"My SIM is smaller than yours": Apple and Nokia in new Nano-SIM battle
Apple and Nokia are set to go head-to-head over the implementation of a new standardised SIM-card size for future mobile phones.
The future of the “fourth form factor (4FF) UICC”, or Nano-SIM as it’s more commonly referred to, will be settled by two different proposals submitted to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI); one from Apple, and one from Nokia.
Apple’s proposal describes a nano-SIM measuring in at 12.3mm x 8.8mm, and has even been spotted in prototype form at this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show. Even smaller than the micro-SIM found in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, it would in theory allow for more advanced components to be squeezed alongside it in future iPhone and iPad devices.
Nokia’s proposed SIM is even smaller at 10mm x 8mm, with the Finnish company rumoured to be entering into a pact with Motorola and RIM to support each other in the battle of the SIMs, and more specifically, in the battle against Apple’s smartphone dominance.
However, Apple have their own defensive strategy too, looking to gain favour with the ETSI by promising to offer royalty-free licensees to their rivals in regards to any patents that their new Nano-SIM design requires.
The ETSI are expected to make a decision by the end of the week. We’ll pass on whatever news the outcome brings as we receive it.
Via: The Verge
