Thank you for posting this, it is almost exactly what I've been looking for. I wish there was a discount version without the radio/solar for urban backpacking, and a colour eink would really help with maps, but I'm thrilled to see demand for a traveler's eink device.

It isn't that far off. An eink reader designed for travel, with lonely planet or wikisherpa included. It is also one of the few proper applications of a colour eink screen, as maps do not need to be vibrant but colours are vital to a map.

I could go on, but I know this is a fantasy. I hope one day a colour eink android or linux tablet arrives so I can install applications similar to this use case, but I am not holding my breath.

Just because Microsoft does not love XP anymore doesn't mean you should ignore it!

Or wait- I guess you mean Linux DEs. Which one looks the most like Windows95? I bet you that one will win.

Convergent evolution also depends on how you define two features similar. For example, the convergent evolution of oxygen carrying blood in Cephalopods could be a counter example to the prediction argument, as their blood has oxygen bind to copper.

So both bloods were evolved to perform the same task of moving oxygen, however they use two different mechanisms to perform the task.

Hydrogen vehicles these days are series hybrids with a PEM fuel cell and Li battery pack. Think of a Volt but fuel cell instead of ICE.

Just let these innovations arise in other countries if the USA has such a backwards infrastructure. Even credit cards are more secure in other countries (chip and pin may be flawed, but it is still better than the magnetic strip and signature of the USA).

It also means that the air is particulate free. During some of the meaner dust storms here in AZ I've headed into the clean room to check on my tools.

A nice shield prevents people from touching the thermostat in my old office. So a candle was placed directly below the thermostat in the summer to coax on the air conditioning.

It is easy to claim that Android can be used on these types of devices, however these devices will have little memory to keep price down. If you could load Android 4.x onto the original HTC Dream then by all means bring on the low end phones.

Still waiting to see how FirefoxOS compares, as they are going after the low end market but I know that Firefox on Android is not the best with limited memory (I believe that Opera Mobile takes that title, so naturally it is discontinued).

I just don't get this bridge thing... I know cars drive on them but how does that relate to anything!?

I used to think that reliability was also a reason for the non-removable battery, however the new Samsung S5 claims to be certified for dust resistance and water to 1m.

For the daylight readable screen I've never seen any phone with one (or ebook reader or tablet for that matter), so I suspect there is just a lack of technology. We've seen prototypes and demos, but there may just not be high volume manufacturing in place for these screens.

Tether my laptop

Have you investigated the virtual network operators? Cricket was just bought by ATT and will remain relatively independent, but borrow their towers.

But yes, I agree, whenever a new phone comes out that looks exciting I think how it does not help me, although the Samsung S5 is coming to Virgin Mobile so I may move to that depending on price.

Keep in mind that teardowns of the S5 put the manufacturing cost ~256USD. While this does not take into account a lot of costs like design, if the OnePlus One is selling at zero profit to gain market share they could with similar specs to the S5.

http://www.gadgetcluster.com/2014/04/it-takes-only-256-for-samsung-to-produce-a-galaxy-s5-handset/

When the Leaf first was introduced, people in the electric vehicle industry were floored that the Leaf relied on air cooling for the batteries, and at that it is passively cooled. I cannot imagine continuing this with a larger pack; while the load per cell goes down, if you are trying to make a denser pack you will need to include liquid cooling to pull heat out. Liquid cooling is more expensive than air cooling to develop/produce, so it will be interesting to see what Nissan comes up with in the final implementation.