You also have to look at longevity and continued support. Although it's android, they will undoubtedly have their own software built in, but what of support. Short lived is probably putting it mildly. If they are not backed by a more prominent you have to think about this. However, if it gets off the ground, a prominent company could theoretically buy them out and take over development, again raising the issue of on-going support. Personally, I don't even consider new devices until generation 2 due to design/software issues and fixes. Case in point windows 8...heck I'm still using XP and it works for what I need. Don't own any android devices but have plenty experience with them. Just a thought......as a previous post points out, give me topos,a book, mp3 player, I'm good. Remeber the addage K.I.S.S.

Yeah the thread title had me thinking this was some kind of protein/vitamin food item. I figured the marketing effort might look something like this.

Pros and cons aside for a moment, I think the point of the device is not 'survival' as in starting a fire and building a shelter, but more of a robust/hardened data device for disasters, power outages, etc. Think 'Listening to Katrina'.

Agree on the short-lived issue, though.

Although, realistically, the planned retail on this isn't that much more than a decent GPS (and a bit less than some of the higher end units). So, cost wise, I think this is comparable enough to a GPS that the added feature-set might make it worthwhile for those looking to make a purchase in this area. For those with the gear already, it may not be something that would provide good value for the money, but it may be worth keeping an eye on for the future.

Again, I'm thinking it is fair to liken this to the type of device convergence we've seen with smartphones and I won't be too surprised if this concept becomes the future for backcountry electronics.