SIM cards with built in Wi-Fi not too far off from the near future?

It never ceases to amaze us how technology is always advancing in ways we couldn't imagine, but SIM cards that we all know and love may soon get a major makeover. Similar to what Mi-Fi devices offer, which effectively shares a 3G connection over Wi-Fi, this technology may soon make its way into SIM cards. Imagine instead of using something like a Mi-Fi, you can simply place your SIM card to any device and have it share 3G connections via Wi-Fi being emitted from the card. Sagem Orga and Telefonica are promising this in the near future as they've developed the SIMFi – a USIM card with an embedded Wi-Fi radio. It essentially can be dropped into any handset and share the 3G HSPA connection with other Wi-Fi devices. The SIMFi utilizes SIM toolkit applets running on the card itself so there are no setup hassles or handset specific configurations required. It's definitely extremely promising and could compete in the seemingly profitable market of sharing 3G connections – such as the Mi-Fi or software services that accomplish the same thing on handsets. No confirmation has been made in regards to its pricing, but with Telefonica on board with the SIMFi, it could potentially start a commercial release.

via Slashgear

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