MicroSIMcutter trims oversized SIM cards down to size

The SIM cards that fit into those tiny slots in your cell phone and tell your cellular network to whom your calls are to be charged come in four different sizes. With the only real difference between them the amount of excess plastic on which the circuitry is housed, MicroSIMcutter's new SIM card cutter can cut either mini- or micro-SIM cards into the nano-SIM form factor, allowing a user switching phones to recycle their existing card.

All SIM cards have basically the same circuitry – a microcontroller and small amounts of permanent, rewritable, and random access memory. They come in four sizes, ranging from the credit card sized original SIM card to the nano-SIM card, which measures 12.3 mm x 8.8 mm (0.48 in x 0.35 in). Despite the different sizes, they have the same size and pattern of electrodes, and the electronics are buried under the electrodes. The only difference is how much excess plastic is attached to the active part of the card.

The SIM cards are designed to be backwards compatible, so if you have a micro-SIM card but your cellphone takes a mini-SIM card, you can place the micro-SIM card in a mini-SIM adapter, which just adds on the extra plastic.

However, with most cellphone users more likely to upgrade their phones more often than they switch carriers, the most common problem is removing a mini-SIM card from an old phone, and securing a micro- or nano-SIM card for the new replacement phone.

There have been instructions on the Internet for some years describing how the larger SIM cards can be cut down manually, but this requires steady hands, good scissors, and the willingness to risk demolishing your SIM card. Mobile service providers will also offer to copy data from an old SIM to a new, smaller one, but that involves finding time to physically visit a store.Now there is another option. MicroSIMcutter is importing a Chinese SIM card cutter that can cut either mini- or micro-SIM cards into the nano-SIM form factor. The owner of a new phone can then reuse their old card rather than ordering a new SIM card with a smaller form factor. Their stainless-steel hand cutter, called the Nano SIM Cutter, punches out the shape of a nano-SIM card. A mini-SIM card fits directly into the punch, while a micro-SIM card is placed in a mini-SIM adapter before inserting into the punch to insure proper alignment.A quick push on a lever, and your need for a nano-SIM card with the correct authentication data is satisfied. Perhaps not an earth-shaking advance, but innovation and good ideas come in all sizes.

Comments

Recycled, solar-powered, boat-roofed wonder wins Shed of the Year

The crowning glory is a 14-ft boat which has been left whole and inverted to form the roof. A 20-W solar panel powers the creature comforts inside. To create the shed's frame, the boat was fixed atop four telegraph poles plonked judiciously on a hillside amid Wales' Cambrian Mountains. (The views aren't at all bad, either). Aluminum-framed windows were salvaged from a 1940s caravan, and others were "borrowed" from Holland's farmhouse. Walls are a mixture of corrugated metal and, for a taste of the Neolithic, wattle and daub. Inside things take a turn for the high tech. The shed's PV panel feeds a battery which provides power to LED lighting and a 12-V sound system – the only new item in the construction. The shed also boasts a plumbed Belfast sink (the generous, cuboid-shaped ones), and a 19th century wood burning stove for heat fitted with a chimney fashioned from the queen pole of an old circus big top.Where sheds end and (sometimes pretentious) ...

New type of silicone exhibits both viscous and elastic properties

Looking for a more effective solution to the all-too-common wobbly table dilemma than a folded up bit of cardboard or piece of rubber under the leg, University of Virginia physicist Lou Bloomfield created a new type of silicone rubber called Vistik – it's malleable enough to take on any shape when pressed, but is still resilient enough to offer support, as it gradually starts to return to its original shape as the pressure is released. The material could have many applications ... beyond just steadying up wobbly tables. Vistik is a viscoelastic material, meaning that it exhibits both viscous and elastic properties. As a result, when compared to something such as conventional silicone rubber, there’s a considerable time lag in its response to continuous pressure. “It seems elastic in response to sudden forces or impacts, denting in proportion to the sudden, brief stress and then returning almost instantly to its earlier shape when that stress is removed,” Prof. Bloomfield ex...

Google reportedly launching YouTube music subscription service

YouTube, whether intentionally or not, is the new MTV. Not long after the network once known as Music Television stopped playing music, Google’s video streaming service took its place as the preferred music video source for teenagers. According to a new report, Google is now ready to take the next step and sell subscriptions for its service. According to Fortune , Google is preparing to launch a YouTube subscription service later this year. Rather than creating a paywall around existing YouTube content, though, the paid tier would simply let viewers enjoy copyrighted musical content ad-free. Spotify for music videos? The YouTube subscription service would be separate from – but overlap with – an (also-rumored) Google Play subscription streaming service. The Android version is expected to more closely resemble Spotify’s (and Rdio’s, Deezer’s, Rhapsody’s, etc.) on-demand audio model, while an ad-free YouTube would be more akin to a Spotify for music videos. In its early y...

ANBARASUASOKAN

Search This Blog