Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Oberthur presents full range of 4FF products

Mobile World Congress 2012, NANTERRE, FRANCE: Oberthur Technologies, the world’s second largest provider of security and identification solutions and services based on smart card technologies, has developed a range of 4FF (Fourth Form Factor) products, consisting of SIM cards and adaptors. It provides users with a universal solution that enables the SIM to be used in new and existing handsets.

4FF is the solution for device makers’ wishing to reduce SIM size in order to allow new features: larger batteries, thinner devices and connectivity to smaller objects. The 4FF has a width of 12.3mm, a height of 8.8mm and a maximum thickness of 0.7mm.

This represents:
* a 17 percent reduction of maximum thickness,
* a 40 percent size reduction against 3FF1, and
* a 71 percent size reduction compared to 2FF2.

The first technical proposal of this new SIM was co-presented by Oberthur Technologies and several leading mobile operators in August 2011 during the 40th ETSI SCP TEC meeting. The standardisation process of this new form factor is expected to end in the coming weeks.

This breakthrough in miniaturisation has been possible thanks to Oberthur Technologies’ world-class R&D and manufacturing capabilities. The main challenge was to include all standardised and available features in the new form factor, such as USB protocol availability for high speed data transfer.

Compatibility with existing handsets is ensured: Oberthur Technologies’ 4FF/2FF adaptor allows the 4FF to be used in the majority of the available handsets existing today. The 4FF/3FF adaptor guarantees compatibility with devices already using a 3FF.

In addition, Oberthur Technologies’ Smart Packaging solutions enable mobile operators to distribute cards, adaptors and brochures to their end-users in a convenient way, while increasing operator brand awareness.

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