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Nano-SIM cards are now a reality

Posted: , by Charlene S.

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Nano-SIM cards are now a reality
Back in May, Apple proposed a nano-SIM card to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Apple stated that a SIM form factor smaller than the micro-SIM would allow manufactures to design smaller, thinner devices. Today the Munich-based technology provider, Giesecke & Devrient, or G&D, has issued a press release stating it has produced the world’s first nano-SIM card.

G&D created the first SIM card ever back in 1991 and is now pioneering the next incarnation of SIM cards in the form of the new nano-SIM. The new nano-SIM sports surface dimensions of 12mm x 9mm which is about 30 percent smaller than the micro-SIM, which is 15mm x 12mm, and almost 60 percent smaller than the 25mm x 15mm mini-SIM that most of today’s devices use. G&D did not give a specific thickness measurement for the new card, but did state that it has been reduced by 15 percent. This is particularly interesting because the prior three sizes of SIM cards have maintained a constant thickness of 0.76 mm.

G&D has also created an adapter to allow for backward compatibility with older devices and has sent samples of the nano-SIM to several mobile network operators for testing.  G&D is anticipating that the ETSI will implement the nano-SIM standard by the end of this year.

Axel Deininger, Head of G&D’s Secure Devices division, said, “The invention of the SIM card remains a milestone in the history of G&D. With the nano-SIM, we have shown how this development can move closer to perfection.

G&D did not release any photos of the new card, however, the world will be able to get a first hand look at of nano-SIM at the CARTES & IDentification 2011 trade show, which runs November 15th through the 17th.

source: Giesecke & Devrient via Gigaom

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1. hunted posted on 11 Nov 2011, 10:56 4

SIM card is already small, why too small? any reason

3. ardent1 posted on 11 Nov 2011, 14:20 5

Apple -- recall Apple wants to do away with SIM cards so they can make the iPhone even thinner but some carriers in Europe gave Apple some pushback.

4. hunted posted on 12 Nov 2011, 09:33 6

they should learn from samsung how to make thinner phones without changing the sim size

7. iKingTrust (banned) posted on 13 Nov 2011, 13:47 2 2

Yea because a sammys phones are tinner than the iPhone. Sorry no they are not

2. orangejuice posted on 11 Nov 2011, 12:47 1 3

We need to go smaller...

5. therocker posted on 12 Nov 2011, 09:52 4 1

gud.............bt i think therez no need to make sims more smaller................

6. landoftherich posted on 13 Nov 2011, 11:51 2

This is absurd. My 4-year old Nokia E71 is 10mm thin and uses a regular SIM card to operate. It doesn't need a Micro SIM...and definitely not a Nano SIM. Why? Because the smaller SIMs are not necessary to build a thin device with a small form factor.

There is no reason whatsoever to introduce something even smaller than the Micro SIM. The only reason to do such a thing is to make it harder for wireless consumers to transfer their SIM's between devices. This trend has very little to with engineering. It has everything to do with more manufacturer control and less choices for the end user.

8. saiful10 posted on 13 Nov 2011, 14:48

Really i like it.....

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