Dual SIM Cellphones: What? Why?

There is a phenomenon in mobile gadgetry, and it's not exactly new. From the eastern shores of Asia comes the ultimate in mobile telephony convenience: the Dual SIM phone.

A Dual SIM phone is a cellular phone with a twist: it can house two SIM Cards (Subscriber Identity Module) in one phone. Thus, you can operate two plan-based or two prepaid (or even one plan-based and one prepaid) phone lines, in one phone. Pretty convenient, if you'd have a need for it.
The Dual SIM phone was first launched internationally by Singaporean tech company Verzio, to cater to the world's biggest base of texting consumers: the Philippines. Almost simultaneously, a local company, Solid Group, also saw the Filipinos' text addiction as a launch pad of a new line of mobile electronics. Thus, the My|Phone and the Verzio phones: Verzio Duplii and Verzio Twinn, entered the market around the same season.

Close on their heels, other Dual SIM and even TV-bearing mobile phones also flooded in from the factory capital of Asia, Mainland China. And not long after, Samsung launched its first Dual SIM slider phone. A little while later, while Philips launched its new Dual SIM phone line, Samsung also rolled out its first candy bar Dual SIM phone. Thanks to this Dual SIM innovation, a new level of mobile telephony was ushered in. Not just in Asia, it's also quickly catching on in Eastern Europe and America as well.

The real question here is, why would anyone want a Dual SIM phone anyway?

1. The user is a jet-setter, thus he would need a SIM Card slot for his phone line from his home country, and another for the temporary prepaid SIM Card from the currently he would be in, for a week or so. If his travel stretches into a month, the quad-band Dual SIM phone would really be a convenient gadget to have.
2. The telecoms providers in the user's country have steep rates for cross-network calls and texts that it's a necessity to have two numbers from different providers.
3. If the user needs two lines or two numbers: one for work and one for personal use, the Dual SIM phone would come in handy.
4. The user is always in danger of going over his cellular phone service's plan credit limit, that he would need to have a temporary SIM card to use while his cellular phone line is on the fritz.
5. The user lives in the Philippines, where people go gaga for Unlimited calling and texting offers, and the user's friends won't text him, unless his SIM card belongs to the same telecommunications network they're on.

As you can see, there are quite a number of reasons why you may need a Dual SIM phone. If you see yourself in any of the descriptions up there, you may well need one. Get a Dual SIM phone from China, and you'll no doubt get a mobile TV thrown in, as well.

Related Article:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/World-039-s-First-3G-Dual-SIM-Mobile-Phone-73460.shtml


Image Credits:

http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/jwd-kaoge/product-detailZebJRDaMJtpg/China-TV-Mobile-Phone-with-Dual-SIM-Card-Dual-Standby-amp-CE-U826A-.html

http://www.yugatech.com/blog/mobile/why-dual-sim-phones-arent-picking-up/

http://www.unwiredview.com/2007/10/02/samsung-d880-duos-dual-sim-card-phone/