Redfly and the IPhone?

[Bill R]

I've finally given in to the marketing hype and purchased an IPhone as a replacement for my Tilt. I understand there are no drivers for the IPhone, but I am going to hold on to my Redfly in the optimistic hope that one day there will be. I'm going to miss it in the interim.

In the meantime, can anyone tell me if Celio is at least experimenting with IPhone drivers?

 

[ckj]

Yes, we have experimented with iPhone drivers. If we release an iPhone driver it would be a ways down the road. The challenge isn't so much a technical challenge (we have the talent and large enough team to pull it off), but kinda the same sort of challenges as the Pre right now in getting our REDFLY driver on a customer's phone without requiring the person to jailbreak the phone. The iPhone 3.0 SDK does open up the I-O of the phone a bit more, but may likely not be open enough for us. Our driver actually installs a second video driver (in addition to the stock driver on the phone) then allows the phone to switch back and forth between both drivers at will). Will Apple allow that level of access in the future without making you the customer jailbreak your iPhone? I don't know, but the move to open up 3.0 is a bit promising for us. Also, will your iPhone apps scale up from the iPhone's native 320 x 480-pixel screen to the REDFLY's 800x480 screen or beyond? No one really knows right now. Bottom line, as soon as those issues can be addressed, we'd be all over the iPhone.

 

[Bill R]

Thanks for the reply and explanation. As I said before, I'm going to hold on to my Redfly just in case you ever get the IPhone to work.

And if nothing else, maybe someone else who had the same question will see your answer.

 

[cst516]

Trust me I am with you. As soon as 3.0 came out I again began checking this site again. I was hoping 3.0 would easily allow my Redfly to work with my Iphone. I will continue to hope and hang on to my Redfly.

 

[Bill R]

Just checking in and hoping for an update. I would be a willing beta tester if you come up with a non-jailbreak version of the software.

 

[ckj]

Still no updates that I can talk about. Don't hold your breath for too long because even if we do get a working driver, there are still all the issues mentioned above to deal with before we'd be able to announce anything official - so it may be a while. Check back anytime for updates.

We obviously would love to support iPhone if possible.

 

[Bill R]

I can only imagine the difficulties in even beta testing. Good luck and I'll definitely keep watching.


Edit: IMHO, Apple is making the same mistake they always make, holding on too tightly to the proprietary hardware.

 

[cst516]

Story of my life with my Redfly

This is the problem with being a technology junkie. I had a Diamond on Sprint before Celio had drivers. I switched to Verizon because of service issues and got a Blackberry. Celio came out with drivers for the diamond, no drivers for
Blackberry of course. I switched to an Iphone (did not like blackberry) and now of course Celio is coming out with drivers for Blackberry. So now I am thinking I should switch again and see if there will be drivers for Iphone so I can switch back. So still have not actually used my Redfly.

 

[Bill R]

Just checking in. I saw that the Blckberry drivers will soon be released. Hoping to hear word of Iphone drivers.

 

[laurieny]

Bill,

Sorry to say that work on the iPhone hasn't made it to the top of the queue - mostly because the OS is so locked down and Apple hasn't been interested in enabling us to support it. Currently we are hard at work on launching the new BlackBerry support, to be followed shortly after by Windows Mobile 6.5 support, with Android support planned for Q1. Our ultimate goal is to be completely heterogeneous, but that will take some time.

Thanks,
Laurie

Director of Engineering
Celio Corp | REDFLY

 

[Bill R]

Thanks for the update. I'm still keeping my Redfly in the hopes that one day....

 

[lorelai1]

iphone will have a beta version q4 2010

 

[Bill R]

I had hoped for earlier, but beggars cannot be choosers. Thank you very much for the heads up and I'll be waiting.

@Celio: If you need alpha testers, feel free to give me a shout.

 

[Bill R]

Hhmm, after reading the distressing threads of updates for the C8, I wonder if any future IPhone driver will apply to my C8.

 

[MPrimo]

Just to clarify, we have released no information or dates regarding Iphone. Lorelai1, may I ask where you have received this information from?

Matt
Celio Corp.|REDFLY

 

[graham.hughes]

Hhmm, after reading the distressing threads of updates for the C8, I wonder if any future IPhone driver will apply to my C8.

I think the answer to that would be a pretty resounding "no". Celio's state policy is that there will be no further support and no software updates for the C8. Even the update for supporting BlackBerry and WM6.5 is "use at your own risk".

Really, I wouldn't hold your breath for iphone support... Apple's closed software policy put Celio completely as Apple's mercy.

 

[lorelai1]

Verizon wireless will be taking over the contract for the iphone sho it should be around then

 

[Veritrope]

I've noticed that ION is releasing an external hardware keyboard for the iPhone/iPod Touch called the iType: http://www.ionaudio.com/itype

Matt -- How difficult would it be for Celio to develop a *keyboard only driver* to connect the REDFLY to the iPhone?

Personally, I think that this would be a fantastic stop-gap measure while Celio evaluates if/when to do a fully-fledged implementation for the platform.

 

[MPrimo]

Veritrope, what they don't tell you on that site is that you cannot just type into any application, but what you must do is type in the application and then copy and paste it into whatever application you would like it in. See here.

 

[Veritrope]

You're right..... and that's a pretty disappointing implementation.

I had high hopes for more useful / more open external hardware when the 3.0 OS was announced. Seems as if all of those SDK improvements for accessories haven't changed the game for the non-jailbroken iPhone. :shake: