There was an unfamiliar sense of unity amongst mobile manufacturers gathered at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, with the announcement that Micro USB is to become the official standardised connection for mobile phone chargers.
The reasons behind it are all to do with saving the environment and money: standardisation will save money for consumers and reduce waste, according to those who signed up to the agreement.
Michael O'Hara, marketing director for industry body the GSM Association, said about the agreement: "This is a broad agreement that will move the industry to a single, energy-efficient charger for all mobile phones."
2012 target
He continued: "The target is that the majority of mobile phones shipped by 2012 will support this new interface."
So far 17 manufacturers have signed up to the agreement. These include Motorola, Samsung and Nokia.
Having a universal charger for the mobile industry would be a great thing for consumers, considering at the moment there are around 30 different kinds of charger in circulation – according to EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen.
There is worry, however, that the change will come at a massive cost to the industry.
CORRECTION: This article originally said the standard was Mini USB and not Micro USB as it should have been. Apologies for the error.
Via Yahoo! Tech News
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1charger4all
February 1st 2011
3. Universal charger should be available soon now. Know everything about it on >>> http://www.onechargerforall.eu.
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nocky100
February 18th 2009
2. It is not Mini USB that will be the new charger interface standard, it is Micro USB - a smaller connector.
It is also very old news being regurgitated at the big conference, possibly because more people have signed up to use it - original link http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/news/show/86654/cell-phone-manufacturers-to-standardize-on-micro-usb-for-charging.html
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jmace86
February 17th 2009
1. Definitely a good idea. I really do dislike having so many different proprietary connections. Having just one would make everything so much simpler and more convenient.
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