What, because a later generation will probably have a better CPU?

I hope they will listen to numerous requests and release a 8 GB RAM version with trackpoint at the center of the keyboard, maybe even with SIM and SD card slots.

Spec say about battery life;I wonder what the conditions are and how accurate is the 12h estimate.

The hardware isn't that different to the Win, is it? I would have thought only the larger screen is going to make a significant difference to battery drain, so someone with a Linuxified one of those could figure out a semi-accurate drain rate fairly easily...

Of course if they're selling this with Ubuntu preinstalled, they might even improve the drivers. Not holding my breath though...

Wow, an order every minute.
I've ordered one piece, will see if it is going to be "the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2017"

The eMMC module will be Samsung or Toshiba, according to the comments on the indiegogo (I think that again accords with the Win, but I can't for the life of me remember where I read that).

I hope so. I've read that some chinese laptops use cheap eMMC from Foresee company which fail soon.

I've backed it too . Even if it's got some downsides, it's better than the alternative as far as a semi-pocketable linux machine.

imho the reason there aren't more portable linux devices on the market is, at root, simply that no-one with the money at hand believes there is a worthwhile market to serve. The best way to demonstrate that isn't the case is to push for the success of those contenders that do come along.

If it's a success as a linux box, even a smallish one, others will come sniffing for a share of the market.

I agree up to a point - demand creates the supply - but the manufacturers bear their share of responsibility too.

Sermon for the choir: If they don't choose their components carefully, or develop open source (or better, in-kernel) drivers for them, the devices end up very restricted, and are effectively useless once the manufacturer stops supporting them.

I've read about Dell releasing 'Ubuntu certified' laptops which are tied to a particular kernel version, and hence a particular release of Ubuntu (at least unless you're prepared to undergo a lot of faff trying to forward-port old kernels). I'm not a big fan of Ubuntu, but I wouldn't say having to use it is fatal. But not being able to upgrade to new releases I would definitely object to - I'm still using a Thinkpad X201, and intend to keep using it till it's actually useless or broken (funnily enough, I booted its original disk a couple of months back, to upgrade Windows. It claimed the battery was still at 99% health or something. Probably more sensor error than the fact that I've almost never unplugged it, but at least a bit of both... )

Less of a concern with an ultra-mobile, which you expect to have a fairly limited lifespan anyway - but still a concern.

eta: of course I suppose in a way tied in to your point about people needing to support the manufacturers, that's a self-defeating cycle: if a manufacturer makes something that you can keep upgrading, they don't sell as many as if they can force obsolescence. The solution isn't obvious - maybe an electronic waste tax?

And I have seen dozens of laptops with "Designed for Windows" stickers on them that were not able to upgrade to a later versions of Windows for the same reason. The problem is not limited to a Linux support.