Balzacomm: solar charger: up, extra weight, but they are working on allowing Earl to charge other devices from its battery. And as Chick-on states, even with the solar charger, it's 10.8 ounces. They say they are using 18% efficient monocrystalline solar cells, so it should be equivalent to the performance of the Goal Zero panels and the like. The panel can't charge devices directly by itself, the regulator is in the body of Earl... I say it's handy enough and if the entire package is 10.8 ounces, I'm willing to try..
chick-on: Yah, I do hope we get it!
Re: Solio. We did not enjoy it. Returned it. The one we are carrying now is a Goal Zero 3.5 solar panel. Basilbop actually received a larger one, the Nomad 7 kit for Christmas from a friend, and then promptly found the little 3.5 panel that he is carrying at an REI scratch and dent sale (no battery, but works with almost any). You can charge almost any USB battery device with it. NOTE: my iPhone 5 does not like to charge directly from the panel. We charge a little 2600mAh Tenergy "power bank" and the iPhone happily feeds from the power bank. In fact, all the little rechargeable devices can feed from the little power bank. So... if they do manage to let Earl charge other devices, and Earl's solar panel works.. we can chuck a few other items and move into the Earl and save further weight. (Battery packs capable of recharging a full size iPad are too heavy for us! So is the full size iPad!)
Re: Maps.. No, we did not buy the 24K map pack on the 32 GB microSD card. The unit can handle up to 64 GB cards, and if they use a particular brand of map, my bird isn't going to be pleased. I guess I should ask them directly which map pack they will be distributing. They will support other map sources, however, so we decided to wait on that. If we can get he map source we want, and put it on a 64 GB card, that makes more sense to us. Also, since the promise is that we get to enjoy the 30% discount on all future purchases for hardware or accessories, then we can buy the map pack later for the same amount, so we are only out a bit of time. Basilbop really likes Gaia on our various toys because it supports multiple map sources... Here's hoping Earl delivers on that front.
Re: Color.. Sadly, color e-ink screens are not ready yet. There is hard work being done on that front, but not yet. I'm an e-ink fan for durability, long battery life, high-contrast, sun and polartized lens-readable screens with no eyestrain. Earl is backlit, which is nice at night. Basilbop put some maps on the kindle and we decided we could easily read the maps. The contour lines are clear. We'll have to see in the field so to say if we really end up missing color, but for our intended purposes, I'm not concerned. I much prefer reading books on my Kindle than any other device.
ttilley: it's Open Source - go to town to write a photo app to change that pink bird butt into Yos falls! I'd buy it!
RE: Music - and it can play MP3s.
It's based on Android 4.1 and will ship with Google Play so you can add Google Play Store apps. Have at it!
I just hope they execute the concept well!....
