The BREW conference is underway in San Diego, CA. The attendance is strong and there are lots of applications which deliver “media”. My first observation at the conference was the following. The phrase mobile content is last year’s color, and now, all is media. Ringtones, wallpapers, logos, text messages, pictures, and of course, video are all media.

Brian Finnerty, director of devices at Sprint Nextel, reached the top of the escalator just as I walked up to it. I took the opportunity to ask him a question or two.

me: “Sprint has always been known as the carrier with the coolest phones. Why didn’t Sprint land the iPhone?”

Brian: “They didn’t ask us. Apple wanted a GSM carrier so they could launch worldwide, or internationally.”

me: “What about SIM cards for CDMA carriers? Will Sprint have SIM cards in the near future?”

Brian: “We are deploying SIM technology without the card.”

me: “When?”

Brian: “It’s working on the phone I have in my pocket, right now.”

me: “Can I see that?”

Brian: “No.”

me: “When will Sprint release it?”

Brian: “In August.”

Nextel phones use SIM cards, and the new cardless SIM solution may be one benefit that can be credited to the merger. From a consumer perspective the benefit of having a card module is the ability to move it from one phone to another or change network operators by popping in a new SIM card to an existing device. It’s unclear what the consumer benefit will be for Sprint’s cardless SIM.