[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.

....

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/06/one-nano-sim-to-rule-them-all-apple-submission-approved-as-standard/

***** 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
.