Motorola and RIM have put forward a new design for the nano-SIM, it is very similar to that of the one originally pushed by Apple. According to The Verge, the new nano-SIM design is “80% Apple and 20% Motorola/RIM).

It features the same outline and contacts originally included in Apple’s design, which means that it should be backwards compatible with larger SIM cards when used with an adapter, but it also includes a notch on one edge that would allow for a mechanism that would secure the card once pushed in, and allow it to be pushed again to pop it out. Apple’s design here was one without a notch, requiring a tray to hold it into place. The new design uses a mechanism that RIM calls “push-push.”

Apple’s version of the proposed nano-SIM design was first revealed in late March before the European Telecommunications Standards Institute was scheduled to make a decision. The vote ended up being postponed as two competing camps led by both Apple and Nokia would not come to an agreement. Nokia felt the design would violate a “no jamming” rule. The issue here was Nokia stating that Apple’s proposed nano-SIM was too similar in width to the width of current-gen micro-SIMs, which could lead consumers to accidentally jam it into a smartphone and have it get stuck.

A slightly tweaked version of Apple’s nano-SIM design was revealed earlier this month. The SIM card maker Giesecke & Devrient showed off Apple’s new nano-SIM design with slightly adjusted dimensions at the CTIA trade show in New Orleans, LA. The tweaked design added a small amount of plastic to the edges of the electrical contacts, which made the revised nano-SIM card too long to be forced lengthwise into an existing micro-SIM slot. Their tweaked design would still require a tray for holding the nano-SIM card inside a smartphone. The revised proposal presented by Motorola and RIM relies instead on a push-push mechanism to negate the need for a tray.

Apple previously objected the inclusion of a notch on the nano-SIM card claiming that the addition of one would extend time to market off the new design since it would reduce the space for silicon inside the smaller SIM card. The next ETSI meeting is scheduled to take place beginning May 31, at which point a decision should be made on the proposed nano-SIM redesign from Apple as well as Motorola and RIM.

What do you think about Motorola and RIM's concept?

via modmyi