Headquarters: Salt Lake City

Technology Sector: Hardware

Key Product: Redfly Mobile Companion

Year Founded: 2007

Number of Channel Partners: Hundreds worldwide through distribution

Ideal Channel Partner: Enterprise-focused solution provider

Why You Should Care: Celio's Redfly Mobile Companion is a smartphone accessory that helps users turn their devices into mini laptops.

The Lowdown: Celio is hoping to solve a problem that some mobile phone users and solution providers probably weren't aware they even had. The company produces a dumb terminal that attaches to smartphones to add a larger keyboard and screen that, Celio believes, will enable employees to be more productive.

Smartphones are great devices for triaging work, but not necessarily for getting work done, said Nicole Buchanan, executive vice president of strategic marketing for Celio.

"A lot of enterprises have adopted smartphones for increased productivity and business performance," Buchanan said. "But those customers keep coming back to a similar pain point, which focuses on the input/output issues around the device."

Celio Redfly Mobile Companion

And that's where Celio's Redfly Mobile Companion comes in. Launched two years ago, the device is a dumb terminal with a 7-inch or 8-inch screen and bigger keyboard that attaches to Windows Mobile smartphones. The idea is that on-the-go employees can leave their laptops in the office yet still work in comfort via their mobile phones.

Buchanan has seen several vertical markets such as health care and law enforcement begin to adopt the devices, which could make for an interesting play for specialized solution providers.

"Health care, particularly the home-care segment, is a good fit," Buchanan said. "Home-care agencies have decided to deploy smartphones because the employees are having input/output issues. There are middle-aged nurses struggling with smaller displays and keyboards, and case reports have suffered over the years because of the input for the smartphone."