Agreed. Substantially better. Our first goTenna prototypes worked at 900 MHz band and we could barely get 0.5 km (NOT MILES) line of sight. With the goTennas that are now out for pre-order, we've gotten anywhere from 0.5 miles to 3.5 miles in NYC (where we're based), to give you an idea -- and there's little that is as non-ideal for RF propagation than a metropolitan city.
At set up, you can either set up your goTenna ID to be your phone number (recommended, as it will then integrate with your contact list and make it easy for other people you know using goTenna to find you with goTenna) or a randomly generated string we create for you (for the crypto people out there!).
The way we ensure your (or Jason Greengrocer's!) phone number isn't spoofed is we verify your phone number through the regular telephony network when you do have connectivity. If you complete setup without connectivity and enter a telephone number as your ID, you will show up as "Unverified." We don't recommend offline setup though because then you can't download all our awesome detailed offline map packs (you'll just get the world vector map that comes with the app at download).
Most of the time. We live in NYC and have gotten anywhere from 0.5 mile to 3.5 miles range here, depending what part of the city you're in. There's nearly no such thing as LOS in a city unless, say, you're in a skyscraper ;)
I believe you're asking if there's a user interface to goTenna? If so, not in the current device. The UI is your smartphone -- the point is to conform to consumer behavior (i.e. the way you already text on your phone).
goTenna will retry sending your message a few times, and then if it still doesn't go through, will alert you that it hasn't been delivered. At that point you can try again manually.
There are delivery confirmation receipts for 1:1 messaging but not for groups as that's a networking nightmare (e.g. not even Whatsapp or iMessage does that).
We want to do that, but FCC regulations don't enable meshing (currently) on the bands we're using (151-154 MHz, aka the MURS band). We considered releasing a 900 MHz device that the FCC allows to mesh but then you only get, if you're lucky, up to 0.5 km range and it has to be line-of-sight. So we went with MURS because you can get greater range and don't have to be line-of-sight; the propagation characteristics are better down at MURS. Also, when we asked 1000 people (including testers) what they preferred -- a long-range MURS device or a short-range meshing device -- about 8 of 10 picked the former. So that's why the goTenna device you see today is our first release!
Preach on! :) Yes, we think we're better/more convenient than walkie-talkies for a few reasons.
1) We integrate with the smartphone you already have on you. 2) The asynchronous communication, as you said, allows for less miscommunication. Plus, with delivery confirmation receipts you KNOW it didn't just disappear into the void somewhere, and was actually received by your intended recipient(s).
3) You can direct the message specifically to discrete individuals or groups. You don't need to worry about being on the same channel or hear other people you don't know yakking.
4) You can share your location on detailed offline maps.
All transmissions are end-to-end encrypted, unless you use the "shout" or "emergency" features which are, by definition, messages to everyone within range of you.
Our first device operates on frequencies that only enable 9600 baud transmissions. So we want everything as tight/small as possible in terms of packet-size so we can have a scalable networking layer
I get it's not for everyone, but what we learned as we developed this is that more people wanted asynchronous data comms as opposed to real-time voice. And when I say "more," I mean like, 75% of testers preferred the former.
From a networking perspective, as well, it makes our ad hoc reconfigurable network more scalable if we're focused on short-burst transmissions that are, technically speaking, delay-tolerant. This means that even if you're at a huge event with tons of people using goTenna, even if a gajillion of them press "send" at the exact same femtosecond, all the messages can get through in a matter of seconds if not milliseconds.
Yes, we're focused, with this first product, on asynchronous, low-bandwidth data comms. Through our R&D for the past 21 months, that's what most testers and people wanted most, especially when they don't have service otherwise.
Daniela, goTenna co-founder here -- back-haul is the 'easy part.' We just wanted to start with the hard part, i.e. a communication system that never requires central connectivity; a smart network with no actual central brain.
goTenna is an ad hoc reconfigurable network in that you can create your own network (1:1; groups, 1:all; all:1) but we can't currently mesh due to FCC regulations. So we went with long-range instead, since meshing is most useful in dense, short-range situations. We're on it though... ;)
Hey I'm Daniela, the cofounder of goTenna. Yes, real prototypes have been made. In fact, the final product is done! That's why we didn't go the crowdfunding route because we're ready to move into manufacturing (and in fact already have).
Use our range calculator here (http://bit.ly/1qKVDEQ) to understand what your range will be in different environments and/or elevations. We've gotten up to 3.5 miles in NYC but more realistically, it's up to a mile in urban areas. Up to 50 in a skiing situation outdoors :D
They have editorial discretion. I'd be curious to know what the "acceptance rate", so to speak is... I know for a fact that a couple I know was rejected specifically because one of them was undergoing gender reassignment and the NYT didn't know which personal (gender) pronoun to use for him.
Have any of you tried Dashlane? https://www.dashlane.com Dashlane offers universal click-to-pay functionality, doesn't require any custom build or partnership with retailers, and securely stores your payment info so that only you can access it. Just went public last week.