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Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

arstechnica.com

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Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#171

Post by cjdoc29 »

Reason077 wrote: post #17
chamakits wrote: post #4

This seems like an inevitability; since eSIMs are already here, and manufacturers are going to be thrilled to have fewer moving parts. But it’s disappointing all round. I absolutely love how easy it is for me to buy a new phone, swap in my old SIM and I’m instantly using my old number. As painful as transferring everything else is with new phones, at least I easily keep the same number. With this (and I’d guess with…

> "But it’s disappointing all round. I absolutely love how easy it is for me to buy a new phone, swap in my old SIM and I’m instantly using my old number." In theory, with an eSIM it's even easier to swap in your old SIM because you don't have to deal with the physical SIM card. Especially so if you don't have the physical SIM because it's lost or whatever. In my experience it's super frustrating to have to wait for…

I'm replying to your post since so many replies to you mention their positive/negative experiences but leave out the most important part - what country they've visited.

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#172

Post by ksec »

glitchc wrote: post #136
jjtheblunt wrote: post #7

This looks like paid Qualcomm PR, for the following reason. From the article, it looks a lot like Qualcomm trying to coopt the eSIM success now a few years old, by saying the electronics of iSIM are a custom block in their silicon, not a separate small chip. But it doesn't clarify that others (like Apple obviously) can't realize their eSIMs in their custom SOC, as far as i see. > Qualcomm says "the new iSIM is fully…

iSIM is a standard defined by the GSMA standards body. Qualcomm did not make up the term.

I have largely given up arguing for / explaining anything 3GPP related on HN. Also disappointed it is the top comment.

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#174

Post by dharrison27 »

throw7 wrote: post #163

Man, what I as a consumer wants is to be able to have multiple cell phones on the same number... just like I used to have with a landline. This isim is just esim, except on the soc. And before anyone says just use google voice... no I don't want to use google. I don't want to deal with google. I don't want an abstraction.

Also some of us just can't get Google Voice. Like in Canada.

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#175

Post by taviso »

eloisant wrote: post #82
bilekas wrote: post #5

I feel really old thinking that i remember the model of sim cards that were credit card size and not shown in the diagram.

Not just old but early adapter I believe, because when cell phones became really mainstream it was already the mini-sim format!

I remember watching someone insert a credit-card sized SIM into a StarTAC when I was a kid.

It blew my mind, it looked like a Star Trek communicator.

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#176

Post by vel0city »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #18
godzillabrennus wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SIM cards were never swappable for me. They were locked to a phone. Changing to a new handset meant going to the carriers store or having them ship me one. I welcome the ease of portability that eSIM brings.

This feels like an American perspective. In Europe (and Asia too?), sim-swapping is pretty seamless, and relatively common.

Not an inherently American perspective. I've been able to swap SIM cards between devices in the US using both large and small carriers since the 90s in the US.

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#177

Post by izacus »

jaclaz wrote: post #151
izacus wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In theory, with an eSIM it's even easier to swap in your old SIM because you don't have to deal with the physical SIM card. Especially so if you don't have the physical SIM because it's lost or whatever. In my experience it's super frustrating to have to wait for a new SIM to arrive in the mail because you lost it or the old one is faulty! In practice however, they can be a customer hating disaster. Some telcos her…

Not only, the whole stuff about eSim (and iSim) might be an issue when you have a problem on your hardware (phone): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33121530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32138466

Yeah, sometimes the telcos have a self-service portal that gives you a new QR code. However, last time I needed it, my telcos service happily returned 500 so I was left without connectivity.

Also, eSIM backup transfers don't work between brands of Android phones (e.g. from Pixel to Samsung and back).

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#178

Post by vel0city »

Uptrenda wrote: post #69

Wasn't one of the benefits of a smart card model was having a totally isolated chip that could run minimal software and provide a limited surface for attack? If you add everything to the same chip then doesn't this reduce the advantages of having that separate smart card (together with it's anti-tampering design)? We're also supposed to trust Qualcomm that this is secure... Sounds totally legit. SIM cards aren't perf…

I don't necessarily know how eSIMs or iSIMs are supposed to work, just throwing out some ideas here discussing how they could be implemented.

Just because a device is on the same package or die doesn't mean all features need to be exposed to everything else on that package or die. Imagine if you just took the design for a regular SIM card, and then essentially just directly connected it on the package or on the die. Its still the same interface, but instead of it being a separate package connecting to pins on a board that connect to other pins on a board and then to the SoC its just all in the same plastic package. Then go from instead of wiring it in the plastic package, you're not wiring it on the die itself.

Now, of course, this obviously isn't how these things work, since they can load cryptographic material from things like QR codes and apps. While older SIMs were mostly read only (usually a small amount of user memory like address book stuff and what not) these newer eSIMs and iSIMs allow for provisioning in the field. This does bring some attack surface to them, but once again these kind of interfaces could be locked down. It doesn't necessarily need to share logic with the main CPU or have its memory in system RAM, it can still hold all its cryptographic secrets in its own private non-accessible memory and do its functions with its own logic designs. The provisioning step is still potentially attackable, but if designed right its secret storage and management can still be highly isolated to the main processors in the same way older SIMs were.

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#179

Post by justsomehnguy »

pilif wrote: post #91
DeathArrow wrote: post #88

Why is this a positive story? Downsides: -it is more cumbersome to replace phones, as you have to move identities from phone to phone and get approvals by carriers and device makers instead of just replacing the physical SIM -you can't just hand over your phone to someone else, you have to unroll yourself and enroll the other person -you don't have anonymity and privacy since is no longer possible to use a prepaid ph…

> it is more cumbersome to replace phones, as you have to move identities from phone to phone and get approvals by carriers and device makers instead of just replacing the physical SIM That really depends on the carrier. In my case, setting up a new iPhone to replace an old one means saying yes in the prompt displayed by the phone. Nothing else. This is more convenient than having to search for the SIM removal tool.…

ADD: Oh my, remembered one thing.

Two years ago I made a QR code for a local bar so a visitor could just scan it to join the news group.

One night I helped a girl to scan that QR code, because she said what scanning QR-codes never works on her phone. Turns out you need to go to the settings and check some options to allow a built-in camera to process QR codes. I think it was some premium Samsung Galaxy S20-something. *shrug_emoji*

Re: Qualcomm wants to replace eSIMs with iSIMs, has the first certified SoC

#180

Post by throw7 »

lxgr wrote: post #164
throw7 wrote: post #163

Man, what I as a consumer wants is to be able to have multiple cell phones on the same number... just like I used to have with a landline. This isim is just esim, except on the soc. And before anyone says just use google voice... no I don't want to use google. I don't want to deal with google. I don't want an abstraction.

Is this not offered by US carriers? In Germany I remember it being pretty common. All phones on one "line" will ring at the same time, but only one will receive incoming texts, unfortunately, due to how SMS is implemented at the network level.

Not in the US, except someone in the thread mentioned ATT has a carrier specific feature... which is interesting, but it's not universal.

You mentioned SMS... it's also annoying that RCS doesn't seem to support multiple clients/syncing of texts/voicemail/phone. I mean, you spent all that time developing/deploying the "next-gen" SMS and then just drop the ball.

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