CPU, RAM, Android - all on one SIM card
The humble SIM card is set to become a lot more impressive following SK Telecom's research into embedded computing.
Yes, you read that right: a SIM card which contains everything you need to run a modern mobile operating system - lacking merely the ancillaries like radio transceiver and display.
As reported over on MobileCrunch, the standard size SIM manages to contain CPU, a small amount of RAM, 1GB of solid-state storage, and a copy of Google's Android mobile OS - potentially everything you need to run the operating system - leaving the rest of the 'phone to handle the boring stuff like connecting to the mobile network, providing power, and offering input and output devices like keypads, touchscreens, and speakers.
While the device is, for now, only a prototype it offers a glimpse into the future when a move between handsets means taking your entire operating system - complete with settings, address book, saved messages, and ringtones - with you, and instantly having the new handset configured exactly to your preferences. Well, so long as you stick with Android, of course.
The general premise hearkens back to the days when most mobile handsets stored messages and contact details on the SIM's internal memory - which was usually measured in kilobytes. As handsets became more advanced - with MMS, larger address books, customised ringtones - they were forced to move the data storage onto the handset rather than the SIM, making moving to a new handset a somewhat painful experience. SK Telecom's latest invention could solve all that - providing handset manufacturers buy in to the idea.
So far the company has not announced any plans to commercialise the product, but if the interest is there it's certain to license the technology.
Do you think that the all-in-one SIM could represent the future of mobile devices, or is SK Telecom merely showing off its technical prowess with an impressive but ultimately useless feat of engineering? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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I second that. A lot of work will need to be done before this hits our phones. I also wonder how this compares performance-wise to existing/upcoming products like snapdragon and qualcom's new chip? I can't imagine they've managed to squeeze in a 1GHz processor and 1080p-capable graphics in there. Therefore chances are it will see more use in low-end devices. However, that being said, the initial cost of such a sim-card is likely to be many times higher that existing sim-cards, at least in the beginning, potentially stifling it's uptake in that market.
Another side-effect might be the need to periodically upgrade your sim-card as better models come out. This, in my view, destroys one of the best things about sim-cards, which is that you can have one for years and use it in phone after phone after phone without any hassle. ( I've had my vodafone sim for 3 years and others for even longer)
I'm also amazed by the feat.
I've long thought that the primary problems with the paradigms of "near & far" is unified data. If you could get the chip in a fob that just plugged into things, like a desktop, slate, and mobile platform, much the same way people use laptop docks, then the future may be closer than we suspect.
kudos to the SK Telecom team.
What the humble SIM needs is much bigger storage so I can transfer my phonebook from phone to phone without problems. I had to get a smartphone that syncs with Outlook before I could satisfactorily move the contacts around. A micro-SD card these days can be GB in size. Surely it's not too much to ask for a SIM to be able to hold a few hundred texts and contacts?
Nice tech though, although once to take into account Moore's law it becomes a tad outdated very quickly.
you should have seen my mums old nokia, you could lose it anyware
i doubt its as small as this (i dont know if this is faked or not
http://blog.loaz.com/media/smallest-cell-phone-lip-stick.jpg
I've had my sim since I had a nokia 3210, that thing would never be able to power a 3" touch screen smart phone!
Keeping texts and contacts etc on my sim card, Brilliant!
Having to buy a new sim card capable of running a newest handset and so removing the earlier positives... Rubbish!
Just think - SIM card, removable, holds all software and user data (swap CPU + RAM for more storage)
Phone - the hardware-side of the trip, swappable/upgradeable without losing any data.
I don't doubt that the new "sims" would come to have some form of lifespan as sim card features and the OS support increases and mobile devices become smarter still to accommodate new technological advances and our ever demanding needs.
Sounds good to me.
If I stick one up my bum, can I turn myself into a mobile phone?
:D
Getting back to the point however.... It's an impressive achievement, but has little immediate practical use. Firstly, this will never replace the traditional SIM card; SIM cards are far too universal and embedded into the market. It would take a major shift in the market to facilitate the move away from SIM cards, and I don't see that happening any time soon. SIM cards fulfill their role perfectly. It could certainly complement traditional SIM cards, but it would have to gain near-universal acceptance for it to be truly beneficial. As others have pointed out, it would be a little impractical though: upgrades to new devices or faster CPUs would negate much of the benefit that the technology promises. Upgrading your phone today is a relatively simple matter - providing you already have the ability to sync the data phone. All you have to do is buy a new phone, swap your traditional SIM card into the new device and sync your data to the new device.
Integrating CPU and RAM into simcard is impressive, but an overkill and limiting. Smartphones evolve almost as quickly as PCs - first Andriod (G1) phone had an MSM7201A - a 528MHz CPU, while current ones have Snapdragons which are more than twice as fast (even before you factor in the faster GPU) and use less power - and that's just a 2 year difference between them. My private phone number (and simcard) is about five years old now, so go figure.