Arduino Is Now in the Phone Business

Introducing the new Arduino SIM card

Alasdair Allan
5 years agoInternet of Things

The surprise arrival of four new Nano boards wasn’t the only new product announced at Maker Faire Bay Area this weekend by Arduino. In another surprise move, Arduino has introduced an Arduino SIM card to help you connect to the Arduino IoT Cloud.

The new Arduino SIM is intended to go alongside the Arduino MKR GSM 1400, released back in 2017 at Maker Faire New York. Initially the SIM will have limited to connectivity, only allowing you to send data into the Arduino IoT Cloud. But later in the year you’ll be also be able to use the new SIM to bridge to the Internet proper using a combination of web hooks and APIs.

The Arduino IoT Cloud went into public beta back in January as an “easy to use Internet of Things application platform” enabling you to program and manage your Internet connected Arduino boards directly from a web dashboard.

The SIM comes with an initial 10MB of free data. However the data will expire after 90 days, so make sure you’re that you’re ready to go when you active your free trail. If you don’t use it, you’re going to lose it.

The Arduino SIM is currently available to U.S. residents, and a subscription to the Arduino SIM plan will cost $1.50 for every 5MB of data transferred. Right now the SIM can be pre-ordered on the U.S. Arduino Store bundled with an Arduino MKR GSM 1400 for $70.90 plus tax and shipping.

However if you already own an Arduino MKR GSM 1400, and you’re heading to Maker Faire in San Mateo this weekend, bring it along and you can pick up a free SIM card at the Arduino booth at the faire.

UPDATE: The Arduino SIM and data plan has now been rolled beyond the United States, and is available in Asia, Australia/NZ, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas (excluding Brazil).

Alasdair Allan
Scientist, author, hacker, maker, and journalist. Building, breaking, and writing. For hire. You can reach me at 📫 alasdair@babilim.co.uk.
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