A few years back, FreedomPop announced a case for the iPod Touch that would grant it cellular capabilities. In other words, your iPod Touch could ride its network. Not unlike FreedomPop’s attempt, the AT&T Modio, which the company calls the first “smartcase” in the United States, attempts to do the same for Wi-Fi iPad models.
According to AT&T, the Modio will initially be available for the iPad Mini, iPad Mini 2, and iPad Mini 3 Wi-Fi models, with a version for the iPad Air and iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi models to follow sometime afterward. Throwing the Modio on your iPad gives it the ability to use AT&T’s 4G LTE network for up to 10 hours, thanks to the case’s 4,600mAh battery. Interestingly, it also has a Micro SD card slot that accepts cards up to 32GB in size.
Whereas FreedomPop’s smaller implementation went for $100, AT&T didn’t share pricing details for the Modio, though it did imply a Mobile Share plan will be used. AT&T’s Mobile Share plans start at 300MB of data for $20 a month and go up to 100GB of data for $375 a month. Pricing can easily make or break a product, and with AT&T revealing more information at a “later date,” we’ll keep an eye out.
