www.celiocorp.com

We received some great exposure at the Citrix Synergy show early this month. There was a high volume of interest and traffic at the booth we shared with Sprint. The REDFLY/smartphone combination is an amazing way to give users access to a Citrix environment without the hardware costs or hassles of a laptop, netbook, mobile thin client, etc.

As part of the show special, until June 30, 2009 you can get great deals on the REDFLY Mobile Companion and a variety of cool Sprint phones at http://citrix.sprintorders.com.

Virtualization guru, Brian Madden named us Showcase Vendor of the Week. You can see his video here. (Fast forward to the 18 minute mark to see REDFLY running Citrix Receiver on Sprint phones.)

Here are two Citrix TV videos featuring Sprint and the REDFLY.

Finally, if you haven’t tried Citrix on your Windows Mobile smartphone and/or a REDFLY, Citrix has a new demo environment that you can play with.

Go to http://citrixcloud.net to get the software and a free login.

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Trudy Walsh at Government Computer News posted a nice review of the REDFLY Mobile Companion this week.

It’s no secret that when it comes to netbooks, laptops and Wi-Fi in Government, there really is no easy solution to the security concerns and costs related to infrastructure and implementation. Many departments are rife with problems because of the strict policies in place that prohibit Wi-Fi networks and/or laptops/netbooks on the premises entirely.

Many of us in the private sector take for granted the fact that we can just grab our laptop off our desk, head across the hall to the conference room for a meeting, and still have email, Internet and network access.

Our team has met with quite a few people in the military and federal agencies that deal with sensitive information routinely. In many agency offices, Wi-Fi networks are not allowed for security reasons. In some government buildings and installations, laptops, netbooks or UMPCs are not allowed in or out. However, in almost every case, smartphones are allowed. While the smartphone offers a secure way to give them Internet and email access, the people we talk to still complain about trying to type lengthy messages, view attachments or work on Office docs on their phones because of the small screens and keyboards.

Through a new partnership with Government Reseller NetCon, Celio Corp is working to change that. The partnership will allow government departments to get fixed, predetermined pricing on all REDFLY products and accessories including the REDFLY Mobile Companion through a GSA schedule contractor.

The REDFLY Mobile Companion gives government employees a larger screen and keyboard to get work done without adding any additional security risk to the mix.

While some government agencies are OK with the use of a Mobile Thin Client (looks like a laptop but has no hard drive) – setup requires extensive IT infrastructure on the back end to give someone desktop access via a Mobile Thin Client. REDFLY gives many of the same benefits without the hassle.

Because there is no storage or operating system on the REDFLY, it may be admitted into facilities where laptop computers are not allowed. Government agencies get a laptop-like way to use their smart phones, without the security risks most laptops present. In many cases the REDFLY works with the already approved and deployed smart phones without violating policies or forcing IT to set up a new device, making it both a secure and cost efficient solution.

One other cool thing is that using Citrix or RDP, guest users can even work on a full Windows desktop (via their smartphones and REDFLY) inside of a secure facility being productive over the 3G wireless network from inside an otherwise inaccessible building.

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Now that thousands of people have had the chance to download and use the REDFLY Mobile Viewer software, we want to gather as much customer feedback as possible during the rest of the beta period for the Mobile Viewer.

To encourage customers to participate in a new REDFLY Mobile Viewer feedback survey, everyone who completes the survey will automatically be entered in a random drawing for a chance to win 2 free round-trip airline tickets from anywhere in the continental U.S. to Hawaii. The drawing will be held around June 6, 2009.

If you’ve already downloaded the REDFLY Mobile Viewer beta, you should automatically receive an email with the survey invitation sometime before May 6th (you don’t have to do anything, the email with the invite will be sent to you).

Anyone who downloads the REDFLY Mobile Viewer beta in the future (from now until June 1, 2009) will receive an email with the survey invitation within 7 days of downloading the beta installer.
To download the free REDFLY Mobile Viewer beta, visit www.celiocorp.com/viewer.

This giveaway promotion is only open to residents of the continental United States. Employees of Celio Corp or their direct family members are not eligible.

Posted in REDFLY General | 6 Comments »

I’m thrilled to report that in just over two weeks, more than 4,000 people have downloaded the REDFLY Mobile Viewer beta software for Windows XP and Vista.

We’ve received great feedback from beta users so far and are please that it’s been well received.

We see the Mobile Viewer as a great way to expose the REDFLY technology to a broader audience. It fits very nicely into our product portfolio with the current Mobile Companion line and future products. Want to see which REDFLY is right for you? Take a look at this comparison page.

Posted in REDFLY General | 2 Comments »

Christopher Lawton wrote a nice piece titled, “Making the Connection” in The Wall Street Journal today discussing new products making it easier for mobile workers to connect to the Internet.

The REDFLY Mobile Companion is one of Lawton’s featured solutions and he spoke specifically about the Memphis Police Department’s REDFLY deployment to its 1,200 officers.

Here’s a link to the article online.

Take a look at the companion video to the article below.

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Celio Corp will have a booth (No. 556) at the 2009 Citrix Synergy conference May 4th – 7th in Las Vegas. If you plan to attend, register at http://citrixsynergy.com and enter this special registration code, SPON32.

Citrix Synergy 2009 will provide a holistic view of how you can break from the costs and complexities of the distributed computing model and make application delivery a strategic priority.

The REDFLY Mobile Companion is a great enabler of Citrix technology. Using just your smartphone and a REDFLY (no PC or laptop required), you can work with full Windows applications using REDFLY’s larger screen, keyboard and touchpad. With Citrix XenApp and/or XenDesktop deployed within your company, you can give your mobile workforce tightly controlled access to full desktops or even only individual windows applications (no desktop needed or provided).

Click here to see one of my other blog posts featuring more about REDFLY with Citrix and see a video demo of the REDFLY in action running Citrix.

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Will the new Mobile Viewer cannibalize Celio’s REDFLY hardware sales?

CTIA was a big occasion for Celio Corp. The announcement of the new REDFLY Mobile Viewer, now in Public Beta, allows users to extend their smartphone applications to the display and keyboard of their laptop or desktop PC. The Andrew Seybold Choice Awards named the REDFLY Mobile Companion the most Innovative Mobile Service. And Celio announced support for an additional 18 Windows Mobile compatible phones.

In the course of Celio’s CTIA briefings an analyst asked, “Will the Mobile Viewer cannibalize Celio’s REDFLY hardware sales?” That’s a great question. We’ll answer it here.

Celio’s mission, which we state in every presentation and announcement, is to create, define and drive the technologies that allow the smartphone to become the primary mobile computing device.

The Mobile Viewer is directly in line with that vision. Clearly, the ability to instantly view and use the smartphone’s applications from a laptop or desktop PC has wide applicability and it opens REDFLY functionality up to a new assortment of users. But could it reduce the acceptance and sales of the REDFLY Mobile Companion itself?

In a word, no. Consider this: Gartner is reporting that even in a down market smartphone sales increased by 3.7% for Q4 2008 and analyst firm iSuppli is projecting growth of more than 11% for 2009, which by even conservative estimates would mean an additional 183.9M smartphone unit sales.

For some users, the ability to use smartphone applications from existing laptop PCs is sufficient. But for tens of thousands of others, the convenience of using smartphone applications outside of the office - and without having to carry or fire up a laptop PC - makes the REDFLY Mobile Companion form factor the winning key. In fact, the REDFLY is regularly eliminating the need to buy and support additional laptops for field force workers such as police officers, mobile healthcare professionals, and myriads of other mobile service providers.

For us, it is all about giving users more ways to interact with their smartphones as the smartphone becomes the primary computing device. If you or your company’s IT Staff want an instant-on, low TCO, no maintenance hassle (no PC upkeep, virus protection, etc.) larger screen and keyboard for your smartphone - REDFLY Mobile Companion is right for you. If you don’t mind waiting for your laptop to boot, keeping two data plans, maintaining two sets of apps, or need the full computing abilities of a laptop (Photoshop, video editing etc.), but still want a larger screen and keyboard for your smartphone usage - REDFLY Mobile Viewer is for you.

If Celio’s mission is to drive and create the technologies to enhance smartphone computing in a way that meets every user’s needs and desires, then clearly the Mobile Viewer is one of the necessary components of that vision. Even more clearly, Celio’s overall market share and hardware presence will continue to mirror the growth of smartphone usage.

Posted in REDFLY General | 5 Comments »

The REDFLY Mobile Companion, was named the Most Innovative Mobile Service at the 19th Annual Andrew Seybold Choice Awards Dinner April 2nd. Celio joins previous winners such as Research in Motion, T-Mobile, and Qualcomm to take home this prestigious award.

We at Celio Corp are extremely proud to add the Seybold Award to our list of accolades validating the REDFLY vision for the future of smartphone computing.

Posted in REDFLY General | 2 Comments »

This week we released a major phone driver and REDFLY firmware update.

The new phone driver and REDFLY firmware combination increases communication speeds over USB and Bluetooth while providing more stability and adding support for more third-party applications such as Opera 9.5.

As part of the software update, 18 new Windows Mobile phones were added to the list of REDFLY supported phones bringing the total to 54.

This software update is recommended for all REDFLY users.

Visit www.celiocorp.com/install to download the updates and view installation instructions.

Remember, for optimal performance, you should always update your REDFLY Mobile Companion firmware to a version matching your phone driver software. Download both the appropriate operating system version of the driver software and the REDFLY firmware to your phone before beginning the installation. This is also true for the REDFLY Mobile Viewer application, whose version should match your phone driver as well.

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I’d like to introduce you to the latest addition to the REDFLY product line.

This week at the CTIA show in Las Vegas, Celio Corp expanded the REDFLY product line adding a software option for smartphone users - the REDFLY Mobile Viewer software for Windows XP and Vista. The REDFLY Mobile Viewer combined with two existing REDFLY Mobile Companion hardware models give smartphone users a variety of ways to get real work done on a smartphone.

The REDFLY Mobile Viewer lets you conveniently use your favorite Windows Mobile applications at full size on your PC and experience many of the award-winning REDFLY Mobile Companion benefits when your smartphone is connected to your PC.

What can you do with the REDFLY Mobile Viewer? Text message friends and family throughout the day. Keep your work and personal lives separate while multitasking on one device. Go from 8 viewable cells to 50 while using Excel Mobile right on your phone. See more of any smartphone application at resolutions up to 1024×768 pixels - all using the full-size keyboard and mouse you already enjoy on your PC to control your phone.

Visit www.celiocorp.com to find out more about the REDFLY Mobile Viewer and download a FREE beta version of the software.

Which REDFLY product is right for you? See a comparison of products and features.

Posted in REDFLY General, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Ephraim Schwartz over at InfoWorld penned a nice column today about REDFLY titled, “Turning smartphones into desktops on the go.”

Ephraim brings up an interesting point; is REDFLY’s success completely dependent on the smartphone’s future growth curve, or can REDFLY actively help the smartphone live up to its potential spurring more widespread adoption? Here’s a quote from the article:

“In one sense, the success of RedFly depends more on the current and future capabilities of the cell phone than on the business smarts at Celio. If the cell phone becomes the single most important computing device for remote users, then of course RedFly goes along for the ride.

But if looked at from the other side, RedFly is not a passive participant. Rather, RedFly is the device that will allow a cell phone to become a business user’s single most important mobile computing device.”

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Until Feb. 16, 2008, you can get an instant $30 rebate on the REDFLY model C7. Also, if you buy the C8N model at its regular price of $299, you can get two free accessories - a REDFLY Media Cable and your choice of a car charger, spare wall charger or neoprene sleeve. That’s up to a $45 value on free accessories. Check out the details here.

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We’ve received a lot of requests from the media and customers for more information about Celio Corp’s new products and CES announcements so here’s a summary of everything new condensed down into one blog post.

New Product:

REDFLY PC Software

The REDFLY PC Software was highly requested by customers and is all about giving people options. It gives you many of the benefits of a REDFLY Smartphone Terminal on your existing Windows-based hardware.

Concepts:

REDFLY Smartphone Dock

Think of the Smartphone Dock as box about the size of a pack of cards with the guts from the REDFLY Smartphone Terminal stuffed inside. There’s no battery, screen, touchpad or keyboard like a REDFLY Smartphone Terminal, but it works just like a Smartphone Terminal allowing you to work on your smartphone at higher resolutions so you can see and do more vs. your phone’s native screen resolution. You connect your phone to the dock via USB or Bluetooth. Plug any USB keyboard and mouse into any of the dock’s 3 powered USB ports. Plug any monitor into the dock’s VGA out port and you are set to go. The idea is that when on the road, you can connect to a REDFLY Smartphone Terminal for portability, and/or use the Smartphone Dock when home or in the office using any old monitor, a mouse and a full-size USB keyboard.

Android Proof-of-Concept

Here is a proof-of-concept video showing the Android operating system on a REDFLY Smartphone Terminal. Speed and stability will increase as the concept is developed. The Android device’s output resolution is changed to 800×480 then video output is routed to the REDFLYs 8-inch screen. REDFLY also allows the use of its built-in keyboard and touchpad to control the Android device. We’ll have more info about Android on a regular basis so stay tuned.

It’s been an incredible 12 months since we launched the original REDFLY Smartphone Terminal C8 at CES 2008. We’ve come a long way in just one year and can’t wait to unveil all we have planned in the months to come during 2009. Thank you to all of our current customers for your great support and valuable feedback.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

Rob Jackson over at phandroid.com has some insightful comments about our Android proof-of-concept. In the title of his article he asks, “REDFLY - the First Android Netbook?“

Rob goes on to say, “The REDFLY team argues that if your phone already has that stuff, why duplicate it? In the end, it only creates more problems, like the need to sync. Connect your smartphone to the REDFLY terminal via Bluetooth and BAM - you can operate your phone directly on the device. If you were to do this with your T-Mobile G1, you could say that REDFLY is virtually the first Android Netbook.”

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Here is a proof-of-concept video showing the Android operating system on a REDFLY Smartphone Terminal. Speed and stability will increase as the concept is developed. The Android device’s output resolution is changed to 800×480 then video output is routed to the REDFLYs 8-inch screen. REDFLY also allows the use of its built-in keyboard and touchpad to control the Android device.

If you are going to be at CES, this proof-of-concept will be on display in our booth (#3934).

We posted this video on YouTube about 12 hours ago and at the time of this blog post, it’s been viewed over 3,000 times!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »