Wi-Fi In a SIM Card 126
gaijin_ writes "What if, rather than buying a MiFi or using a Wi-Fi router app like those on the Palm Pre Plus, you could stick a SIM in any device and have a shared 3G connection? That's what Sagem Orga and Telefonica are promising: they've developed the SIMFi, a USIM card with an embedded Wi-Fi radio that, when dropped into any standard handset, can share the 3G HSPA connection with various Wi-Fi clients as an instant access point."
Antenna? (Score:5, Informative)
You still need a 2.4GHz antenna, which at 1/4 wavelength is more than 2cm. Where are they going to put it? Certainly not in a standard SIM chip package.
-molo
Re:I'm wondering (Score:5, Informative)
OTOH, it could be a portal for providing ubiquitous coverage for WiFi. Imagine having a city full of people with these (Even with reduced range to reduce the clutter). Then you would be able to access a "hot spot" from just about anywhere. Of course you'd be charged for access (by the provider most likely), but still it's a pretty cool idea...
Re:iPhone (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Antenna? (Score:5, Informative)
I agree -- it's not practical. Just look around: there's no [newegg.com] other [ebay.com] products [dealextreme.com] that manage to shrink [slashphone.com] an antenna down in size, and still operate at 2.4GHz, are there?
Given the severe lack of anyone doing stuff like this, it must be impossible to use an antenna shorter than a quarter-wavelength for anything [eham.net], ever. I mean, it's obvious [psicompany.com], isn't it?
Re:SIM=GSM (Score:4, Informative)
Well, Sagem and Telefonica certainly aren't concerned primarily about limitations of US cellphone market. Telefonica cares mostly about their network technology, which is quite firmly in GSM family. As is 80+% of mobile subsribers in the world.
I don't expect any drivers to be neccessary; this solution seems to be precisely about NOT using "special" phone. SIM cards typically expose to a phone their customized menu item, so there's certainly a way to control any functionality added in the hardware of said card.
Re:Progress. (Score:2, Informative)
"We are put on this earth to fart around and don't let anybody tell you any different."
Re:I'm wondering (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I'm wondering (Score:3, Informative)