The new Google Pixels 2 announce the death of the SIM card
They may like it or not, but the Google Pixels 2 bring with them a fundamental innovation that will define the future of the category.
Google Pixel 2 is the first smartphone ever to use an integrated eSIM. It is a technology that we had seen on other devices, such as tablets and smartwatch, but never on smartphones. On the phones, we have always seen the traditional replaceable SIM, each linked to a single operator and with its active plans. The eSIM allow a greater possibility of personalization, even if it is a technology at the beginning and little supported.
At the time of writing, Google’s new devices can take advantage of functionality only in conjunction with a Project Fi phone plan, which supports eSIM for user account authentication. Previously, no smartphone guaranteed this possibility, with the new Pixels that – like it or not – are a pioneer to a solution that probably in the next few years will establish the death of the SIM card as we know it in its various formats.
Joy Xi, Product Manager of Product Fi, explains the functionality in the post ” Watch Mom, there are no SIM! ” : ” [The absence of the SIM] means that you no longer need to go to the store to get a new SIM card Wait a couple of days for the card to arrive by mail, or even flick with a paper clip to insert the card into the small bay. Getting wireless connection with an eSIM is as fast as connecting your smartphone to a Wi-Fi network. “
Users will get the option to use the eSIM to connect to the Fi network on all Pixels 2 purchased via Google Store or with the operator. If you are already a subscriber, all you have to do is configure the ” SIM-free ” option when you first, start up and Google will take care of everything else for activation. Clear is that the new devices will have the ability to accept traditional SIM cards, but the support of eSIM technology by a giant like Google is undoubtedly important.
Switching from one SIM to another is an annoying operation, even though after years of experience, we are used to it, and we have a certain familiarity in doing so. It is also an operation no longer indispensable with current technologies, and it is clear that Google wants to push in a specific direction: ” We will try to share what we will learn and work with industry partners to encourage large-scale adoption “, writes Xi in the post.
The total abandonment of traditional SIM cards is not predictable in a short time, but Google has taken the first step, and now it seems inevitable for a future world without SIM.
