Apple Peel 520 to Come in iPad Edition

Yosion’s Apple Peel 520 caught a bit of attention as it was a case that essentially brings along its own 3G modem to give the plain old iPod Touch voice and data capabilities over a mobile broadband network, turning the personal music player into an iPhone. Now, the company wants to head back into the game and tackle another popular Apple product, the iPad. The company will create a same case/sleeve contraption that should bring mobile broadband data to Apple’s iPad tablet if you want to go with another carrier other than AT&T or whatever selected launch carrier partner for the device in your country. GoSolarUSA has confirmed that it is working to fund developments of the Apple Peel for your iPad, though I don’t personally see a big market for that.

The need for a Peel for iPad to circumvent your carrier may not exist as the Apple iPad is already sold unsubsidized and unlocked, and in many cases without the need for a 3G data contract, so users can stop and start service as they need. On the other hand, because of AT&T’s tight grip on the iPhone, those who may not want to sign a contract or pay a premium for an imported, SIM-unlocked iPhone that’s being sold overseas can do well with an iPod Touch and Peel, which has been announced for to come to the U.S. via a distributer. The Peel’s other function would be for users who may want to use it on a carrier that doesn’t support Apple’s products and may not be able to obtain the micro SIM to use with the device, though plenty have resorted to trimming their own standard SIM cards to a micro SIM size, and that method has been reported to work on both the latest iPhone 4 and the iPad.

The other use case scenario would be for people who purchased a WiFi-only model iPad and would want to add 3G mobile broadband access at a later time without having gotten the WiFi + 3G model initially.

Casey Pham
Categories: Apple, Gadgets
Tags: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch