Hi All!
Disclaimer:
First off, my little writeup below is for a product in development that is still very much in early days. It looks promising, but is not yet in production and -- who knows? -- may not ever be. It is "promised" if a crowdfunded effort is successful. Investors' credit cards are charged immediately and if funding goals are not met by deadline, refunds are also "promised". Because no one can predict the future, I have seen such things go very badly; suitable caution and due diligence are advised if you're hot to invest
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Though currently in a crowdfunding campaign (I have no financial interest in it), it looks like the
Earl Backcountry Survival Tablet would be just the ticket for many of us, whether casually day-touring or going 'round the world (or the North American part of it, at present; maps for other areas are expected later this year).
See:
http://www.meetearl.com/So...what is it?
Earl is a...• Battery-sipping
e-ink B/W-screened GPS with wireless route sharing, Bluetooth, and Internet connectivity. Unlike some efforts, this is contract-free; you buy it and that's it.
•
Built-in weather forecasting, including current temperature, humidity and barometric pressure, with wind speed and direction using Earl's built in micro anemometer and compass. Cross-matching this data against GPS location, Earl can tell you when and where the sun, moon and stars will shine the brightest.
•
Two-way FRS, GMRS and MURS radio transceiver that can connect to analog and digital radio frequencies at a 20-mile range and can also transmit secure text or voice messages, weather, location, and route information to another Earl or to transceivers with matching frequencies.
•
AM/FM/SW/LW radio tuner with live pause and recording scheduling and uses NOAA's SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) for emergency weather alerts in the US and includes a waterproof, magnet-free (piezo?)
1-watt speaker.
•
Uses available Android apps and supports EPUB, MOBI and PDF e-reader formats.
• Uses a
glove-friendly touchscreen with 3D joypad and gyroscope for a
gesture control.
•
Daylight-visible e-Ink screen has internal illumination that allows Earl to function as a lantern.
•
IP67 rated water/dust/shock/mud-proof.
• Mono-crystalline
solar panel provides up to 20 hours of battery (3000mAh) and charges in 5 hours in direct sunlight.
I really hope this won't end up as vaporware, as it is exactly what I and many others have been searching for. It sounds too good to be true for the expected battery life and especially at the suggested crowdsource price point of USD$249, which is 30% off expected retail, also low compared to, say, a Garmin touchscreen GPS. The hazard with crowdfunded projects is they often don't come to fruition, at least not in the expected timeframe. If they do, then those early backers also receive early, pre-production models (often rough prototypes) compared to the later, developed editions. Often, the savings and good feelings of helping a startup aren't quite enough to make up for the loss of functionality and reliability.
I have a bazillion questions about what the final consumer edition will be like if it makes it to production. It would be nice if it could play MP3s, for example. The radio tuner's live pause and scheduled recording imply it might. I wonder what on-board storage it has, and if there is removable storage via micro-SD or similar flash memory. Who provides the maps database? Are there POIs and if so, what kind and how many? Can maps be updated for the life of the product, free of charge (as with Garmin's products after purchase)?
At this point, I consider this early notice of what *might* be coming down the pike in outdoors electronics/technology, and really hope it or something like it comes to fruition. For now, production is expected to start in July with backers' editions shipping in August, according the Earl website. We'll see.
Best,
Dan. (...who is "hopeful")
