Yesterday was the last day of my “redfly experiment”. I am very pleased that I did it, and enjoyed my experience immensely. This week gave me an opportunity to try a sort of uber-mobility; lightweight “terminal”+smartphone. It was great to just whip out the Redfly and go anytime I wanted to type an email, check facebook, etc. I got a few questions from friends, mostly wanting to know why I would try something like this, or why I didn’t just “get one of those really little computers they sell in Costco now?” I plan to address that, but first I have a few more observations about use to share.
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photo added in by Judie during editing

I am now on day 4 of using my redfly/epix combo as my exclusive personal computer, so I thought I’d put an update up of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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My smartphone holds my whole life. I answer my emails on it, balance my checkbook, manage my calendar, my tasks, browse the web, and even occasionally make phone calls. Sometimes I think my MacBook feels neglected, since I often reach for my phone to answer emails and check things, even when the computer is open and sitting right next to me.

Now that I have a Redfly, my MacBook should really be sweating bullets. The Redfly fits absolutely perfectly into my smartphone world. I can pull out at work and answer emails on my lunch hour, I can be sitting in a waiting room and happily browsing my favorite websites, and I love being able to start working on my phone, plug in the Redfly, continue my work, and swap back over to the phone without skipping a beat.

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The number one complaint I hear from new adopters of the latest God Phones is the problem they have with dropped calls. Battery life issues can often be fixed with firmware updates, but when you’re out of range, you’re out of luck.

In an attempt to help address this problem, the folks at ARC Wireless Solutions have released the latest version of the Freedom Blade wireless signal booster for PDAs, cell phones and laptop wireless access cards.

More info after the jump.

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In part one of my review of Celio’s REDFLY, I covered the REDFLY’s physical attributes. For part two I will cover the functionality of the device.

First, it is important to remember that the REDFLY will only work with Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6 Professional (PocketPC) and Standard (Smartphone) devices and currently only a small subset of the total number of devices available. For a complete list of what devices are supported visit http://www.celiocorp.com/smartphone. Having said that, I did test the REDFLY with a number of devices including several that were not on the Celio website. All of them worked just fine although older O2devices did tend to have a little graphics trouble. All of the HTC devices I tested – The AT&T Tilt, the T-Mobile Wing, and HTC Advantage – worked fantastically well. The same is true for current MWg devices – Atom Life and Zinc II – although I did not test it with the new Atom V. More devices are being added as Celio does more testing but if you use a device not listed on their site, they will not provide technical support for that device and the REDFLY.

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People who are on-the-go will always appreciate portable syncing and charging solutions, which is why I was pleased to recently open a box from OrionGadgets that contained just that, along with a bonus. Inside I found a Retractable MultiCharge USB Sync & Charge Travel Kit and a 3.5mm Audio Extension AUX Cable (Male to Male). Let’s take a look at them…

Retractable MultiCharge USB Sync & Charge Travel Kit

The travel kit is composed of the OrionGadgets USB Sync & Charge Cable and a Multicharge AC and Car Adapter.

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One of the challenges with using Windows Mobile devices, as with most mobile devices, is the size of the screen. It is great having Office Mobile on the latest and greatest device but doing a significant edit of a document on a 3.5″ QVGA screen is, well… fun? Granted, on bigger devices that have VGA screens, the HTC Advantage comes to mind, it is a bit easier but you still end up doing a lot of side-to-side scrolling. Couple this with either a soft keyboard on the device or a small thumboard to type with and once again, doing big edits on a document is, well… fun? How then do you get around this quandry? With a colorful insect of course!

The Celio REDFLY is designed to help resolve this difficulty for Windows Mobile users by allowing them to connect their device via a USB cable or Bluetooth to the REDFLY and gain an 8″, 800×480 VGA display and full QWERTY keyboard. The REDFLY has no memory, storage or operating system itself. It is literally an extension of your device, utilizing the memory, storage and operating system of it. Even better, the REDFLY has a VGA output so you can display on an external monitor or projector straight from the device, something only a select few Windows Mobile devices can do natively. All of this in a package that is less than 2lbs. and 9″ wide and under $500? If you a a true power user of your Windows Mobile device, you should seriously consider a REDFLY. It could save your eyes and thumbs!

Figure 1: The REDFLY Closed
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Clinton has been salivating over the Celio REDFLY for a while, and we hope to satisfy his gadget lust with a Gear Diary review unit soon; but in the meantime, he and the rest of us can live vicariously through Jack Cook.

Jack received “his” REDFLY before leaving for the Microsoft MVP Summit, and he used that trip as the perfect opportunity to put the device through its paces. Now just in case you are drawing a blank at all my REDFLY references, here’s the scoop:

The REDFLY Mobile Companion is a sleek clamshell design that includes an 8″ display, a full function keyboard, and a touchpad mouse. Measuring just 1×6x9 inches and only 2 pounds, the REDFLY Mobile Companion offers over 8 hours of battery life and boots instantly! It also adds three new features – instant VGA output, access to USB flash drives, and the ability to charge your smartphone via USB.

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Congratulations are in order! Proporta is celebrating their 12th birthday today, but you get the gift.

Here are all the deets…

It’s party time…
Happy 12th Birthday Proporta

Everyone at Proporta HQ is in a party mood this week – not only because they’re generally just happy to be part of the great Proporta circle of life, but especially because this Wednesday 23rd April sees Proporta celebrate it’s 12 birthday. Yippeeee )

And as a way of saying a great big thank you for coming to see them over the years, Proporta have decided to offer their lovely customers a 15% discount on all Proporta branded hardware products for just one day only.

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In their infinite wisdom Samsung decided to make pretty much all the accessories for the original BlackJack incompatible with the BlackJack II. The data port is a different size and configuration, so headphones, USB cables and chargers don’t work, and while the original BlackJack battery will power the BJII, it is the wrong size.

But after reading Judie’s review of the Vaja iPhone case, it gave me an idea: maybe the Vaja case I reviewed for the BlackJack last year will fit the new model!

Since the case was for the BlackJack with extended battery it works great!

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I just missed posting this review in time for Texas’ Spring Break, but it should still be timely for everyone who plans on traveling this summer. I’ll warn you now though, in order to use this product you’ll need to give up one of your vehicle’s cup-holders.

Why would I ask for something so uncivilized?

Because by giving up a cup-holder you might just gain the means to charge up to three devices at the same time, all from a single cigar lighter or power port.

Intrigued? I was, which is how I came to be in possession of the Targus 100W Auto Power Inverter.

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One of most laptop’s main limitations is their battery life, which can usually only be relied upon for a few hours. This hindrance is never more evident that when traveling, because finding a place to recharge in airports and train stations can be a major challenge. On January 1, 2008, carrying extended batteries will become a little bit trickier when traveling by plane, but it can still be done as long as the extra battery is packed in your carry-on luggage (versus in your checked luggage) and it is under a certain size.

Copied verbatim from the US Government’s Safe Travel site:

The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours.

Debating the effectiveness of the new rules is a discussion best left for another day, but in the meantime the Proporta Portable Laptop Battery can be combined with other electronic devices carried while keeping the owner in compliance with these new rules (it holds 66.6Wh). Let’s see if carrying one would be worth the bother…

Look at those smudges! I swear it only looks like this under my photography lamps!

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I never thought I would be one of those people that used a hand strap, but at some point over the last year, I decided that I really like having one. I’ve been using a little freebie strap that came with a PQI flash drive, but the WirelessGround USB Leather Hand Strap I was sent convinced me to try something new.

Why would I want to add a 7.5″ long x 0.3″ wide leather strap with a 0.6″ square near its end to my Mogul? Well…check it out!

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For years I have seen Judie review many a Vaja case for many a device. I have always wanted one of my own, to smell the leather, see the fit, and have the experience that is Vaja. I was delighted when they sent me a case for my BlackJack. I received a honey yellow case designed to fit the extended battery.

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I’m not sure what the problem is, but for the last month, my Sprint cellular signal strength has dramatically dropped when I am inside my home. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except for the fact that my mobile phone is also my home phone and my business phone as well; in other words it simply has to work. Conveniently enough, I had a product waiting in my queue which promises to “Increase Your Cell Phone Reception 8 Times!”, “Eliminate Dropped Calls and Dead Spots”, and “Enhance Voice Clarity”. If it can really deliver upon its promises, then sign me up for two, because nothing makes me madder than being in the middle of a call and either hearing static or losing the connection altogether.

The product I will be looking at today is not one of those glorified circuit board stickers that you stick to the mobile phone’s battery door, it is the ARC Wireless Solutions Freedom Antenna, an actual piece of hardware that connects to the external antenna jack on this list of compatible phones. If your phone isn’t on the list, don’t fret; you can also purchase various adapters for other phones.

I was sent two Freedom Antennas and a Palm Treo adapter. Here’s the front of the box…

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