# How close are we to a portable "cell phone" in a chip **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324 "2004-03-03T16:08:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/1 "2004-03-03T16:08:18Z")
I work in a place where cell phones with cameras are prohibited. Luckily I have a plane cell phone. But suppose I wanted a camera phone too, without wanting to have two lines. I’m envisioning a scenario where I have two phone bodies where I can move a chip between them so that the body with the chip is the active phone with my number. This way I can have a camera phone on weekends and a dumbed down phone at work and not have two numbers. Is this feasible, or are we close to getting this ability? ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/2 "2004-03-03T16:09:31Z")
:smack: That’s a “plain” cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/3 "2004-03-03T16:12:11Z")
Well, they have SIM Chips now that basically have the account info on them along with the address book and such. Last time I upgraded my phone I just moved the chip from one phone to the other. I did have to call up the provider though and get them to assign the chip to the new phone. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/4 "2004-03-03T16:16:16Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Well, they have SIM Chips now that basically have the account info on them along with the address book and such. Last time I upgraded my phone I just moved the chip from one phone to the other. I did have to call up the provider though and get them to assign the chip to the new phone. Aha, this is a start, but I don’t want the phone company involved in this, I want it as transparent as changing a face plate. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/5 "2004-03-03T17:18:35Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I work in a place where cell phones with cameras are prohibited. Luckily I have a plane cell phone. But suppose I wanted a camera phone too, without wanting to have two lines. > > I’m envisioning a scenario where I have two phone bodies where I can move a chip between them so that the body with the chip is the active phone with my number. This way I can have a camera phone on weekends and a dumbed down phone at work and not have two numbers. > > Is this feasible, or are we close to getting this ability? That sounds like any SIM phone I have used. A couple of days ago I was in a business lunch and my boss pulled out his super-duper cell phone to make a call only to find out his battery was dead. I pulled out my pathetically outdated clunker, pulled out the SIM and handed it to him. He inserted his SIM in my phone, made his call and handed the phone back to me. As simple as that. A couple of months ago I went to China. As I landed at the airport I bought a local SIM card and instantly had a local mobile phone number which I used during the weeks I was there and chucked when I left. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/6 "2004-03-03T18:02:29Z")
\*\*\* How close are we to a portable “cell phone” in a chip?\*\*\* You might try looking into [Intel’s Manitoba project and the PXA800F](http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-984427.html) (Sorry, the linked article is over a year old.) They are envisioning a complete analog/digital/antenna solution on a chip by 2007 (Analog, in this case, being the RF signal, which is analog, even though it carries a digital signal. At a low lever, all digital circuits are analog, and their analog nature is a key design consideration.) [Texas Instruments is introducing a similar cellphone on a chip](http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m4PRN/2003_Feb_10/97385601/p1/article.jhtml) this year, but it too will probably require a few external components for the analog signal. Quite a few manufacturers are planning the kind of complete “cell phone on a chip” solution (analog and digital sides in a single package) by 2007-2009, but in current industry terminology the “cell phone on a chip” is here today. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/7 "2004-03-03T18:05:01Z")
Oops! Will someone please fix that second link? I thought I did, but it didn’t take. Instead I just erased the paragraph about a Motorola solution. (_sigh_) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/8 "2004-03-03T18:06:13Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > That sounds like any SIM phone I have used. A couple of days ago I was in a business lunch and my boss pulled out his super-duper cell phone to make a call only to find out his battery was dead. I pulled out my pathetically outdated clunker, pulled out the SIM and handed it to him. He inserted his SIM in my phone, made his call and handed the phone back to me. As simple as that. > > A couple of months ago I went to China. As I landed at the airport I bought a local SIM card and instantly had a local mobile phone number which I used during the weeks I was there and chucked when I left. So the key here is SIM. I guess I’m looking for the point where this is universal. I have a Kyocera phone and do not believe it is a SIM phone. Is there a movement in the industry to make this standard? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/9 "2004-03-03T18:31:10Z")
I believe all European and Asian phones have SIMs as they are all GSM. I suppose in the USA GSM phones also have SIMS but GSM is not universal in the USA as it is in the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/10 "2004-03-03T19:31:21Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > So the key here is SIM. I guess I’m looking for the point where this is universal. > I have a Kyocera phone and do not believe it is a SIM phone. > > Is there a movement in the industry to make this standard? I fail to see a difference between this “chip” and a SIM card, which by all accounts is the exact same thing. I have AT&T gsm here in NY, and I can swap my SIM chip with a different GSM phone in 2 seconds. The only problem I would envision with a camera phone, is whether the pictures are stored on the chip or the phone’s memory. Of course that could be fixed in a matter of weeks, not years. As far as being universal, all phones will need to recognize the same chip, SIM or the uninvented one you speak of. To answer you question though, the phone in a chip is very much a reality, and in use by millions of people, across the globe, as we speak. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/11 "2004-03-03T23:21:46Z")
Although it isn’t exactly what you’re looking for… with at least one US non-GSM provider, you can have two cell phones for one account, and instantly switch between them by changing your active ESN on the provider’s web site. SIM cards aren’t necessarily tied to GSM, either. I believe they have CDMA phones with SIM cards in Korea. There are also combined CDMA/GSM phones (“GSM1x”) that use SIM cards, but I’m not sure if the SIM still works to carry your identity around when you’re on a CDMA network. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/12 "2004-03-03T23:28:38Z")
I guess I was thinking of China, not Korea. [UIM card lead is catching on](https://www.bdaconnect.com/content/features/analyses/bb2001_06_26/en) > [@](#): > > When China Unicom launches CDMA service later this year [2001], the new network will employ handsets featuring China’s answer to GSM’s SIM (subscriber identification module) card - the UIM (user identification module). And [here’s](http://www.cdmatech.com/solutions/products/r-uim.jsp) a UIM that also works as a SIM card when you put it in a GSM phone. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonia\_mydas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Chelonia\_mydas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonia_mydas)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-we-to-a-portable-cell-phone-in-a-chip/232324/13 "2004-03-04T07:11:20Z")
yep on the Europe, or at least parts of it… my gf lives in Croatia and she just pulls a chip out of the bottom of her phone and can put it in any other phone. Incidentally (and shockingly to me when I discovered it), she and her friends think we Americans are absolute Neanderthals when it comes to cell technology, especially since text messaging became commonplace for them years ago… The Turtle Moves