EU commissioner pushing for standard connector for all cellphones
By Donald Melanson 
posted February 15th 2009 9:17PM
posted February 15th 2009 9:17PM
While some companies like Connectland have already offered up their own solution to the problem of multiple cellphone connectors (seen at right), a European Union commissioner now seems to be taking the idea one step further, and is starting to push the notion of one standard cellphone connector to rule them all. According to Telcompaper, European Commissioner for Industry Günter Verheugen recently said in a German interview that he has had his patience tested after giving the cellphone industry several chances to develop a single cellphone connector, and he's now not excluding "severe measures" to force them to reach a solution. His main concern, as you might have guessed, is the waste that results from folks needing a new charger for each new cellphone, although the cellphone industry obviously sees things a bit differently, with the EICTA's Tony Graziano saying that Verheugen's demand is "legally and technically impossible" due to differences in voltage and battery requirements within the European Union. In any event, it seems that some actual regulations are still quite a ways off from becoming a reality, and Verheugen still insists that he'd prefer to see the industry arrive at a standard voluntarily.[Via Tweakers.net]
Mini usb please, that would sure as hell be nice, its such a pain changing phones and having to use different chargers and adapters. Also please make also phones chargeable via usb to the computer.
The connector itself has nothing to do w/ the power. There are mini USB currently that handles 1A or more to the device. I doubt the chargers will be universal (thats more difficult); it seems the requirement is only for the connector to be. Its long overdue and the USA should follow.
about freaking time I would say!
I agree that cellphones should have standardized chargers/ports, mini-USB, you just can't go wrong with it. In my household we have 5, an iPhone, a Blackberry, a Nokia, a LG, and a Samsung... There's a power strip on the countertop with a rats-nest of wires to charge them all. It would be so much simpler to have a single AC plug the size of the iPhone mini charger with a 5-port breakout mini-USB to charge all the phones instead of wasting all this space on my kitchen counter.... Not to mention the plethora of crap you have to plug into the car to charge any of these phones. Auto manufacturers could simply put USB power ports in the dash of almost every vehicle for pennies to make this even more beneficial. Unfortunately manufacturers of charging devices/cables would go by the wayside (which wouldn't bother me), but then again, you would free up MASSIVE amounts of display space in retail stores instead of having an entire aisle of chargers that all look the same in the box, yet are all different. Retailers would probably balk at the idea since they have a huge margin on items like that, but then again, some may love the concept since they don't have to waste all that space...
It was a forgone conclusion that mini USB would be the popular choice.
While they're at it, the EU should also compel car manufacturers to sprinkle USB power outlets over the dashboards of cars. Gadgets like Sat-navs and iPods could then be situated in a sensible place and there should be a USB socket to power it reasonably close by, instead of running a long cable to near the centre console and using a ridiculously large cigar lighter plug.
There will still be a need for one cigar type power outlet for devices that draw reasonable amounts of current, but most gadgets would operate very well from a small USB outlet that could conveniently be fitted where it needs to be.
And now the GSMA and the major device manufacturers (SE, Nokia, LG, Sammy...) have put their weight behind micro-USB. Good times are ahead (hopefully)!