They really shouldn't be encouraging people to think of this as something that will help when lost in the wilderness (see the image on the page). There's a strong possibility that there'll be no reception. That's a situation where you need an EPIRB-type rescue device.
Or, you can just bring along a small USB battery pack, which can fully charge pretty much any modern smartphone.<p>Personally, I carry an Instapark Novobeam 3000 in my backpack. It's about the size of a roll of breath mints or a small flashlight, is rechargable, has a waterproof cover, and costs about nine bucks on Amazon.
I wish more devices used easily replaceable standard size cells of rechargeable and non-rechargeable variety. You can walk to any shop or service station and buy a bunch of AA or AAA batteries if it's urgent. And keep a spare pack at home, in car, etc.<p>In most devices, the size & weight benefits of proprietary li-ion batteries mostly aren't worth it for me once the battery goes bad and you have to look for a replacement (which can be quite expensive, if you can find one to begin with). Forgot to charge the device? Forgot to bring a charger? Don't have a usb battery pack in place with no outlets? Sucks. Can't walk into a shop and get a fix.
This seems like an emergency device for people who aren't actually experiencing an emergency. As vosper said, this is fine if you're lost in Central Park, not actually in the wilderness.
Four reviews on Amazon so far, apparently the setup procedure is not simple: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BWHZGDU/ref=cm_sw_su_dp" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BWHZGDU/ref=cm_sw_su_dp</a>
Feels hackable, I wonder what kinds of things people will come up with. Do they still charge monthly for service?<p>I think some kind of wind-up cell phone charger would be more useful for people than a separate cell phone powered by AA batteries ("Hey, where'd I put those spare AA batteries...?")
A Yaesu VX8GR handheld HAM radio transceiver is my spare. I carry it in my work bag every day, along with a quarter-wave antenna, spare battery and a AA-battery adapter. It'll run for days as a receiver and can transmit at 5 watts - plenty of power to hit a repeater within earshot of someone who can call for help on my behalf. Although I work in a dense city, I'm not under the illusion that cell-phone infrastructure will be available for long after a major disaster, particularly an earthquake.<p>HAM radios are also very useful when venturing into the wilderness. Many hikers monitor the 2m/1.44m calling frequencies periodically for distress calls. And at the right altitude your meager 5 watts can cover tremendous distances.
Hate to break the news, but this is nothing new. My first cell phone, when I was a young kid, was an Alcatel phone that could be run on either a normal battery pack or AA batteries or AA rechargeables.<p>I miss that brickphone.
So what is the best backup phone to keep in the car? I'd want some thing cheap with no monthly payments just for emergencies.<p>Think how much it would suck these days to get lost or broken down and your phone isn't working! It seems only prudent to keep a backup with you.<p>(Especially now that all Payphones have been removed)
If these are cheap enough, they might make a good rolling burner phone. You just set up the speed dial to point to other SpareOne phones and then pass them out at periodic meetings.
See their Twitter profile?<p><a href="https://twitter.com/SpareOnePhone" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/SpareOnePhone</a><p>>30k favorites, aka favorite spam. I hate those - everything is automated and it does not add any value at all.