Apple's patently obvious moves

Yet another Apple filing has surfaced. This one seemingly describing a means for providing global phone, or as Engadget put it, "one phone to rule them all". At the very least it allows for a "customized user experience" allowing users to seamlessly switch carriers without the need for a new phone or a new SIM card. The latter would require a global SIM card.

The patent in question, entitled: Method and apparatus for using a wireless communication device with multiple service providers, describes using "a set of one or more identifier values stored in the mobile wireless communication device" in order to allow for the automatic configuration of that device to any carrier service profile. Simply put, you could put your SIM card into any iPhone (or sim bearing product) and configure for the correct carrier. This part in itself is nothing new and may well be patented already.  Unique identifiers that most handset manufacturers grab over the network from your SIM and phone during first-run would be:

MNC (Mobile Network Code)  your primary carrier)

MCC (Mobile Country Code) Country issue of the SIM

SNC (Secondary Network Code) the one you're roaming on

SCC (Secondary Country Code) If you're traveling internationally

IMEI Number (Unique identifier for each handset lie a VIN on your car)

MSISDN (your unique carrier subscription number, typically phone number)

With this info most handset manufacturers have automated first-run wizards which send this info to their own databases of carrier settings to then configure all of your SMS, MMS, Internet, etc. and get you hooked up. Most handsets will have a limited number of these configurations onboard to match the software versions by territory. What Apple is proposing, apparently, is to have everything onboard the product so that each product is a global release. And then to take it one step further by ranking carriers based on pricing and subscription models and matching that to your user profile (how much you call, text, surf, and so on).

This last bit is what is new, challenges the market as we know it today, and points to Apple truly looking for the Global SIM and removing the carrier as gatekeeper to the customer. They have previously met with stiff resistance and I would be surprised if that attitude softens. I am also of the opinion that Apple is once again trying to patent the obvious by taking existing patents and years-old standard telco practices and submitting them with very small changes as revolutionary new ideas worthy of a patent. Just like their submission for streaming music optimization. A technology that Spotify has been doing since its inception - only better. 

Frankly, with all of the patent suits flying around the mobile industry right now it's becoming comical and Apple is more than beginning to look like Microsoft in the 90's, scooping up every good idea that's already out there and pitching it as their own.

Source: Apple Insider