Whether we’ve forgotten it in the pocket of our swimming shorts or inadvertently let it slip into the toilet bowl during a quick Facebook scroll while relieving ourselves, many of us will have lost a smartphone to a watery grave at some time or another over the years. But the danger of death-by-liquid for our smartphones could soon become a thing of the past if physical Sim cards are replaced by virtual alternatives.
The biggest challenge to the creation of a truly waterproof mobile device with phone and internet access is the holes in the small slots that hold the Sim card. As long as a physical slice of plastic holding a chip has been necessary, it has been almost impossible to effectively seal up any potential entry point for liquids if a device is accidentally fully submerged.
But new smartphone models being developed by the tech giants including Apple, Samsung and Google will offer the option of digital rather than physical Sim cards. Digital Sim cards are downloaded onto the phone, with all of the same information normally encoded onto a physical card’s chip, available in purely digital format.
That means the handsets will soon be manufactured without a Sim-card tray, going a long way to allowing them to be built to be waterproof. Gary Waite, whose Sim Local company provides international travellers with pre-paid local Sim-cards comments:
“The holes like the one for the speaker can all be made waterproof quite easily. But the Sim tray is a real problem as if you get water in there, that’s really bad news.”
Digital Sim cards will also make using local telecoms services far more convenient for those traveling abroad. Rather than having to find a vending machine or shop selling local Sim cards if they wish to avoid roaming charges, visitors will be able to conveniently download a digital Sim card provided by a local network provider before they travel, activating it on arrival.
The technology is not entirely new, however, and UK operators O2, Vodafone and EE are all already able to process digital Sims, though Vodafone restricts the capability to Apple Watch devices. The big change will be new smartphone models being built to host digital rather than physical Sim cards.
New smartphone models will be able to host up to 15 digital Sim cards, allowing users to switch between them when travelling, or potentially to make use of different services offered by different providers. The latest technology in digital Sims will also mean any new smartphone will be able to operate on two networks simultaneously. That means one phone could be used for both work and personal use, or to keep a local and international number active at the same time.