Media for [telecom] One nano-SIM to rule them all: Apple submission approved as standard

[telecom] One nano-SIM to rule them all: Apple submission approved as standard

One nano-SIM to rule them all: Apple submission approved as standard

The ETSI decision will open the door for thinner and more capable phones.

by Jacqui Cheng June 1 2012

The nano-SIM design proposed by Apple has been approved by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), opening the door for the creation of even smaller SIM cards and the continued shrinking of smartphone hardware. ETSI announced its decision on Friday morning, choosing Apple's submission over proposals from Motorola, RIM, and Nokia.

The new SIM card design is the fourth form factor (4FF) and is 40 percent smaller than the micro-SIM that is currently popular in today's cell phones. The exact dimensions of the nano-SIM will be

12.3mm wide, 8.8mm high, and 0.67mm thick (0.48" x 0.35" x 0.03"), according to ETSI. And, when it hits the market, it will be packaged so that it's backwards compatible with slots designed to fit the current micro-SIM. This will enable the new SIM to work with older handsets while phone manufacturers work to develop newer hardware that can take advantage of the smaller dimensions.

...

formatting link

***** Moderator's Note *****

Is it just me, or does this seem like a shrinking solution in search of a miniscule problem? I mean, think about it: a SIM card is supposed to be easy to handle, so once it's small enough to fit in a pocket, there's no more need to change. Shrinking it makes it /harder/ to use, not easier.

(Don't get me started on the sizes of phones. They're already too small.)

Bill Horne Moderator