If you hate trying to read the numbers off of your SIM card and are sick of their continual shrinking then Apple and Samsung's plan to make the SIM card extinct may be good news. If you have a phone with dual SIMs or remove the SIM when you travel to ensure no roaming charges will be applied to you then perhaps you are less than happy to hear these companies want to replace the physical SIM with a software one. It will make changing providers and phones easier but making it a permanent part of the phone could have some drawbacks. Those of you who have a new iPad Air and iPad Mini may already be familiar with the soft SIMs, if you want to read more you can catch up at The Register.
"Smartphone goliaths Apple and Samsung are reportedly confabulating at a high level regarding plans for hardware which would replace SIM cards in mobile devices – this technology would be embedded in phones, tablets etc and would not be exchangeable to different devices."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Pray for AMD @ The Register
- Windows 10: Microsoft confirms it will offer software on USB flash drives @ The Inquirer
- TSMC says 10nm on schedule @ DigiTimes
- TSMC, Samsung start A9 chip mass production @ DigiTimes
- Windows RT on life support: Microsoft vows it won't pull the plug @ The Register
- ARM servers look to have legs as OVH boots up Cavium cloud @ The Register
More lock-in and less
More lock-in and less hardware transferability, and with windows 10 fast catching up to Apple’s closed ecosystem with 10’s forced updates and no options to opt out. Will we even be able to own our own hardware in the not to distant future. Even on PC/Laptops its going to become a metered existence, and with no funds to feed the meter, will the hardware become about as functional as the average brick! Better to stick with the older hardware, and OSs, and switch to something not tied to any carrier, but damn if I’ll allow an OS on my hardware that forces updates down my throat, or a phone without a physical SIM card. How many people have been able to get a cheep used device and transfer over the SIM and save a good wad of cash in the process, and all of this SIM-less madness smacks with many of the trappings of DRM. The hardware that you purchased are belong to US!, the big monopolistic interests will say!
You have to get Win 10 Pro to
You have to get Win 10 Pro to opt out of updates. Win 10 Home is like you say. Personally I don’t mind the updates but I understand the concern of not be able to opt out.
The main stream Media and many (most) bloggers will exalt Apple and Samsung removing the SIM card. I agree with your comments. Just away to get tied into the phone makers/carriers and hand them more money.
No you still have to accept
No you still have to accept the spyware/adware/crapware that M$ wants to push out with the security updates, so after 8 months delay it’s accept what is force fed, or get no security updates for even your pro version! M$ claims that they will be providing new features, but we all know where media player went, along with others features. M$ will be in too much control over users systems, and “features” can be removed at any time, and then repackaged and resold back to users through the M$ store. M$ will give you the same old lie about how this is supposed to be better for users, but it’s more about being better for M$’s bank account. Let the fools rush in, and learn the hard way, when those unavoidable “Updates” begin removing OS functionality, and the users forced to repurchase what was removed from the M$ store.
Lots of OEMs better make DAMNED sure that their drivers will be able to work with windows 7, as there will still be the downgrade option back 2 releases to 7, and I’m not getting another HP probook unless it has a 7 downgrade option from the factory. I was hoping to get a Carrizo based laptop from HP, but not with 10, or 8, so if any probooks come with Carrizo it better have some driver support for 7, along with downgrade rights. I always get the pro versions of windows, you can’t do system image backups to the network share/drive without pro or above versions of windows. I’ll be seriously looking at HP’s SUSE/Other Linux Distro OS based laptops also, but I need the Carrizo GCN graphics, Blender’s cycles render has support for AMD GCN based graphics now, so no more need for Nvidia’s overpriced SKUs.
Windows 10 is not going to be popular, with all of the force feeding of updates, and other Metrics gathering, and hopefully the Steam OS folks will get some branded Steam OS based laptops in the retail channel! I’m really wanting a Carrizo based laptop, full wattage APU, with an AMD discrete GPU, both graphics GCN 1 or above for Cycles rendering and mesh modeling under Blender 3D.
“you still have to accept the
“you still have to accept the spyware/adware/crapware that M$ wants to push out with the security updates”
You have a source to back up the claim that Microsoft embeds spyware or adware in its security updates? I’ve never gotten any adware on a PC running Windows, ever, that wasn’t some crap preinstalled by the manufacturer, but that’s what software like PC Decrapifier is for.
“Windows 10 is not going to be popular, with all of the force feeding of updates” Yes it will be, the average user doesn’t give two shits about forced updates.
>>I’ve never gotten any
>>I’ve never gotten any adware on a PC running Windows, ever…<< What do you think the metrics and info gathering is? It's simply malware/spyware by another name. Its used for marketing purposes and, as we've seen in the past, its also shared with big brother. In addition, any software that forces one route as opposed to another (app store tie-in, forced updates...) can be considered malware. Win 7 will also likely be my last. 10 will only be a gaming option IF a future title requires it (Dx 12) and no Vulcan option exists (and I sure as heck will NOT purchase it). Steam/nix seems the only way forward for those who care and dont want to reward increasingly anti-consumer behavior.
The metrics gathering isn’t
The metrics gathering isn’t Spyware, though, because you agree to install it when you install the preview version of Windows 10. Spyware, in the traditional sense, is hidden from the user and runs in the background. The metrics gathering can also be fully disabled in the RTM version, so your point is moot.
“It’s also shared with big brother”
Hate to tell you this, but if you have an internet connected device of any kind, chances are the government is watching what you do. Microsoft actually does a fair bit to protect the privacy of its users, including outright refusing to respond to FISA court requests.
If you are going to try and demonize Microsoft, you should try preaching to someone less knowledgeable than myself.
If you use Steam on Linux, then you are destroying the whole point of Linux AND seriously hobbling your ability to play PC games.
So, as a number of VZW’s
So, as a number of VZW’s customers probably know, all of their earlier “3G” phones used NAM’s instead of sims. This meant that moving an account across phones could be quite a hassle. In the past few years, VZW has begun using the usual SIM method. SIM’s are also a generally-accepted way to authenticate a user (they are basically small smart cards).
Cuz a sim card was so fucking
Cuz a sim card was so fucking huge…
what an absolute waste of time and money, not to mention the burden that another new, yet pointless standard creates.
The only thing they made easier, is to lose it.