Motion detecting SIMSense SIM card opens new world of possibilities
by Darren Murph 
posted Feb 16th 2009 at 5:24PM
File this one away in the "man, I should've thought of that" category. Here at Mobile World Congress, Oberthur Technologies is making a name for itself by introducing the planet's first motion detecting and handset-independent SIM card. SIMSense, as it's so eloquently named, could open up a whole new world of interaction with phones that don't come with any sort of accelerometer built in. For instance, a user could simply shake their cellphone upon receiving a second call in order to send out a pre-written SMS that explains the situation. Or they could navigate phone menus by simply moving or tapping. Or, better still, they could program their handset to dial an emergency contact if it detected a sudden fall while close to the person's body. There's been no indication of anyone grabbing this thing and running with it, but we can't imagine this not making it out to the commercial realm.
Filed under: Peripherals, Others, GSM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mayday @ Feb 16th 2009 5:53PM
This sounds ummmmmmmmmmmmmm STUPID.
Fernando @ Feb 16th 2009 5:58PM
I can't imagine this going commercial. Sim cards = carriers. Carriers = greedy. Accelerometers != extra revenue.
Plus, accelerometers are pretty much everywhere nowadays.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Feb 16th 2009 7:54PM
you guys might see the appeal of this and i try to keep an open mind but i really can't see a need for this honestly. accelerometers in phones are a pretty novel idea to me anyway. sure it's nice if the phone knows where it is in space (like that Touch Pro 2 going to speakerphone when it's on it's face) but shaking and stuff for features is a gimmick and i really cant take it seriously. i have a Wii that i dont play because they dont make regular games for it anymore and i never use the motion controls in my PS3. im still scratching my head at the Nano Chromatic with shake to change songs for this exact reason. there are better ideas out there than this.
KilgoreTrout @ Feb 16th 2009 8:34PM
I find accelerometers essentials in my smartphones (i own an HTC touch HD and a Samsung Omnia) and the lack of one on SE experia X1 has been one of the reasons of its failure.
When you wrowse the web , or write a text I got used that if I turn the phone to horizontal position the screen follows it, and if I look at a pic in portrait or landscape mode I just have to turn the phone to make it fit the display.
I often use google in portrait position to find a video or a TV program I want to see but then , when the movie starts, I just turn the phone and see it in landscape mode.
Same when I shoot pictures or videos.
The Omnia has even a "digiframe with soundtrack " application: imagine that in portrait mode!
I would never again buy a phone without an accelerometer.
As for integrating one in a SIM card, yeah, that's silly, since if a phone lacks one it will also lack the applications and programs that make use of it ; and if it includes these apps it would surely also have one inbuilt.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Feb 17th 2009 4:31PM
exactly. i have no problem with a phone knowing where it is in space and being able to adjust to how you have it oriented (it's actually quite ingenious) but when you get into shaking and specific gestures to activate features, it gets pretty gimmicky in my opinion. things like that end up being stuff i think is cool for like 3 days then i just go back to the old way. plus like you said, if phones add this SIM card, they also have to add apps to the phone to support the accelerometer or it's pointless. and if the manufacturers are adding them, then they could have just added the accelerometer in the device in the first place.
Mark Jenkins @ Feb 16th 2009 8:36PM
Accelerometers will remain a phone feature since the technology is young and will improve phone after phone after phone. SIMs are so mass produced that it would be unmanageable for a carrier to swap out SIMs as the accelerometers improve. The answer to Oberthur's success is getting the carrier's, en masse, to recognize and accept some GSM wide service that the card enables. We are talking something on the scale of SMS (FTW), or SIM Services (FAIL), or SIM based WAP (FAIL), or SIM phonebooks (antique). As you can see, it will have to be some monster application for hundreds of carriers from hundreds of countries to get behind before an motion detecting SIM gets any traction in the marketplace.
So, what should go on a SIM? NFC, capacity for secure payment data, certificate stores, biometric data (maybe). Another direction for SIM cards would be to go contactless and then carry the SIM seperate form the phone so a stolen phone dies when out of range of the SIM. Then we could power up our phone of the day without having to swap SIMs every morning. Make "fashion phones" easy to use, and you facilitate selling more phones to a single customer.
That's my 6 figures and 20 years on SmartCard experience worth.
Malkmus @ Feb 16th 2009 9:25PM
Accelerometer for automatic screen rotation and cell phone games: 2 thumbs up
Accelerometer for unnecessary gesture-based commands: 2 thumbs down
BigQuesoXoXo @ Feb 17th 2009 12:10PM
It cuts down on the cost of manufacturing a phone. Doesn't really effect consumers.
michael @ Feb 20th 2009 7:30AM
but simless phones are due on the scene making this a short lived (but why didn't I think of that) business
Pili @ Feb 21st 2009 12:48PM
"simless phones are due on the scene"
???
if anything phones are getting more SIMs. GSM / UMTS / HSxPA etc.. phones all have one.
LTE specifies a SIM card as well, which means that Verizon in the US will get SIMs to its users.