is Celio Corp (i.e. Redfly) slowly dying?

[mmbika#WP]

Since long 7 months (last beta driver came out in Dec 2009) and this is the end of July 2010. Nothing is heard of Redfly, no activity spotted at all, no responces to queries by Celio in this forum, no news or any news about beta drivers maturing, android drivers progressing at all!

Are all this tell-tale signs of a dying bread called Redfly? Why they backed up? Is this something American thing to introduce a great concept and beta products and them die in infancy and never mature and grow up? Take the examples of OQO, DualCor and now Redfly... all great concepts originated in US but never made into great sucess stories or mass appeal, Why? What is wrong or missing? Is this due to blocked westeren mindset which cannot accomodate little setbacks and becomes so system obsessed that looses human face? Why in west people and things are 'look good' but never 'feel good' at all? Even poorest 'non-converted original' people in Africa are more happy and smiling in their simple life but here, despite having all resources.....I can't digest Redfly becomimg mumb.

Or please tell the world that you have washed your hands off Redfly and there will be no more support, no more news or nothing and that's the end and it will mark the end of the story and will at least enable to people to realize that there WAS something called Celio Corp's Redfly in the year of 2009. A tiny note in the history of technology!

 

[badersk]

I would imagine so. They have not been on here in weeks. Mine is gathering dust since I bought an Netbook. Not worth anything so I can't sell it.

 

[cuzlion]

sad but true

I have to agree, I was a passionate supporter but as the screen resolutions of my cell phones grew the utility of the Redfly diminished. I bought a netbook and using the phone as a hotspot for free I could logmein to my office pc and do anything at higher resolution 1024x600 with similar battery life. Plus I could use it as a stand alone browser, movie player, skype device. With the almost instant on netbook resume features the Redfly became an inferior device for any purpose I used it for and simply could not do many of the things the netbook could do. Add on the fact that Windows Mobile is dying and why go there at all. My netbook experience is better and faster than my Redfly experience ever was. Its hard to see how this niche will ever widen to justify a product now that tiny netbooks with great battery life sell for under $300. Cuz

 

[cuzlion]

But for a year or two the Redfly was a great device. I wonder if they could build the redfly features into a standard netbook where it could be both, an instant on Redfly or a slightly delayed on netbook if they'd still have a way to make some cash with the concept. There might still be times you'd like a big screen for the phone and save maybe 30 seconds of time to fire it up?

 

[jwebb56]

I agree the Redfly is dying. In fairness they did release drivers on 5/13/10 but after that they have been silent. No activity on this board for many months. Best decision I made was to resell my C8 on eBay as soon as they orphaned the product and replace it with an ASUS PC901. At that point a C8 still resold for about $150 and netbooks could be had for $300 or less.

mmbika - I don't think this is a western thing. The Redfly is just no longer a viable product given the advances in Smartphones (screen size and power) and the fact that low end netbooks run circles around a Redfly for very little extra cost.

 

[jwebb56]

A few Celio/WM Experts thoughts:
1. Celio probably has downsized considerably and the individuals who worked this board may no longer be with the company. That would explain the lack of monitoring and glacial pace of firmware development.
2. If #1 is accurate then Celio is likely in a death spiral they cannot escape.
3. Ever check the numbers viewing on WM Experts. It is very low. In fact, I typically notice more people viewing Celio Redfly than any other topic with the exception of the Touch Pro 2. Just an observation. It may indicate people are still interested in the Redfly concept. Or perhaps former users like us that are just curious.

 

[Bill R]

This is really sad, if true (which I think it might be). I recently dumped my iPhone to go back to Windows Mobile. The iPhone just isn't a business driven device.

I dug my Redfly C8 out of the closet and loaded the HD2 beta drivers on my phone. It works but is not optimal. I filled out Celio's contact form but never heard back from them. <sigh>

 

[jwebb56]

If the rumors of a 7" Apple iPad are true with a $200 to $300 starting price then there's yet another nail in Celio's coffin. Hard to justify the Redfly (a device that costs the same, is bigger although the screen is no larger and is slower). And if you are not an Apple fan then wait a few months and there'll be Android and possibly WM7 based devices.

Me, I'm still thrilled with my ASUS Netbook.

 

[STSEMEA]

Celio Corp / REDFLY still alive

Celio is still alive..... Be a bit more patient and stay tuned for a series of announcements shortly!

 

[jwebb56]

STSEMEA: Are you a Celio employee or do you have some sort of inside knowledge? And if you are, what has happened to Colin, Laurie and Matt; the Celio employees who used to monitor and contribute to this forum?

 

[davejrob]

You can find info about Colin Kelly, Jr. here http://www.linkedin.com/in/colinkellyjr . He's no longer with Celio, he's with Method Communications since April 2010.

 

[slimcane]

I'll make this brief. I still love my RedFly and use it almost every day with my Touch Pro 2. It is awesome to have so much battery life combined with the ability to use LogMeIn. I am glad that I purchased this product and look forward to any news of further developments.

 

[jwebb56]

slimcane - glad it works for you. If mine could have worked fast enough with my old Epix I might have never sold it. It could have been an ideal solution for a large, readable GPS display but the refresh was glacial.

 

[Gatorbrew73]

Great News. I just hung up from Redfly Tech Support. They will soon be releasing Android Compatability! Gave me enough hope to hang on for a little longer.

 

[jwebb56]

Hmmm... Android compatibility. It certainly makes sense to hitch on to a rising star and hedge your bet on WM. Pricing will be the issue they need to address though in my opinion. Once Android tablets come out that compete with the iPad then it becomes a cost vs capability trade. Assuming Android tablets are priced in the $300 to $400 range, a $200 Redfly won't be very attractive.

 

[graham.hughes]

Worth mentioning that Android support was demonstrated a year ago, and still hasn't appeared.

Not sure on the point... Android doesn't have great appeal in the business community. It's the RedFly's final death throws. Better to let it die with dignity. Most of us have moved on already. There's no point in a RedFly - it's just a netbook that does less.

 

[jwebb56]

Agree with Graham that Android is primarily a consumer oriented OS. My point is that Android and iOS users will gravitate to their respective tablets before they opt for a Redfly. And since most WM users moved on to Netbooks that leaves Celio with a very small base of customers.

Blackberry support was their big hope. But it would appear that Blackberry capability with a Redfly is not very good and with RIM releasing their Tablet it would seem to be lights out for Celio.

Also worth pointing out that Celio justified the Redfly on long term compatibility/upgrades via firmware revisions to stay current as new phones were released. We saw how far off the mark that promise was when they orphaned the C8.

 

[jwebb56]

And if anyone needs further evidence that Celio is dying, take note of just how few new phones are getting supported (beta or firm release), the total lack of follow through on new product ideas that were demonstrated quite a while ago and their complete absence from this forum for several months.

 

[graham.hughes]

My point is that Android and iOS users will gravitate to their respective tablets before they opt for a Redfly.

Agreed. And BB users to the forthcoming BB tablet. Or to Windows netbooks, which go with pretty much anything, and are now as small, cheap, and with as much battery life as the RedFly.

Blackberry support was their big hope. But it would appear that Blackberry capability with a Redfly is not very good and with RIM releasing their Tablet it would seem to be lights out for Celio.

The BB platform is designed to run well on limited hardware, so it's a much lighter platform than Windows Mobile. Hence RIM have opted for a completely different platform for the PlayBook.

Celio justified the Redfly on long term compatibility/upgrades via firmware revisions to stay current as new phones were released. We saw how far off the mark that promise was when they orphaned the C8.

Agreed, this is the really big deal. Will C8N owners need a new model to support Android? WP7? BlackBerry 6? On a Windows netbook, you just install the software that comes with your new phone. RedFly has built-in obsolescence.