Modern smartphone have transformed our data usage habits, which is fine as long as you’re in your home country, paying your reasonable rates. But the minute you travel you expose yourself to exorbitant roaming charges. ComfortWay is working on a pretty cool Travel Case for the iPhone 5/5S, and 6, that could give you up to 200MB a day for as little as $2/day. The case contains a configurable SIM that will download the proper carrier settings as soon as you launch the companion app, after arriving at your destination of course. Once logged in, it turns itself into a WiFi hotspot that your iPhone (and up to 9 other devices) then connects to. Oh, and did we mention there’s a 2,400 mAh battery in there as well?
The protocol is HSPA+, which boasts speeds up to 42Mb/s; that’s plenty fast even for HD video. After you’ve reached the 200MB cap, speeds are reduced to 128Kbps. It’s a pay-as-you-go type of product, with credits easily added through Visa, MasterCard or Paypal, in the companion app.
All in all, it sounds like a great product, but seeing as it’s a Kickstarter, it’s far from being available. A pledge of $79 will save you a spot, but that’s the Early Bird pricing. And if it does reach its goals, expect to see the case around May 2015.
[ Project Page ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]
