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Apple Explores Dual-SIM Capability in iPhones, Patent Filing Reveals (ibtimes.com.au)
Apple is exploring the idea of having two SIM card slots in its iPhones. The Cupertino-based company has registered a patent for a dual-SIM card technology that involves two separate antennas. Though not as popular in the US, and UK markets, smartphones with dual-SIM card capability are extremely popular in developing regions such as China and India. For instance, according to Counterpoint Research marketing firm, more than 90 percent smartphones sold in India, world's fastest growing smartphone market had dual-SIM card slot in them. But why does Apple care about India and China, you ask. The iPhones sales growth has dropped everywhere in the world, except India, which is also the world's second most populous nation, and world's second largest smartphone market. As per Apple's previous earnings call, sales of iPhones grew by 50 percent in India, and Tim Cook has said that he sees a huge potential in the country.
two antennas! Nobody could have figured that out other than the geniuses at apple.
What is there to patent? I am using prior art right now and it is at least 2 years old.
No, no I'd never ask that. That's just about the stupidest question I've ever heard.
...and in the Americas and Europe, they can use that space to put in a headphone jack! I hear they are extremely popular in those regions.
I never understood the need for Dual SIMS. Is one for your wifes calls and one for your girlfriends?
The question one asks when he is a hardware designer all the time. We know the COGS, we know the market that wall st. wants to sell this to can barely afford it, but certain powerful investors would rather deal in volume than margin. And some of those investors are people like Foxconn (investor in two of my past three employers), who make bucks on volume more than margin and I suspect some are fronts for chinese government interests, who feel the same. Those people stand to gain from this expedition.
And once again:
1- Someone implements a device with feature A. It's not very popular.
2- Years pass.
3- Apple (or more likely, some Apple blog) announces their next device will have feature A.
4- EVERYONE and their dog rushes to declare that this is the worst idea ever, it won't work, it was done before, Apple is in decline, blah, blah, blah.
5- Apple FINALLY releases a device with feature A. It sells like hot cakes.
6- EVERYONE (and their dog, see above) eats crow.
Been happening continuously for the past 10 years or so. Probably won't stop soon.
US carriers often claim they have global coverage, which often turns out to be a Byzantine system of insane surcharges, marking up a foreign carrier's service by quite a bit. You REALLY don't want most US carriers for your cell service when traveling to other countries. A dual-SIM phone solves that problem, but only if you can positively disable the unwanted SIM card to avoid the unwanted surprise surcharges. Of course, you could just turn off your beloved iPhone and use a local cheapie phone for travel, but I can see why Apple wants to discourage that.
Meh, we've been using two-radio single-antennae designs (which reduces EM radiation) on everything non-IOS (including Android) for at least 8 years, now. I remember seeing brain-frying four-chip monsters (with four baseband radios, of course) in China.
My everyday Moto G has a 4G baseband radio, and a secondary 3G baseband radio for the second chip. The battery lasts for 24H of normal use (lots of calls, lots of GPS + Maps, and lots of web-surfing), or 12H if I burn it doing 3D gaming.
Apple will, somehow, show up with a dual-antenna (likely some sort of maneuver to not pay patent $$$ to someone else) crap that costs at least US$ 2K more than a flagship Moto Z, and which will have an 8H autonomy at best.
No, thanks.
The main driver is for the ability to pick up a cheap PAYG SIM when visiting another country and use it side-by-side with your own - cheap local calls and not going bankrupt paying for data roaming, while still having your own number active.
I spend a few months every year in another country, so my last two phones have been dual-SIM for exactly this reason.
I realise most Americans never travel more than 50 miles from their home, and so this is a non-issue, but for the rest of us it's rather handy.
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They cant even make one antenna work.. what will it be with two..
I swear its seems like the tech added to new iPhone is getting older and older.
One sim is for your cellular carrier and the other is a direct line to the surveillance agencies and AppleCare.
You are welcome on my lawn.
So basically Apple wants to chase after emerging markets rather than do something about their quickly deteriorating product lineup.
I swear, you can practically watch in real time how the MBA is destroying an up till now highly successful company that prided itself on the quality of it's engineering.
iPhones have the smallest marketshare in India - equivalent to Lumias. Which is why most apps that one sees there are available on 3 platforms - Android, iOS and Windows Phone. An iPhone 6s would cost close to Rs100k, so only plutocrats have it.
Not just that, the Apple Store apps can only be bought from the US store: last that I checked, there ain't an Indian store. As a result, none of the apps on that store would be localized for India. Completely different picture w/ Lumia: a bulk of apps for Windows 10 are India specific, and also, most major apps in India are available for Windows Phone as well.
Another factoid - Apple has been content w/ having just a certain marketshare, and don't want their phones to look like a commodity item, which would result in price pressures. In India, that would clamp their marketshare. If they lower it any, it could suddenly become widespread, just like the Galaxy. Apple has to decide whether they want to remain a status symbol
They need to patent the way to hold their phone with two antennas - I bet it will be unique.
And IRL, lots of people have already done in the past.
Tons of asian hardware maker.
Random example:
The Jolla C, produced in partnership with the Indian company "Intex" has dual-SIMs
The Fairphone 2, also features dual-SIMs.
It just happens that most of these are produced in countries that don't give a shit about intellectual property (e.g.: China)
And probably none of those have been produced in the US (the two example I cited are European. Finnish and Dutch respectively).
So Apple will probably the first to *patent* it, in the USA. (And they'll have the necessary budget to finance the necessary amount of lawyers to get it happen).
And will probably manage to have their marketing department persuade the sheeple that they invented it.
(Like they did with portable music player, pocket-sized computers, etc.)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
If you carefully read what's written on the back cover of your phone,
there's probably "Made in China" written there.
And your brand is probably some random unknown no-name asian brand (that has been already successfully flooding the Indian market for the part decade).
Whereas that one is going to have "Designed in California" written in it (or maybe even "Assembled in the USA" because that's where they do the finally "assembly step". Like slaping the logo on the back).
And it's brand that has successfully brainwashing the masses into thinking that it must be inherently better because there's the image of a fruit on it.
(The fact that the circuit board of both phones were soldered by the same poor over-worked quasy-slave employed at some chinese subcontractor does never come into play)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I'm filing the patent right now.
I never understood the need for Dual SIMS. Is one for your wifes calls and one for your girlfriends?
Business number and personal number on the same device?
India - the worlds second largest market for more or less everything - is Android territory when it comes to mobile devices. Indians generally ask one question while purchasing a cell phone...does it run WhatsApp? Most will not use an email program in their lives, business is conducted on WhatsApp.
So, Facebook (WhatsApp) and Google (Android) has the country divided equally among themselves.
There is no Apple ecosystem in India. All the "iDevices" are niche products used by the minority upper class/upper middle class. Step into a crowded first class compartment of a Mumbai suburban train and you will spot countless Samsung Galaxy phones, a smattering of Huawei, Micromaxx, Xiaomi, ZTE, MotoG etc and may be one or two iPhone's. Its not going to change unless Apple competes on price.
Tat Tvam Asi
Speaking of dumb ideas, the SIM card is dumb. Why have a physical thing separate from the phone? Just punch in a number or numbers that can be saved in the phone itself.
Well you have the antenna, the radio and the profile. Three separate things. ?As I understand it, whenever you have a spread of frequencies it is still currently easier to have separate antennas for each "group". Don't know what two antennas at the same frequency would get you. Then you have radio chips. May need separate ones for different frequencies. There's that whole software-defined radio thing. Then there's records as to who the user is to what cell company.
They need to scrap non-VoIP.
I've declared SIM cards among the worst ideas ever. Just have a number or numbers entered into the phone itself.
Propaganda being pushed by vendors that want to lock you in, off course people are salivating for more if they are being offered the newest flagships with dual SIM, precisely the reason I switched to my current preferred brand
Hmmm... interresting...
Does BLU produce also dual-radio dual-SIM (where it's not 1 single radio alternating between 2 SIMS, but each SIM being constantly connected to the network through its own pipe) ?
If that's the case, there wouldn't be much that Apple could realistically patent that wouldn't be prior art by the company you mention.
On the other hand, given the warchest of Apple and the amount of lawyers they can afford, it's not a sure thing that BLU will be able to claim prior art before being driven to the ground.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Does BLU produce also dual-radio dual-SIM (where it's not 1 single radio alternating between 2 SIMS, but each SIM being constantly connected to the network through its own pipe) ?
Don't most dual-SIM phones have dual radios? With the main caveat, only one SIM can have the 3G/4G connection, but the other one is still active on 2G.
Perhaps what Apple is doing is enabling 3G/4G on both SIMs, which would be cool, and maybe it would push other dual-SIM devices to do the same (unless there are some that do and I haven't noticed)
How would that work?
Typing the code into my computer or saving it to my Google, Mozilla, Firefox, or other online account and getting it back when I log in or type it in manually. And I've had it happen where the stupid phone company has it rigged so that you can't just swap out the SIM, it is locked to the phone. So it is messed up royally
The same numbers that are printed on the SIM card itself. Get it by email, logging into a website, preloaded on a phone, on a slip of paper along with the phone (most SIMs come with a phone) or any way you can send a message. How else?
One solution is to make SIM locking of phones illegal, another is to buy your own damn phone, not get it from a carrier.
Also, couldn't I easily steal your numbers, or would you lose access to them? locked out of gmail because an algorithm says you're too far from home, account stolen, no internet access because you need the numbers to access the internet, malware fucks up your phone steals your numbers and deletes them allowing bad guys to use your access in the mean time.
In the same fashion, credit and debit cards are useless. I'll have a nice dinner with friends at a good restaurant then ask the waiter to send the bill to hackwrench.
Because Apple and Samsung touting using your phone instead of your credit card aren't a thing? Credit cards are a thing because the credit card numbers aren't tied to another physical object like your phone number and account are to your phone. On top of that, there are plenty of restaurants that are saying just put a credit card number into their app and don't use your card. So you have no idea what you are talking about.