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Apple Offers Royalty-Free Patent Licenses to Push Proposed Nano-SIM Standard

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Last week, we noted that Apple was still pushing to have its "nano-SIM" design adopted as the official next-generation standard to further reduce the size of the removable cards that include subscriber information and activation capabilities for mobile phones and other devices connecting to cellular networks. While the company has received the backing of a number of European carriers in its effort to roll out the new standard, other hardware companies are putting out their own proposals.

ipad_2_sim_tray.jpg



FOSS Patents now reports that it has seen a letter sent by Apple to the European Telecommunications Standards Institutes (ETSI) committing to offer royalty-free license to its nano-SIM design patents should it be adopted as the next-generation standard and holders of other patents related to the standard offer similar terms to ease adoption.
A perfectly reliable source that I can't disclose has shown me a letter dated March 19, 2012 that a senior Apple lawyer sent to ETSI. The letter addresses the primary concern of critics of the proposal. The FT said that "the Apple-led proposal has caused some concern among its rivals that the US group might eventually own the patents". But Apple's letter has removed this roadblock, if it ever was any, through an unequivocal commitment to grant royalty-free licenses to any Apple patents essential to nano-SIM, provided that Apple's proposal is adopted as a standard and that all other patent holders accept the same terms in accordance with the principle of reciprocity.
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A move to a smaller SIM card standard would enable Apple to design smaller and thinner devices or to utilize some of the space within existing device volumes for other components. With the tightly-packed configurations of today's mobile devices, even minor size reductions for a given component can open the door to smaller or better-peforming devices.

Apple has also reportedly been developing a micro dock connector for future iOS devices, a move which would similarly free up space for other uses given the substantial size of the 30-pin dock connector used in all iOS devices released to date.

Article Link: Apple Offers Royalty-Free Patent Licenses to Push Proposed Nano-SIM Standard
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/26/apple-offers-royalty-free-patent-licenses-to-push-proposed-nano-sim-standard/
S

slrandall

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2011
412
0
Apple believes in this enough to give it away for free in order for others to adopt it. What are some of the other proposals?
 
G

gpat

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2011
1,870
5,047
Italy
Why don't they use a device to load the data stored in the SIM directly on the iPhone? It would be surely more painless than changing a 14-year old standard, and could provide a smart way to prevent iTheft.
 
Lesser Evets

Lesser Evets

macrumors 68040
Jan 7, 2006
3,527
1,294
I love seeing how Apple swings weight about. They are quite determined, and I see nothing wrong with their desires to reduce or eventually eliminate these SIM cards.

Hope we see the micro-dock connector sooner than later. While the old connector is fine, it is large compared to what is now possible. Yeah, lotsa devices to aid iPods would be stuck in yesteryear, but let's move forward already.
 
K

kyjaotkb

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2009
937
883
London, UK
gpat said:
Why don't they use a device to load the data stored in the SIM directly on the iPhone? It would be surely more painless than changing a 14-year old standard, and could provide a smart way to prevent iTheft.
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and you're the Verizon guy !
 
MisterMe

MisterMe

macrumors G4
Jul 17, 2002
10,709
69
USA
gpat said:
Excuse me? If I said something impossible to accomplish, please explain why it is. I thought the Internet was for sharing.
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You will be well-served by doing a little research on the features and benefits of SIM cards.
 
T

The Mercurian

macrumors 68020
Mar 17, 2012
2,153
2,440
As a consumer don't want these nano-SIMS. The micro SIMS are already to small, difficult to handle and easy to loose - nano sims will be bastard things to try and deal with
 
Y

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
gpat said:
Excuse me? If I said something impossible to accomplish, please explain why it is. I thought the Internet was for sharing.
Click to expand...

That 14 year old standard you're complaining about is one of the greatest innovations in mobile technology since the cell phone was invented.
 
jayducharme

jayducharme

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2006
4,529
5,973
The thick of it
I'm curious about how a change in the dock connector would be received by consumers. There's such a huge collection of peripherals for the current dock connector. I wonder how many people would be willing to give them up. I bought three recent accessories with the current dock connector built into them, and they weren't cheap. I know that all technology changes over time, but I wouldn't be happy if I had to ditch my current accessories in order to upgrade my iDevices.

Wouldn't it be nice if Apple had a published road map of what their future held so we all could know what not to buy? (I'm sure their competition would love that.)
 
acidfast7

acidfast7

macrumors 65816
Nov 22, 2008
1,437
5
EU
The Mercurian said:
As a consumer don't want these nano-SIMS. The micro SIMS are already to small, difficult to handle and easy to loose - nano sims will be bastard things to try and deal with
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I only buy phones with multi-SIM slots for this reason.

However, good luck explaining that to an American, where their chained into 2-year contracts and a single carrier from birth to death.
 
MacBookPro13"

MacBookPro13"

macrumors 6502a
Jan 25, 2011
589
0
Ireland
I would love it if the iPhone micro-sim was the standard for all phones. Would come in very handy if you wanted a cheap spare phone for using at work or other places where it might get lost/stolen/damaged.
 
acidfast7

acidfast7

macrumors 65816
Nov 22, 2008
1,437
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EU
MacBookPro13";14612952 said:
I would love it if the iPhone micro-sim was the standard for all phones. Would come in very handy if you wanted a cheap spare phone for using at work or other places where it might get lost/stolen/damaged.
Click to expand...

just use a cardboard/plastic adapter like most people

LOL
 
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