“The Verge” (http://macte.ch/kIDd4) reports that RIM and Motorola have submitted an updated proposal for the design of the so-called 4FF nano-SIM, a smaller replacement for the 3FF micro-SIM used in many phones.
Debate between competing nano-SIM designs — one from Apple, another from a joint group of RIM, Motorola, and Nokia — has grown intense over the past several months within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the body ultimately responsible for SIM standardization worldwide, the article adds. Apple is competing with Motorola Mobility, Research in Motion and Nokia on a smaller SIM card standard.
Apple wants a “nano-SIM” that would let it design even smaller products.The MicroSIM card, with a design smaller than traditional SIM cards, was pushed by Apple in 2010 with the launch of the iPhone 4. However, a nano-SIM would shrink further — to about a third the size of the MicroSIM. Apple’s keen on adopting the new standard, but the other companies aren’t exactly warm to Apple’s design proposals.