"Meet Earl, a revolutionary tablet engineered for the most extreme of outdoor situations. Built for survival, Earl works where today's smart phones and tablets cannot. Style meets efficiency with Earl's intuitive design, fusing Android 4.1 together with an energy sipping E-Ink screen and the latest in GPS, weather sensor, and radio communication technology. With Earl at your side, stay in control of your journey no matter where it takes you."
Looks like a great all in one tool built off the smart phone platform. Its like a Suunto watch mixed with a GPS and cell phone app.
I agree. But being a somewhat cautious purchaser, since it is 'pending FCC approval' I'll take a conservative attitude rather than cough up the $$ now and wait for the estimated 'August 2013' delivery.
Decisionmaking and action should only be informed by, not subject to, healthy, reasonable concern.
That being said, anything worth doing is worth doing to excess.
I'm having trouble seeing what it does that my Android phone won't do. If you took my Samsung phone, removed the phone part and replaced it with the FRS/GMRS radio, that seems like what this gizmo would be.
That "up to 20 mile range" for FRS is pretty hyped. 2 or 3 miles would be more realistic at max.
e-ink screen and solar charging seem to be the main differentiators here. e-ink for maps is compelling; color LCD screens can be hard to see sometimes and use a lot of power. Built in solar charging is also interesting. Personally I need to see a few reviews of working production models before I would buy one.
OK - if I could see the screen in sunlight, then I'd say it's a great idea. My Samsung is essentially useless with sol shining on it. Makes it very hard to take a picture of a fast critter or other opportune photo target. To view a map on my phone, I have to hide it under my hat like the old time still camera guys did with that big, black cloth thing.
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