Atoll’s SoundPad is a smart cover for the iPad Air with a set of built-in speakers. It costs $130, and snaps onto the iPad with Magnets. It’s flexible, and it connects to your iDevice via Bluetooth. And that is all the information available, which makes me a little suspicious.
When the only product info you can find about a gadget consists of CGI renderings intercut with stock footage of cars racing through snowy mountains and arrows slicing through who knows what, then you start to question the actual availability of the product. And when the inventor behind that product introduces the video without even showing the device then things get even fishier.
Then again, a high-quality speaker that adds almost no bulk to the iPad certainly an enticing idea, but there’s no way I’m sending off $130 to find out how loud it is, or how long the battery lasts, or anything at all about how it works, as the specs are not on the site anywhere. There is the promise of an Indiegogo campaign coming in the future, but that isn’t stopping the site from typing in your payment details to the as-yet-unconnected online store.
So, file this one under “maybe” until we find out more.
Charlie Sorrel writes reviews and how-tos. Follow Charlie on Twitter at @mistercharlie, and at micro.blog on @mistercharlie
