Off the Grid Messenger

Honestly, I have been fantasizing about a device used purely for text messaging, with multiple connection modes (LoRA, LTE, Wifi, etc) and then just dedicate it to messaging. A small device just to send and receive messages either directly, and&#x2F;or integrate with popular messaging services, but only messaging.<p>Something to optimize battery, screen (only really need Eink or something low power), and other aspects for that mode of communication.

Anyone remember the cybiko? <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Cybiko" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Cybiko</a>

Could anyone knowledgeable about radio tell me what&#x27;s the pros&#x2F;cons of this over something like APRS [0]? I guess for pros this wouldn&#x27;t require a ham radio license and it&#x27;s encrypted, but APRS is possible out of the box for certain radios?<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.aprs.org&#x2F;aprs-messaging.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.aprs.org&#x2F;aprs-messaging.html</a>

This Nokia e63 reminds me of the time when phones used to be so much fun and there was a lot of variety. All the phones are essentially the same now.<p>When Phones Were Fun – And Nokia Was Crazy : <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=YOZi-7V11k8" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=YOZi-7V11k8</a>

Keep wondering if a smartphone maker will build in a point to point radio system like goTenna [1] or Beartooth [2].<p>Ideally everyone would agree on a standard and you can just text message &#x2F; share location with anyone in range and mesh back to the cell network, one can hope.<p>1. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gotenna.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gotenna.com</a><p>2. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;beartooth.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;beartooth.com</a>

Are there any commercially available devices like this?

It reminds of this project[0] using lora protocol and custom icb. The advantage of using lora is that it can go up to 25 miles and uses 1&#x2F;10th of an amp when in use so it can last for years.<p>[0]:<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;makezine.com&#x2F;projects&#x2F;armachat-lora-communicator?vgo_ee=zKtEpez0t7e4YGhfzFpqSvGU1ExDdALPZgfTEx7uF78%3D" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;makezine.com&#x2F;projects&#x2F;armachat-lora-communicator?vgo...</a>

This just looks amazing, really sad there is just NO way I&#x27;ll ever be able to solder this myself hehe. This would be a very interesting kickstarter project.

Interesting project with similar goals: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hackaday.io&#x2F;project&#x2F;171790-armawatch-armachat-long-range-radio-messengers" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hackaday.io&#x2F;project&#x2F;171790-armawatch-armachat-long-r...</a>

I&#x27;m fascinated by off the grid solutions. Does this need any special hardware to run? Considering phones have radio&#x2F;wifi equipment, is it possible to create a software only solution that can install and run off any phone?

&gt; The e63 doesn&#x27;t support touch and TouchGFX doesn&#x27;t work with keypads or buttons so interfacing the keypad to the GUI engine was not a trivial exercise.<p>I found this amusing, considering my keyboard runs on a pair of STM32 blackpills

This reminds me of Zipit Z2.

AN0M v2? :) :)