Rumor: Gadget turns iPod Touch into iPhone
It's called the Apple Peel 520, and it appears to let you make calls, send text messages, and more. There's even video to support the claim.
Savvy iPod Touch users already know how to make phone calls on their devices: plug in a headset, find a Wi-Fi hot spot, and fire up a VoIP app like Skype or Fring. I can find at least two hassles in that process.
Wouldn't it be cool--no, awesome--if you could pop a SIM card into your Touch and use it as a proper phone? That's the tantalizing promise of the Yosion Technology Apple Peel 520, a purported new gadget that's making the rumor-mill rounds.
Judging from the accompanying photos and video, the Apple Peel is a combination case, cradle, and battery pack. Yosion's specs indicate an 800mAh battery, which would afford 4.5 hours of talk time and 120 hours of standby.
The unit appears to be based on an Infineon baseband processor. Drop in a SIM card and you'll be able to make and take phone calls, send and receive regular text messages, and so on.
According to gadget site Ubergizmo, the Apple Peel could be available as soon as this week, with a price ranging from $44 to $74.
Reality check: for the moment this is all rumor. There's no official product page for the device, nor anything indicating which iPod Touch models are compatible.
On the other hand, there's video showing the Apple Peel in action! Take a look:
Pretty impressive, no? We'll see if we can track down any more details about this potentially game-changing accessory. For now, it's the juiciest rumor I've heard since free MobileMe and OS 4 multitasking. (Glad at least one of those turned out to be true.)
What do you think? Would you buy such an accessory? Even if it involved jailbreaking your Touch (which it almost certainly would)?