iPhone carrier ranking, selection concept revealed in Apple filing
Future users could compare the prices and features of competing carriers and service plans directly on their iPhone, bypassing the need to deal directly with service providers, a new Apple filing shows.
The concept is detailed in a new patent application published this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled "Method and Apparatus for Using a Wireless Communication Device with Multiple Service Providers." Discovered by AppleInsider, the proposed invention would have a set of stores carrier service configuration profiles available on an iPhone.
Apple could help users find the carrier that is best for them by ranking the features and prices of service providers based on personal preferences. For example, some users may be interested primarily in voice plans, while others may need features like unlimited text messaging.
Based on a user's needs, Apple's system could assign a priority ranking to carriers and their respective configuration profiles, allowing users to easily find a plan and provider that are right for them.
Last year, Apple was rumored to be exploring this very concept, as the company was said to be developing a new open SIM standard that would make an iPhone capable of working with multiple carriers. Such a move would allow users to shop for mobile service directly from Apple's handset.
Apple's interest in this outraged some carriers, who felt the method would marginalize their role in courting customers. Carriers in Europe subsequently threatened to cut subsidies for the iPhone if Apple pursued those plans.
The new patent filing would seem to confirm those rumors, detailing how such a concept might work on a so-called "world phone" capable of operating on multiple carriers with an open SIM card standard.
In the document, Apple notes that handset manufacturers must currently ship multiple versions of the same device, with each customized for a particular wireless service provider. Apple would prefer to be able to distribute generic versions of the iPhone throughout the world, compatible with nearly all carriers.
In addition to flexibility for Apple, the concept would also allow greater choice for the consumer. The filing explains that some users may prefer to use the same mobile device at different times with different wireless service providers.
Apple's solution is a "customized user experience" created automatically, with the combination of compatible hardware and software allowing users to seamlessly switch carriers without the need to buy a new phone or obtain a new SIM card.
The proposed invention, made public this week, was first filed in April of 2010. It is credited to Robert Kukuchka, Shuvo Chatterjee, Arun Godfrey Mathias, and Matthew Klahn.
The concept is detailed in a new patent application published this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled "Method and Apparatus for Using a Wireless Communication Device with Multiple Service Providers." Discovered by AppleInsider, the proposed invention would have a set of stores carrier service configuration profiles available on an iPhone.
Apple could help users find the carrier that is best for them by ranking the features and prices of service providers based on personal preferences. For example, some users may be interested primarily in voice plans, while others may need features like unlimited text messaging.
Based on a user's needs, Apple's system could assign a priority ranking to carriers and their respective configuration profiles, allowing users to easily find a plan and provider that are right for them.
Last year, Apple was rumored to be exploring this very concept, as the company was said to be developing a new open SIM standard that would make an iPhone capable of working with multiple carriers. Such a move would allow users to shop for mobile service directly from Apple's handset.
Apple's interest in this outraged some carriers, who felt the method would marginalize their role in courting customers. Carriers in Europe subsequently threatened to cut subsidies for the iPhone if Apple pursued those plans.
The new patent filing would seem to confirm those rumors, detailing how such a concept might work on a so-called "world phone" capable of operating on multiple carriers with an open SIM card standard.
In the document, Apple notes that handset manufacturers must currently ship multiple versions of the same device, with each customized for a particular wireless service provider. Apple would prefer to be able to distribute generic versions of the iPhone throughout the world, compatible with nearly all carriers.
In addition to flexibility for Apple, the concept would also allow greater choice for the consumer. The filing explains that some users may prefer to use the same mobile device at different times with different wireless service providers.
Apple's solution is a "customized user experience" created automatically, with the combination of compatible hardware and software allowing users to seamlessly switch carriers without the need to buy a new phone or obtain a new SIM card.
The proposed invention, made public this week, was first filed in April of 2010. It is credited to Robert Kukuchka, Shuvo Chatterjee, Arun Godfrey Mathias, and Matthew Klahn.
Comments
This patent is pointless, it's not a technical constraint that prevents dynamic carrier switching - it's a business constraint.
When you have the best selling phone in the free world (what, is it only iran, cuba and north Korea in the 'non-free' world), business 'constraints' become 'negotiation points'.
When (not if) you get to 'buy as you go' iPhones (buy the iPhone without subsidies), and you show up in a town, where you don't have coverage (or want to change coverage), this function allows you to 'shop' for a a month to month or a minutes plan on the fly, select, pay apple with your ITMS account, and connect.
Welcome to the future. Carriers become big dumb wireless data pipes. Apple controlling point of sale. Curated telco service. NewSpeak, Soylent Green and all that.
This combined with the ability to have 'soft SIM' cards, will allow you to mix and match your call phone service. For me, having a ATT and an Sprint 'SIM' and the ability to buy minutes when I go visit Mom in the back country, is exactly what I want. And all paid through ITMS.
Brilliant.
This patent is pointless, it's not a technical constraint that prevents dynamic carrier switching - it's a business constraint.
Indeed, yet we can still hope that somehow SJ will pave an agreement here just like he did for digital music not so long ago. This would be so good for the consumer.
When you have the best selling phone in the free world (what, is it only iran, cuba and north Korea in the 'non-free' world), business 'constraints' become 'negotiation points'.
When (not if) you get to 'buy as you go' iPhones (buy the iPhone without subsidies), and you show up in a town, where you don't have coverage (or want to change coverage), this function allows you to 'shop' for a a month to month or a minutes plan on the fly, select, pay apple with your ITMS account, and connect.
Welcome to the future. Carriers become big dumb wireless data pipes. Apple controlling point of sale. Curated telco service. NewSpeak, Soylent Green and all that.
This combined with the ability to have 'soft SIM' cards, will allow you to mix and match your call phone service. For me, having a ATT and an Sprint 'SIM' and the ability to buy minutes when I go visit Mom in the back country, is exactly what I want. And all paid through ITMS.
Brilliant.
I couldn't agree more.
Every time I travel it is a nightmare, and I had to rely on jailbreaks to use plans that were acceptable and not international spine breaking rates. Not to mention that I had to change numbers and several other issues, while spending hours checking which carrier would actually give me what I wanted.
Thumbs up for that to take off!
I am not sure how that work here since we really only have two carriers. I guess you could leave AT&T for Verizon or vice versa, but given that most people sign up for two-year contracts, how useful would a universal SIM be? On top of that, AT&T charges an obscene amount of money for international roaming, so would a universal SIM allow for a traveler to choose another carrier while traveling overseas?
Frankly, I'd be happy with a more European-like system where we have an option to buy our phones and pick a carrier or even choose with a pay-as-you-go plan.
I love America, but I really hate how the carriers have a stranglehold on wireless customers.
This patent is pointless, it's not a technical constraint that prevents dynamic carrier switching - it's a business constraint.
To be fair, this patent envisions and depends on overcoming a technical constraint (SIMs), as well as the business constraint. Also the "business constraint" is almost always presented to the user by the carrier *as* a technical constraint.
Meaning that they've spent years pretending that this sort of thing is some kind of rocket science and the fact that you are locked to a carrier is unfortunate but "just the way things are." With this, and with the idea of using integrated programmable SIMs, Apple is basically calling the Emperor out on his lack of clothing.
There is no technical reason in the world why carriers should be anything but dumb pipes, and the business reasons for it only apply if you are the carrier. It doesn't do anyone else's business any good for them to be controlling the strings, in fact it's actively detrimental to the ecosystem as a whole.
Surely this would be an open and fair market, quite the opposite of the monopoly currently enjoyed by our blood-sucking cell carriers. The argument, as I understand it, is that they invest so much in building their network and infrastructure, that they must be allowed to execute as a monopoly. But surely if none are a monopoly, then the strength of their network (not just price but also quality and bandwidth) will determine whose network is actually used.
Brave new world, but it really is time the regulators made this a reality.
When
Brilliant.
That's what I'd like to know...
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Welcome to the future. Carriers become big dumb wireless data pipes. Apple controlling point of sale. Curated telco service. NewSpeak, Soylent Green and all that. . . . Brilliant.
You are brilliant, TOG! And right on the mark.
Indeed, yet we can still hope that somehow SJ will pave an agreement here just like he did for digital music not so long ago. This would be so good for the consumer.
Keep smiling 77. You are sooo right. I believe, I pray it's not just a dream, that SJ wants a better world and indeed wants what is good for the consumer, aka every individual sentient being.
I love America, but I really hate how the carriers have a stranglehold on wireless customers.
You are so right, cxc. Big Business and Special Interests have a strangle-hold on your nation but I have faith that Americans will rise up and return democracy to their nation. To quote Michael Moore, A businessman will sell you the rope to hang himself.
Apple could help users find the carrier that is best for them by ranking the features and prices of service providers based on personal preferences. For example, some users may be interested primarily in voice plans, while others may need features like unlimited text messaging.
Like any competent shopping website?
If this patent gets issued, I will have lost all faith in the PTO.
We've seen the condensing of various mediums develop at an intense pace over the past twenty years and it's only just ramping up. Consider magazines to e-zines to blogs to RSS feeds. That's what will happen to data delivery once the infrastructure is established. Without the infrastructure, the monopolies maintain their stranglehold.
The implementation of a patent like this, even if it releases with no initial support, paves the way for new structure that, while good for the consumer, forces the carriers to compete at new levels. The biggest hurdle for Apple will be convincing said carriers, and we know they won't release a service like this without support. It's a disgrace that carriers have been allowed such power to prevent the progress of ideas like this (which aren't new; we just need a super-power like Apple to get behind the mule).
Eventually, carriers will realize that what's good for the consumer is good for business, but it's going to take work. If customers can switch carriers on the fly, there is an obvious need for pro-rated service. After pro-rated service is established, the next smallest step is pay-as-you-go.
It's a no-brainer. We'll get there, and then we'll be buying bytes instead of minutes. Voice as data means minutes are an obfuscation, manufactured by the carriers to imply value where no value is added. So when you run out of data, you just compare the going rate for bytes between carriers and buy more.
The argument, as I understand it, is that they invest so much in building their network and infrastructure, that they must be allowed to execute as a monopoly.
I've heard that, in many cases, it's the government that's actually funded the initial build-out of cellular networks in some areas and then sold them at firesale prices to the carriers. Which wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. Dumb pipes indeed...
Like any competent shopping website?
If this patent gets issued, I will have lost all faith in the PTO.
So where are all these competent shopping sites which allow you to compare all the available networks on your device (which, note, hasn't been activated for use yet), and then immediately activates your device to be used on one of those carriers?
Note: Patent != Appleinsider summary of patent. Its usually far more complex (and specific) than what can be presented in the media.
There is no technical reason in the world why carriers should be anything but dumb pipes, and the business reasons for it only apply if you are the carrier. It doesn't do anyone else's business any good for them to be controlling the strings, in fact it's actively detrimental to the ecosystem as a whole.
Absolutely but turkeys don't vote for christmas as we say here in the UK. Carriers won't accept SIM-less phones until they absolutely have to, the iPhone has significant market presence, but I'm unconvinced that Apple is willing to anger every single carrier worldwide by demanding they support a SIM-less solution that they are adamantly opposed to.
Apple was able to steer the music industry because they were over a barrel, carriers aren't - but a SIM-less handset system would put them there, and they know it.
Would this be great for Apple? Yes. Would this be great for the consumer? Yes. But this would be the end of the world as we know it for carriers, and they're fully aware of it.
In other parts of the world the connection is much softer or doesn't even exist. I have never owned a locked phone and I will never buy a premium subsidized phone -- I don't plan to live in any 12-24-36 month cycles, I want to use the device I want in the network I want. I have bought only two subsidized devices, couldn't resist buying a $10/month package that included an Android phone and unlimited data..
When roaming abroad it would be nice to see the price structure for each available carrier. But it will take a while until they are anything one wouldn't consider expensive..
To be fair, this patent envisions and depends on overcoming a technical constraint (SIMs), as well as the business constraint. Also the "business constraint" is almost always presented to the user by the carrier *as* a technical constraint.
Meaning that they've spent years pretending that this sort of thing is some kind of rocket science and the fact that you are locked to a carrier is unfortunate but "just the way things are." With this, and with the idea of using integrated programmable SIMs, Apple is basically calling the Emperor out on his lack of clothing.
There is no technical reason in the world why carriers should be anything but dumb pipes, and the business reasons for it only apply if you are the carrier. It doesn't do anyone else's business any good for them to be controlling the strings, in fact it's actively detrimental to the ecosystem as a whole.
And one of the ways the carriers reinforced this was by convincing the FCC that they should be allowed to operate on different frequency sets, thus ensuring (up until recently) that you tended to want to stay with a carrier because it was such a pain to switch.
Whether Apple is ultimately successful in driving depends on how much Android marketshare reinforces the old model (an aspect of the "platform" that most fans tend to pointedly ignore in favor of the openness of the hardware), and how well Apple is able to convince the carriers to come along for the ride. This is an issue primarily here in the US. Europe wasn't quite gullible.
So where are all these competent shopping sites which allow you to compare all the available networks on your device (which, note, hasn't been activated for use yet), and then immediately activates your device to be used on one of those carriers?
The prior art is that shopping sites let you determine criteria for selection based upon what you consider important.
when you have the best selling phone in the free world (what, is it only iran, cuba and north korea in the 'non-free' world), business 'constraints' become 'negotiation points'.
When (not if) you get to 'buy as you go' iphones (buy the iphone without subsidies), and you show up in a town, where you don't have coverage (or want to change coverage), this function allows you to 'shop' for a a month to month or a minutes plan on the fly, select, pay apple with your itms account, and connect.
Welcome to the future. Carriers become big dumb wireless data pipes. Apple controlling point of sale. Curated telco service. Newspeak, soylent green and all that.
This combined with the ability to have 'soft sim' cards, will allow you to mix and match your call phone service. For me, having a att and an sprint 'sim' and the ability to buy minutes when i go visit mom in the back country, is exactly what i want. And all paid through itms.
Brilliant.
+++qft
The real sticking point has already been raised by the carriers threatening to withdraw iPhone subsidies. However, Apple now has the clout to overcome this threat by offering customers an annual "contract" for "universal" service. That contract would include carriers as "partners" enabling access to a wide range of them if not all of them. In essence, Apple would provide a store front for telco services. Apple would collect usage fees via the iTunes store, take its cut and then send the balance to the participating telcos. There will be a great hue and cry from telcos over this but that would eventually be resolved as the telcos found their costs declining and their revenue increasing.
Kinda' an Apple MVNO.
I like that!
I would like it if I had the choice to designate a provider, at any time, to get better price or performance for a specific task, e.g. streaming a movie, uploading/downloading large files.
I suspect that the next iPad will have enhanced capablity to ingest, edit and upload video from a remote site: soccer field, battle field, riot...