Isis, the near field communication mobile wallet venture from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, took another step forward with the announcement that it has selected SIM card maker and digital security specialist Gemalto as its trusted service manager for its mobile wallet. Read more »
SIM cards, those tiny slivers of silicon that carry your identity inside a cell phone or connected device, are once again poised to get smaller as Giesecke & Devrient introduces the nano-SIM. If adopted, they could mean thinner devices or more room for larger batteries. Read more »
Hundreds of millions of handset owners worldwide without data plans have a new way to access Facebook while mobile thanks to Gemalto. The Amsterdam-based company has a SIM card that uses SMS to provide Facebook access for Personal Argentina’s 17.4 million customers; no data plan required. Read more »
Facebook’s annual conference, F8, was pretty thin on mobile news, but a news item today demonstrates how it’s not far out of Facebook’s site… Read more at paidContent »
As our demand for data increases, so too do the number of mobile devices and services. Add to that the infrastructure needed to support such connectivity, and a wide, complex picture of the mobile industry emerges. This report examines the various sectors of the mobile landscape and what the future holds for each. Hardware, cloud services, mobile search, advertising, location-based services and the growing ubiquity of the Internet of Things will all play an important role in the concept of mobility as it shifts and evolves over the next several years. With the help of more than a dozen contributors, GigaOM Pro presents a comprehensive analysis of the companies and trends that will lead us into the next era of mobile. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google rocked the mobile world on Monday, August 15, with the news that it will buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, marking a 63-percent premium for the handset manufacturer. It’s a move that ushers Google into the exclusive club of companies that control both the hardware and software elements of their smartphone offerings, and it will enable Google to design handsets that are more closely integrated with Android. However, the deal doesn’t come without its risks, and it remains to be seen just how it will affect other handset makers, competition from Microsoft and the crucial patent issues currently surrounding Google. Companies mentioned in this report include Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
When it comes to the iPhone, the main element that is still out of Apple’s control is the carriers. Jean-Louis Gassee proposed Apple solve this problem by just scooping up a carrier. But patent filings indicate Apple has other plans. Read more »
The mobile app boom is still largely a smartphone phenomenon, requiring more expensive hardware and often pricier data plans. But we’re now seeing more examples of apps that avoid the need for better hardware and data plans, bringing the love to a wider array of users. Read more »
The Verizon iPhone 4 got the tear-down treatment today, revealing a Qualcomm Gobi chip that is both GSM and CDMA compatible. The Verizon iPhone can’t do true dual-mode because it lacks a SIM slot, but might the iPhone 5 get around this with a built-in solution? Read more »
Apple’s push for embedded or programmable SIM cards appears stalled by threatened carriers, but the GSMA is moving forward to research the use these chips. They may not appear in phones for some time, but there are other opportunities in web-connected machines and smartgrid devices. Read more »
The GSMA, the organization representing most of the world’s mobile operators, today changed its rules to allow for a programmable SIM card much like we described Apple building with Gemalto a few weeks back. It’s expected devices with remote-activated SIMs to be available by 2012. Read more »
Earlier this week, I reported on rumors that Apple and Gemalto were developing a SIM that Apple could integrate onto its iPhone motherboard, and through the comments pouring in, I’ve received further confirmation on the rumors and more context on what this might mean. Read more »
The Apple iPad has a new chip, a new data pricing plan and a new SIM format to get onto the carrier network. Since I was curious about the micro SIM, I visited Gemalto, which sold about 1 billion SIM cards last year, to learn more. Read more »
