Almost nifty.

Interesting, but the price is a little high.

Maybe if it was about $100

I guess Redfly didn't learn from Palm. This is obviously aimed at the business class, yet what self-respecting business person doesn't already have a laptop which perfoms the same functions and much more?

That.
Is.
Horrible.

Sorry, that's all I can say.
I think its a useless idea besides. I use a smartphone so I can do all this stuff and then sync it when I have my computer/laptop handy, so how does one carrying this thing NOT defeat the purpose of a smartphone entirely? I mean, for that matter, just use our laptop.

whats funny is how many of us are up checking gizmodo at 2am...and not getting laid instead.

Tells something about your audience, eh giz?

@Rob C: Haven't you seen the "most inappropriate places to surf gizmodo" topics? Half of these people probably -are- getting laid while they read this...

@forrestcook:it doesnt count when its with their own hands though... just not the same.

Is it just me or does the mouse pad and shell of the laptop/thing look like an old rug.

Sorry, 8525 doesn't need a bigger screen, or Famicon colors to make it useful. Have a laptop that does all that this WM Foleo does+run Win XP+run DOS.

However, these guys could be smart, put a few radios in, and a decent headset, wammo, replacement for 8525 at the office.

i dont know why redfly didnt learn from palm
this laptop is pointless its only for upper-upper-stupid buisnessmen

imo the only thing this has going for it over tiny pcs like oqo, is battery life and the fact that it can power your phone (well and price, but the target market for this usually doesnt care how much their business tools cost)...i honestly cant see someone who doesnt have room for a laptop, having room for one of these instead.

In a world where tablets and UMPCs are niche products... do we need yet another niche to try and fill?

There is a reason the Faileo got culled before it had a chance.

Also: Business? In famicon colours? FAIL!

Just like the Foleo, this is a pointless product that will not sell. And just like Palm, Celio should junk this POS before they waste any more money on it. Do people read Gizmodo?

Nearly half a million Eee PCs shipped and folks still think there's no market for an inexpensive ultralight? I'm boggled.

I'd like to read some hands on accounts of how it does at it's appointed task.

Then I'd like to read some accounts of folks hacking the crap out of it!

Looks like fun.

"I don't know-the Palm Foleo wasn't all that bad"

Hehe:
"Not what I'd call revolutionary... Essentially, it's an extra gadget Palm wants us to lug around. If that's the case (and we're hoping this rumor is false), we'll have to pass." - MAY 30 2007
[gizmodo.com]

"But does that mean it sucks? (Seriously, I'm really asking.)" - MAY 30 2007
[gizmodo.com]

"I know, I know, you're terribly upset, all five of you who defended the offbeat mobile companion when it was introduced last May." - SEP 4 2007
[gizmodo.com]

Why not just buy a cheap laptop that would have more options for the same price? :P

@NameGoesHere: Nah. Too smart of an idea.

I think a device like this becomes more relevant when people start to realize they don't want to carry around a brick in their pocket with a slide out keyboard. A nice candy-bar or small flip with WM could be the processing and radio hub where this is just an interface to meet the needs of our fat fingers and fading eyesight (I'm talking to you 12 year olds who arean't eating their carrots!). Besides the life-sized/anatomically correct interface, the long battery life and USB host are big deals as well. I know how much people love to take out their MicroSD card, put it into a MiniSD adapter, put that into a card reader and then plug that into a USB port on your non-Bluetooth lappy or desktop just to get some music on the phone. If the evolution of WM continues and it ends up being something closer to a super light XP then something like this packaged with a non-sliding-keyboard phone, smaller than a VHS tape, for around 500.00 could be a nice larger than niche market product.

EWWW!!

Speaking from my limited experience in the business world, I think a device like this has a place, but this is not quite it. The Foleo and this are on the right track, but it needs to go a few steps further. Businesses have been removing laptops from the hands of staff due to security concerns, and a device like this which is nothing more than a portal into the office (Terminal Services / Citrix - or connecting to a variety of portable devices for temporary data, like a Windows Mobile, Palm, or BlackBerry) is a fantastic concept. Although, clearly this device only does a fraction of what I think it needs to do.

The price is less of a concern in a business environment, so I suspect they probably have that in the right ballpark. Keep in mind that businesses do not scoff at spending $500 for something that is nothing but a terminal. The key is that it is so easy to use that anyone can use it, and it connects to the data no matter where you are.

To me, fair price for this item is under $300 (at which point I still don't buy, but for what you get, under $300 sounds right).

$499 sounds to me like they alredy plan to not sell many at all, and need to gouge cash out of the tiny number of people who really have need for this device.

Come to think of it, if Apple were to design such a device, it would be a great way for them to sneak into the business world.

I'd only pay them for this if they made the UI not Windows Mobile.

Well if using external hardware like a keyboard and mouse is what you are looking for... this program is pretty steep with the Price Tag of FREE but it works fantastically!

[mtux.com]

On screen view of the PDA and when minimized you can move the mouse all the way to the left and have a mouse cursor on the actual PDA screen... nice!

For some reason, I'm warming to this a lot more than the Foleo even thought they're basically the same product. Maybe it's after the initial "that's such a stupid product" shock of the Foleo that this seems almost usable. Or maybe perhaps since it's Windows Mobile, it has a lot more functionality than the more simplistic (but seemingly more streamlined) Palm platform.

Monty made a good point that I am so close to having be a reality. I leave my work laptop at work, and have a desktop, both of which I can remotely access. This way I can be connected to both networks wherever I want. Currently I'm using my old personal laptop with an aircard (i heart anywhere-anytime-3g internet) to access my other 2 computers if I'm in a coffeeshop, at the airport, or even in a cab.

Ideally, all I would need is a low end ultraportable with a long battery life(fuel cell maybe?) and XP installed with a pcmcia slot and I could be fully connected whereever I go.

That EeePC w/ installed aircard is perfect....except I can't solder.....

I'd buy this if:
it had a SSD of at least 16GB or 32GB
It ran windows or linux
It was able to use it's own 3g modem
It was a little cheaper

Nowadays, my T-Mobile DASH is used for web surfing only when I have forgotten to bring my Eee along.

This thing is retarded (especially at that price!) Let's take a tiny portable device, and make it big, yet just as limited. What an advantage! LOL

I sat down with the CEO at Celio and talked about the REDFLY last week. If you want to see his comments and a demo of the Celio REDFLY device, you can see the video on PodTech.net at [www.podtech.net]

Why aren't them releasing this not as an extension to your phone but as a phone itself.

With bluetooth you can still have the unakward feel of a phone for calls and such, and you will end up having a computer that runs either PalmOS or Windows Mobile (6 please, thanks). It would be cheaper to make simply because you can forget some of the miniaturized components and you will end up with a smarter looking gizmo than a vanilla umpc (unless it folds its screen).

I think ultimately, they are targeting road warriors that want to be connected all the time to salesforce.com/email and can also easily view and edit excel graphs and word docs and send them back instantly after making changes and then secondly to huge geeks like us that will see that we can use our smartphones internet connection and drop our aircard service as smartphones continue to have faster processors (htc's touch cruise has a 400 mega hertz one and 800 mega hertz coming out soon). I'll bet they bring the price down for consumers after gouging businesses first.