IT IS the weapon that operators hope will finally pitch the mobile phone into direct competition with the iPod — a “super-sized Sim” that will turn a mobile phone into a storage device for everything from music tracks to feature-length films and games.

The new Sim card, which has 8,000 times the memory of a standard Sim card, was unveiled by Orange yesterday at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona.

The card, which will initially be available only with certain handsets, is to be rolled out across the group’s European network — including the UK — during this year, following trials in France.

A spokesman for Orange said: “The half-a-gigabyte Sim card transforms the mobile phone into a true multimedia device, allowing you to securely carry your sensitive personal data and contents with you and access it whenever and wherever you want.”

More crucially, analysts pointed out, the product should help Orange to discourage customers from switching to rival mobile networks.

At present a mobile phone Sim card is capable of storing only small amounts of information — names and a limited number of text messages.

Orange hopes that its super-sized Sim card, with its capacity to hold masses of information that will be retrievable only via an Orange device, will offer a huge incentive for its customers to stay with it in highly competitive markets such as the UK.

The super-sized Sim is the first Sim card to be able to hold a full-length film.

Orange said that the card could hold 130 music tracks, three full-length films and 50 games, along with e-mail attachments.

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