About money and selling large numbers, have you tried to contact the pwnphone guys to see if they are interested in the project?
http://pwnieexpress.com/products/pwnphone

Is there any possibility that the Neo900 could have USB3 support? With a 32GB eMMC it's nice to be able to transfer files at high speed.

Ah, that makes it look totally different. I took this phrase:
... as "maybe 15% of money you've paid will count for pre-order" I see, that you have now made it more clear in the quoted post, thanks.

Anyway, of course, having to pay 15% or 20% at early stage, then, having this sum subtracted from whole unit price during MP ordering is absolutely OK for everyone (i think). Even without T-shirts and names on PCB
---

BTW, something that I thought about for a while - is it really worth to use kickstarter, if Golden Delicious already have own forms of payment available? I mean, of course, the % kickstarter is taking from whole gathered sum.

Of course, I realize that kickstarter campaigns have some medial fuzz thing around them (although, much less nowadays, there is just too many of them appearing every day), so it's a matter of price/gain ratio. I just think, that people behind this project are respectable enough, to allow successful funds gathering without need for "trusted middleman" in form of KS, if "popularization" factor of KS isn't worth price need to be paid.

/Estel

i want to vote against kickstarter too, if it matters.

If we can make our own damn smartphone there has got to be a way to avoid the kickstarter tax.
OTOH just because we can as a tech group handle smart phone design doesn't mean we can or should work outside of our area of specialty and try to deal with the mechanics but more importantly the trust and (justified)paranoia of finances.

Just a thought, how many USB ports would be available in addition to the external charging port? If there were the prototyping module option under a Mugen cover we would want to have hub logic and mode switching for every USB/charging interface pad so we could for example charge via the port and control a plugin SDR module.
As for Mugen covers I don't think they are easily available anymore without a expired $80 battery. My 3d modeling skills might be able to design a printable replacement but it would be cubist at best no curved lines.

15%, 20%, 25%, hell 30%,no prob.... A downpayment to cement my spot (or anyone's for that matter) on the order and as well enable the commencement of (needed) development towards the necessary end result makes perfect sense.....need 300.00 - 400.00 CAN.? Give me 2 weeks and it's yours.

I also third the sentiment concerning kickstarter...essentially handing more money to an organization (however good the idea) may be ....and considering that any venue that is getting so (right now so consistently) overexposed, will have the same impact for us... as trying to shout through a tornado and expect to be heard by the audience we wish to impact on.
Some how we need truly wicked P.R. with a direct comparison chart how (downpayment/preordering.... let alone purchasing) a Neo900 is more advantageous than buying the competing devices...because that is really the only way to sway people...toe-to-toe...if we can't convince others how advantageous it is to buy one over the competition then selling it to our own camp won't get any easier.....

Now is as good a time to strike... while the "Beasts" are wounded...(MS, Apple, even Android) ...esp apple since their stock fall after their latest (ha) release...Disaffected consumers will be looking for serious end user control...more freedom and greater longevity alternatives in their devices. A good P.R. campaign and good media exposure would be the best solution to getting the necessary numbers of people that are needed...

Just off the top of my head..celebrity wouldn't hurt either...from what little and feeble understanding and insight I have John Cusack (decent dude at the top of his game, taken seriously and heard by many) has a keen mind and a great abiding interest in alternative tech..especially in the realms of free open anything, hacking and security ( what little miniscule insight I may have) ...approaching him to possibly bend the ear of his friends and colleagues who would be interested ....or be a spokesperson wouldn't nor couldn't hurt ....or to simply let him know of neo900 as an alternative...I imagine it may pique his interest... . But that's me just throwing that out there...

I have not read the full thread but as possible improvement (to add to wish-list) I suggest also to add an MHL chip to have HDMI output without having to change N900 external case.

Of course if TI Soc support HDMI (I have not verified)

Here's a thought - inductive charging. It's been done as a hack, but would it be possible to fit the kit in the case?

I doubt will be possible.
Usb Host controller must be on the Soc and for sure TI Soc doesn't have Usb 3.0 host controller.

And to use an external usb host controller chip there should be a pci-e bus and even here I doubt that TI Soc has it.

Maybe it should be possible to use a Usb 3.0 to eMMC bridge chip (if this exists).
A complex thing like "when usb cable is not inserted eMMC is connected to TI Soc, when usb cable is inserted and the user has choosed to share eMMC, the eMMC is detached from TI Soc and attached to Usb 3.0 to eMMC bridge".