Turning smartphones into desktops on the go

Flyweight RedFly makes using applications on smartphones practical

The idea that a business traveler would someday carry his or her desktop and applications on a small device has been around for well over a decade. Of course, back then, small was brick-size, and the notion was that the user would then be able to plug this device into a screen, keyboard, and mouse wherever they landed.

The concept was considered daring because it was making the outrageous assumption that computing devices were going to get small enough for a user to carry them comfortably while remaining powerful enough to hold and process megabytes of data.

[ For a look at the best mobile apps for the iPhone, see "iPhone applications get down to business." ]

Of course, the idea that there would need to be a screen and keyboard awaiting them at each stopping point was testament to the fact that folks couldn't foresee that these tools could be miniaturized as well.

Today, the idea is a reality, but it is no longer the size of a brick. Furthermore, remote connection back to corporate applications -- a concept never even considered at that time -- makes this new reality even better. This device is now called a smartphone.

But what of the problem of a decent-size screen and keyboard without which applications on a smartphone are quite impractical? At last there appears to be a solution. Our traveler can now carry around his or her own screen and keyboard. And if you guessed netbook, you're wrong!

The name of the device is RedFly by Celio, and it comes with a 7- or 8-inch screen, an 8.3-inch keyboard, two USB ports, Bluetooth, and 8 to 10 hours of battery life that, when connected, actually charges your smartphone while you work.

All RedFly does is duplicate what is on your cell phone. It has no application processor, operating system, or storage. There is a small kernel OS, on a Xilinx chip, that enables RedFly to establish a connection with the cell phone and then port the video from the smartphone over to its screen. But there is no need to synchronize data or duplicate applications.

The display is not derived from screen scraping. The display is enlarged to 800 by 480 pixels from the typical 2-by-2-inch smartphone image using compression technologies that enable RedFly to take hundreds of megabytes of data and pass it over either a 800Kbps Bluetooth pipe or a 2Mbps to 3Mbps USB connector. In turn, the USB connection can be used to plug in a thumb drive that will show up on your cell as another drive.

It currently works with Windows Mobile, but at CES, Celio unveiled an Android prototype, and we can expect to see support for other OSes roll out over the coming months.