A TABLET COMPUTER FOR SURVIVALISTS? “Android tablets are mostly dull; Asus, Samsung, Sony, and the rest are typically just pumping out versions of the same platform. Earl, from a startup called Sqigle (sic), is quite a bit different: it’s designed top to bottom for use in the wild. To that end, it starts off with an electrophoretic display, an exceedingly low-power technology that’s used in the black-and-white ebook readers like the Kindle and Nook. A tablet’s screen drains the most battery, by far, so using a low-power screen like this is a great way to extend the battery life. Of course, that means you also get extremely low refresh rates and no color, so you can pretty much forget about watching video on this thing, but as a wilderness guide? That’s not nearly as important as battery life.”