The GSM SIM card. We all know what they look like. That little rectangular piece of metal-laden plastic lying underneath your mobile phone’s battery is the key that opens the door to your GSM carrier’s network. But, they’re apparently too big and awkward for T-Mobile. In a bid to expand Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile USA’s reach beyond just cellphones and mobile broadband cards, T-Mobile USA has unveiled a tiny new SIM for use with embedded devices.
What are embedded devices? You use them everyday. Your digital watch, your microwave, your music player and even that traffic light down the street – they’re all examples of special-purpose computing systems. It’s these embedded devices that T-Mobile sees as a potential boon for future cellular connectivity.
T-Mobile USA is pushing to connect all sorts of embedded systems to their GSM network in the US. T-Mobile USA isn’t known for their super-fast network or their incredible 3G coverage, but they are known for having an easily accessible network that third-party device makers appreciate. To that end, T-Mobile wants their new embedded SIM, which is about the size of a pin-head, to help connect future generations of embedded devices to the T-Mobile USA network.
“With our simple, streamlined certification process, we expect partners to have commercial solutions based on this new technology running on the T-Mobile network as soon as this summer,” says John Horn, national director of T-Mobile’s machine-to-machine unit.
The technology would allow your microwave to talk to your digital watch, for instance, using T-Mo’s wireless network. Imagine a future where your watch can send a signal to your oven, instructing it to pre-heat itself or start cooking that delicious London broil you left in there before leaving for work. This is the kind of future that T-Mobile imagines its embedded SIM technology will allow.
We’ll never give up our GSM SIM cards, but we’re more than happy to welcome embedded SIM technology to complement our smartphones of the future!
[Via: WSJ]