The SIM battle heats up

[zsdersw]

http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/20/2888525/apple-motorola-nokia-rim-nano-sim-etsi

Perhaps to SIM card inventor Giesecke & Devrient's surprise, its nano-SIM proposal introduced late last year didn't fly through standardization unopposed: instead, the process for crafting a next-gen SIM standard has devolved into an all-out war pitting Apple against many of the other major players in the phone industry, FT reports. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is on track to vote on the nano-SIM next week, but there are concerns that Apple's version will require a drawer for the card — a design element it already employs on both the iPhone and iPad — whereas the competing design led by Nokia (and seemingly backed by Motorola and RIM) is said to have "significant technical advantages." Though the SIM design would be licensed to any organization that wants to use it, there's also concern about Apple's seemingly unilateral effort leading to a concentration of patents around the nano-SIM falling under its direct control. It's understood that "most" European carriers have sided with Apple, however.

And the soap opera gets even juicier — ahead of next week's vote, the FT is reporting that Apple is attempting to significantly increase its number of votes in the ETSI's chambers by registering six different European subsidiaries as voting bodies, each of which can have as many as 45 votes. Nokia is currently in control with 92 votes, but it seems that could change very quickly if Cupertino gets its way.

Regardless of which faction wins, we're bracing for yet another all-new SIM standard coming down the pike, which means new cards, new adapters, and new hassles for carriers.

This is ridiculous... and getting moreso by the day.

 

[alent1234]

the whole idea of a SIM card is ridiculous

i buy a new phone that's faster than supercomputers of a few decades ago and i need this cheapo over sized plastic card to make it work?

 

[Anubis]

Apple is attempting to significantly increase its number of votes in the ETSI's chambers by registering six different European subsidiaries as voting bodies,

that does not exactly sound legal

 

[alent1234]

that does not exactly sound legal

apparently you have never read a financial report. every corporation is made up of dozens of subsidiaries operating around the world

one of the reasons why oracle financials is so big. it lets you easily shuffle money around your corporation for the greatest tax/profit benefits

 

[MrX8503]

Considering Apple's products are sealed, I can see why they want a drawer type ejection sim card. Either way, I don't really care what standard they settle on just as long its significantly smaller.

 

[WelshBloke]

the whole idea of a SIM card is ridiculous

i buy a new phone that's faster than supercomputers of a few decades ago and i need this cheapo over sized plastic card to make it work?

I'd rather that and the easy convenience of having my hardware choice independent of the carriers.

 

[alent1234]

love my istuff, but we need MS and Dell to come in and bring the prices down. $750 for a phone is way too much. android still requires too much work by the OEM

need MS and dell to make it so that anyone can easily build a phone and flash it with an OS and not worry about coding a UI or drivers or whatever HTC and Samsung do on top of android

 

[WelshBloke]

love my istuff, but we need MS and Dell to come in and bring the prices down. $750 for a phone is way too much. android still requires too much work by the OEM

need MS and dell to make it so that anyone can easily build a phone and flash it with an OS and not worry about coding a UI or drivers or whatever HTC and Samsung do on top of android

Hardware is always going to need specific instructions to make it work.

 

[zsdersw]

love my istuff, but we need MS and Dell to come in and bring the prices down. $750 for a phone is way too much. android still requires too much work by the OEM

need MS and dell to make it so that anyone can easily build a phone and flash it with an OS and not worry about coding a UI or drivers or whatever HTC and Samsung do on top of android

Clearly you know nothing about Android. UI overlays are not required in order for everything to work properly.

 

[InfinitySquared]

apparently you have never read a financial report. every corporation is made up of dozens of subsidiaries operating around the world

one of the reasons why oracle financials is so big. it lets you easily shuffle money around your corporation for the greatest tax/profit benefits

He didn't say it was illegal to have subsidiaries... :hmm:

 

[alent1234]

Clearly you know nothing about Android. UI overlays are not required in order for everything to work properly.

still doesn't change the fact that almost every android phone takes a long time to develop, test and contains a lot of custom code outside the AOSP

why hasn't someone taken the code, flashed it to some OEM generic brand name phone nad started selling phones for $200 off contract?

 

[zsdersw]

still doesn't change the fact that almost every android phone takes a long time to develop, test and contains a lot of custom code outside the AOSP

... which is the fault of those who make the phone, not Android.

 

[pm]

the whole idea of a SIM card is ridiculous

i buy a new phone that's faster than supercomputers of a few decades ago and i need this cheapo over sized plastic card to make it work?

I have to say that personally I love the idea that I can buy any phone that is frequency compatible with a GSM/3G telecom provider and then use it regardless of whether or not that provider has personally approved of the phone or not.

When I read what needs to happen to get a Verizon phone working on Cricket, for example, and then compare that with the simplicity of just sticking in a little SIM card, I really appreciate the whole SIM card system.

why hasn't someone taken the code, flashed it to some OEM generic brand name phone nad started selling phones for $200 off contract?

They do do this. They just tend to be sold in India, Russia and China and not so much the EU and USA and they don't tend to be the sort of "sexy" phones we talk about here on Anandtech.

For example, I noticed this one (because I work for Intel and am watching the progress of Medfield for personal curiousity)
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/27/2828149/intel-lava-xolo-x900-india-android-smartphone
(the link doesn't say it directly, but the Xolo x900 runs stock Android)

 

[akugami]

Nokia has officially come down and "rejected" the Apple promoted SIM for the new micro-SIM standard.

One has to remember that Apple actually wanted a SIM free phone with a virtual SIM card inside the device that could be re-programmable. This was probably so they could cram a larger battery in there.

And also keep in mind that Nokia isn't exactly an impartial bystander. The current SIM standard has deep roots with Nokia who collects royalties off of it. If Apple wins, guess where the new royalties would go to. And Nokia has its own proposed standard for the micro-SIM.

 

[zerogear]

I love SIM Cards, to be able to just slide the SIM card in and use any carrier, I can use it in almost any country as long as I have a pre-paid SIM Card without having to pay the ridiculous international roaming charges that AT&T/US Carriers have.

 

[kaerflog]

I love SIM cards too.