It’s a logical move: marry the SIMcard with flash memory. Investor’s Business Daily reports that M-Systems is doing just that:
The company’s strike on the mobile phone market has a second front. It’s a new product, due to launch during the first half of 2006, that marries flash memory and a Simcard, which is used in 80% of cell phones. M-Systems calls it a Mega Simcard. <…>
“We’re looking at the Mega Simcard as one of our biggest growth generators in ’07 and ’08,” Maor said.
This does seem to have been around at least a year as an idea (although the correct name seems to MegaSIM card) and it was supposed to have been launched by now. The card would hold up to 256 megabytes (this is according to a story a year ago; I think it’s grown by now).
I guess it’s not just about extra storage — although that would make backing up or transferring contacts a lot easier, since they tend to be split between memory and SIM — but about loading up extra programs. The provider, for example, could issue the SIM with extra software already preloaded. For companies it may also make it easier to keep data secure and swap handsets between employees. And if this product sheet (PDF) is anything to go by, it would also contain Digital Rights Management components.