLY has no speakers, so any sound will still come out of your phone) and the REDFLY's screen displays what you'd see on the phone's screen, larger and at higher resolution. You use the REDFLY's keyboard and trackpad to navigate.



Celio's tagline for the REDFLY is "Use your smartphone like a laptop," and it really delivers there, as long as your phone can handle it. For example, Microsoft Word on the REDFLY looked similar to a full-size version of Word, but there was a slight delay between when I hit a key and when the letter appeared on screen. When I tried Word on the same phone (an AT&T Tilt) without the REDFLY, however, I noticed exactly the same delay--it wasn't a problem with the REDFLY, but with the phone.



If you've already got a compatible phone, however, you should consider the REDFLY. It smoothly converts the tiny screen and keyboard of a smartphone into a netbook-like environment, provides extra battery life for your phone, and saves you from having to synchronize data between your phone and portable computer. As REDFLY adds support for more phones, it could become a must-have device for smartphone users.



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