Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

WhatSim, a SIM Card for WhatsApp

whatsim.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 82 posts

Re: WhatSim, a SIM Card for WhatsApp

#2

Post by andor »

That's interesting, but what are the rates for regular data and phone calls? I won't carry an extra phone for each messenger ;-) The site only lists the price for legacy MMS. Also, which country prefix will the phone number have, or do you get multiple numbers? People are usually hesitant to call numbers from other countries.

Edit: I would definitely pay 10 EUR for something like this on top of my current plan. In the spirit of net neutrality, it shouldn't be tied to a single service, though. Instead, they could just sell a low rate data connection.

Re: WhatSim, a SIM Card for WhatsApp

#3

Post by ahomescu1 »

andor wrote: post #2

That's interesting, but what are the rates for regular data and phone calls? I won't carry an extra phone for each messenger ;-) The site only lists the price for legacy MMS. Also, which country prefix will the phone number have, or do you get multiple numbers? People are usually hesitant to call numbers from other countries. Edit: I would definitely pay 10 EUR for something like this on top of my current plan. In th…

From the FAQ at http://www.whatsim.com/en/faq:

  Can I make calls, send text messages or surf the Internet?

  No, WhatSim only allows you to chat with WhatsApp.

Re: WhatSim, a SIM Card for WhatsApp

#4

Post by melvinmt »

andor wrote: post #2

That's interesting, but what are the rates for regular data and phone calls? I won't carry an extra phone for each messenger ;-) The site only lists the price for legacy MMS. Also, which country prefix will the phone number have, or do you get multiple numbers? People are usually hesitant to call numbers from other countries. Edit: I would definitely pay 10 EUR for something like this on top of my current plan. In th…

> I won't carry an extra phone for each messenger

Then you're probably not part of the target market. In a lot of developing countries (India etc), WhatsApp is the primary reason to get a phone.

Re: WhatSim, a SIM Card for WhatsApp

#7

Post by mynameisvlad »

Joona wrote: post #6

A friend of mine is getting one, as she doesn't want to get roaming charges during her vacation, but still wants to talk to people on WhatsApp. Seems to solve this problem quite well. :)

Assuming you're in the US, has your friend considered T-Mobile's Simple Choice plans? Text and (throttled) data roaming is free in dozens of countries, and voice is only 20c/min. Skype and FaceTime Audio is perfectly fine on the throttled data, too.

Re: WhatSim, a SIM Card for WhatsApp

#8

Post by Maakuth »

I can see the practical value of this, but the net neutrality side worries me. Will this lead to specific SIM cards for Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc? On the other hand, this is a nice piece of evidence (along with Kindle 3G) that it is actually possible to negotiate reasonable deals with mobile operators globally. Hopefully someone soon does just that to give us a SIM card that allows for reasonably priced open mobile Internet. In Europe, I'm hoping the new EU regulation soon allows me to use all of the Internet with a reasonable price internationally.

Re: WhatSim, a SIM Card for WhatsApp

#9

Post by andor »

On the other hand, this is a nice piece of evidence (along with Kindle 3G) that it is actually possible to negotiate reasonable deals with mobile operators globally.

They probably use Jasper Wireless (just like Kindle 3G)

Post reply on HN