Apple wins the battle for the nano-SIM card

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has decided on a new standard of SIM card. And things have gone Apple's way.

The new nano-SIM cards will measure 12.3 by 8.8mm, and have the same thickness as current micro SIM cards, VentureBeat reports. These are the specs Apple was gunning for, so Nokia and Motorola must be peeved.

With modern mobiles becoming even smaller and slimmer than ever, space is at a premium. Hence the decision to shrink down the SIM. Nokia and Motorola proposed a design with different specs, which they thought technically superior to Apple's. Nokia claimed Apple's design didn't meet ETSI's standards, saying it would get stuck in a micro-SIM slot, and could lead to plenty of headaches for consumers.

Nokia and Motorola also wanted a push mechanism for inserting the SIM, but Apple's tray design won over. (It's like the one currently found in the iPhone.) Though Nokia can't be that against the SIM tray, seeing as it implemented it in its latest flagship, the Lumia 900.

There were plenty more squabbles along the way, too. Apple offered royalty-free licensing of its design, but Nokia threatened to withhold crucial patents if that was the case. SanDisk resisted Nokia's proposal, and threatened to withhold its patents. (Sound like a child threatening to take their football home to anyone else?) Then BlackBerry-maker RIM accused Apple employees of re-registering as representatives of carriers to vote by proxy and sway it Cupertino's way.

A Nokia employee described Apple's proposed royalty-free licensing as "like offering a bicycle in order to borrow our Mercedes". There really is no love lost in this industry.

But we're here now, and despite the sulking, everyone can get on with making phones with the smaller SIM, meaning slimmer handsets for us all. And that's good news for everyone, isn't it?

What do you think of the new nano-SIM? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.