The $1.94 reason micro-USB is the new phone charging standard
By Nilay Patel 
posted Feb 23rd 2009 9:26AM
posted Feb 23rd 2009 9:26AM
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Why is this so disturbing ? or news ?
Um...because the amount of people on the planet that use Cell phones?
I agree. And after reading all the comments, it seems to be a pretty universal conclusion that this is just a bad article.
It's news because it makes us aware of something that is actually an issue. I was just talking yesterday about how even though I'm using a Motorola phone for the third time in a row, I need to get an all new car charger for the third time in a row. And it's disturbing because that unwillingness to standardize appropriate components seems to be a common denominator for a lot of companies (not just phone manufacturers), and that kind of stuff adds up... sure it's only another $20, but it's $20 I don't want to have to spend.
Oh and that part about "micro-USB's supposedly more robust connector can handle something like 10x more disconnects"-- I don't think so. I've had my ZN-5 for about a month and even though I've been reasonably careful with it, that "robust" connector is already to the point where it won't charge unless I prop the phone up in just the right position.
So the 10x robustness thing, I'm not so sure about. Maybe in a lab environment where a machine is perfectly pulling the connector in and out, but in real world where there are forces and torques at other angles I bet it has it's issues too.
Anyway, I don't get what the issue is here. The industry for the most part was on the mini-usb standard for almost 4 year now. From about the time the RAZR came out. That's a long time in tech terms. Now they are moving to another standard and the great news is it's a standard that they are all agreeing on. Before 2004 it was crazy everybody had their own little connector and wires ran everywhere.
The article didn't mention it, but it's kind of an important point.... Micro-USB is smaller and a Mini-USB connector. This means smaller thinner gadgets.
To top it off look at the image of the article. Those little dongles from Motorola come with their micro-usb devices. This means that your mini-usb car charger and wall charger will still work with your new micro-usb device and your old mini-usb one. Digital cameras (video and still) will then start to take cues from the phone industry and migrate to the micro-usb.
Change happens people. So what's the problem?!
It was not the GSM assoc. that decided to standardise the EU forced them to.
Yes that evil empire across the Atlantic that Americans constantly whinge about actually did something good for consumers worldwide.
A German MEP said he was going to push for a single charger, but he'd done entirely zip by the time the GSMA announced their initiative three days later. I really doubt that the GSMA moves all that quickly so I suspect the MEP in question got wind of the plan and made his demand in advance so it would make him look influential.
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=658155
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7894763.stm
@Major4Play, this is simply not true.
@Sockatume: ding - this is closer
Actually, the standard was written by OMTP and adopted by GSMA. It was completely independent from any EU pressure, although it didn't take a genius to guess that they were going to start complaining about it if the industry didn't sort this out on its own.
I'll still take it. Regardless, you'd have to figure manufacturers would want the smaller of the two standards.
The only reason they "Want" the smaller of the two is to wring even more money out of consumers.
Micro requires a smaller port and a smaller chipset; a must with how thin phones are becoming. Mini is just too big.
Agreed and I would have thought this would have been quite obvious to Engadget. Perhaps rather than complaining about this they should complain about why some companies (notably Apple) won't be making life easier for their customers by joining this new standard.
cause its not easier to have several plug sockets on a tiny phone / ipod for composite video / component video /audio, charging / syncing etc and unforeseen, i would much rather buy into something like the dock connector and have 1 socket, lets face it most people who use an iphone are not gonna go back to most other phones.
Regardless of the size of the connector, USB is still USB. Micro port and connector is smaller than Mini, I get that. But the chipset is not smaller just because of a smaller jack.
@bob
I did. I recognize the iPhone's talents, but it either a.) lacked features that I needed, or b.) clumsily implemented features that I needed. I suppose I could have done my research and not bought the iPhone in the first place, but I wanted to try it. And it was a fun phone. But the iPhone does not suit everyone's needs.
Luckily Apple has to. EU demands that every cellphone uses same connector by 2012 :)
Well, at least we can use micro to mini and mini to micro adapters :)
Yeah, Mini USB is pretty chunky for certain devices. While I currently have about 4 mini USB chargers and 3 connectors and no Micro USB, as long as there is a standard I'll be happy.
It's not for this generation of devices anyhow, it's for tomorrow.
Unfortunately it is for this generation of devices. Many new products including the new line of Blackberry phones are showing up with the micro connector and forcing individuals to buy new accessories.
Tomorrow has arrived...
@hooopla: Oh noes! You'll have to buy a micro-USB cable for $7 bucks, the horror! Those bastard greedy corporations! The least they could do is make sure that that cable will work with more than just one device... oh wait, they just did.
@wrabbit - it appears to be $1.94, not $7
but lets use your number, just for giggles
$7
10,000,000 people (low estimate of how many people this will effect in the first year)
-----------------
$70,000,000
huh, looky there, almost 3/4 of a Hundred million dollars.. for a cable change
Greedy Bastards
@wrabbit: Not sure about you, but I don't know how many different mini-USB cables I have lying around. All I know is that it seems like at any given moment I can charge my phone. I don't want to replace all those with Micro-USB. Maybe I'll just tape a micro-USB to mini-USB adapter to the back of my phone.
You don't have to get a micro-USB phone, just stick with the Mini-USB phones that are out now. By the time you would be forced to update, the new cables will be ubiquitous.
Although I am very happy that it is going to be standardized, I am also confused I why the decision towards micro-usb. I mean there has to be close to 75-90% of phones that already use mini-usb. Just seems more logical to me.
I don't think your estimate sounds quite right. Nokia have about 40% of the worldwide mobile phone market and they currently use a proprietary charger. My N95 has a micro-usb port on it but it's only used for connection to a PC and doesn't charge the phone. I believe it is also the exception and most Nokia phones don't have a USB port at all.
The N95 has a Mini-USB if I remember correctly.
Mini-USB is a depreciated standard. This doesn't stop anyone using it in its current implimentation, of course, but it means there will be no Mini-USB plug for USB 3.0. So manufacturers are going to have to switch over in the future anyway. If they made Mini-USB the official standard, then in 2012 you'd either be stuck with USB 2.0 speeds on your industry-mandated Mini-USB port, or you'd have an industry-mandated Mini-USB port for power and a seperate Micro-USB port for USB 3.0 data. Neither of those is particularly desirable as far as phone manufacturers are concerned, and I doubt it would be a popular decision with consumers.
(Nothing's to stop phone manufacturers putting out a Mini-USB connector that also supports USB 3.0, but they'd be forbidden from using any of the USB-IF logos.)
I say there won't be, but of course I should say there probably won't be. There's still plenty of time for the standard to be revised.
Best comment so far. Why wasn't this part of the article above?
@KarlW
Because the poster is incorrect... A connector is a connector, plain and simple, the number of wired connections is the same, just the form factor has changed.
While I am not going to scream greed like alot of posters are, I do find it annoying that I will need another adapter/cable, for my already cluttered rats nest of a computer table and car....
You're right, it's actually mini-A which has been depricated.
@Jason: No, a connector isn't "just a connector." A connector and its pin layout defines many characteristic electrical parameters that go into maintaining signal integrity, particularly as data rates increase. The proximity of any given conductor to the case shield, for example, determines how much CMRR (Common-Mode Rejection Ratio) is affected, because it distorts the waveguide-like behavior of a twisted pair (this is why us ham radio folks who use ladder line or 300-ohm twin lead CANNOT place such wire near metal fixtures and expect good signal propegation to or from the antenna!).
The proximity of data-carrying pairs determines their characteristic impedance, an imbalance of which affects signal to noise ratio. With low-voltage differential signaling, you'll find it doesn't take much distortion in the signal to introduce errors. This is why you're not supposed to kink 10-base-T cable, for example, as it distorts the twists per inch, altering the SNR, which can (though not always) render a cable useless.
The length of the ground pins (as distinct from the +5V or data pairs) determines how much time a peripheral has to recognize it's coming onto the bus and to self-configure. Smaller connectors necessarily means shorter differences in lead lengths, which means the protocol responses have tighter real-time constraints.
The smaller the contacts, the more likely corrosion will introduce errors on the bus. (Expect to replace these micro-USB cables more often because of this, since the contacts are too far recessed to clean manually.)
The size of the pins also determines their current-carrying capacity. Forget hub-powered peripherals. Not really an issue for cell phones or digital cameras, thankfully.
The list goes on from here. Anyone who thinks that connectors are just engineered for the sake of being different has only a fraction of the big-picture. I won't deny this doesn't occur. But to say that ALL connectors are effectively equivalent is just plain ignorant of the unbelievable engineering effort that goes into these things.
for some reason, those bluetooth headsets already use this as charger...
yeah i just got a voyager 855 and was pleased to see it has micro usb. and just to chime in with the other 50% of the comments, micro makes so much more sense. its smaller and just a better connector. and your new cell phone is going to come with a micro usb charger anyway, so why does it matter?
That part turns out to be 5$ after shipping. =-(
Great to have this standardized for phones. How about mp3 players, GPS units and all other portable electronic gadgets? That would be awesome.
Of course...as noted earlier on Engadget, Apple is not a part of this, so no micro-USB on the iPhones (and ipods too if they ever standardize mp3 players).
I agree. Standardization across cellphones is nice I guess, but it doesn't really do anything except provide more options to buy chargers. I'd much prefer that the all chargers be like Apples with a standard PC side USB connector with a separate cable that plugs into it. Then make all the other gadgets you mentioned charge over USB. I only carry one cellphone. Requiring all Cellphones to have the same charging/data connection doesn't help me all that much. I still have to carry AC adapters for all the other gadgets.
@Rand:
I agree with you on the USB connector. It will help charge the devices from computers (and laptops on the go). Lets hope all this happens.
@Rand "I'd much prefer that the all chargers be like Apples with a standard PC side USB connector with a separate cable that plugs into it."
Which is exactly what the standard specifies :o)
I wasn't happy about this change either, so I asked the designers at Motorola about this a while ago. It basically boils down to two things. First, the way that the various manufacturers were using mini-USB for enhanced charging (over 500mA), audio accessories, etc wasn't standardized anywhere, and the various different uses were sometimes incompatible. Second, microUSB requires far less board mounting space and volume inside the phone itself, and less space means more space to squeeze other functions in.
$1.94 for an adapter is basically the cost of designing, manufacturing, packaging, and putting the device through channel. You aren't being ripped off here.
Please, educate your readers about the actual reasons for the change.
Sounds reasonable to me. :)
Another great reason for this standard is interoperability. In S. Korea all public transportation has chargers for your phone so you can pay to charge up on your commute. It makes for a good new revenue stream for our crappy public transportation system and allows us to start to catch up to the eastern worlds tech.
The greed issues abound when you have companies all trying to make people buy more chargers, one in the car, one at work, one at home, and this just makes it a bit easier for charger sharing across the board. ex. me & my girlfriend both have to have two different chargers in the car when we go to work, and i like to have a charger at the office just in case, this will allow us to share our chargers.
either way, I just think its great.
"$1.94 for an adapter is basically the cost of designing, manufacturing, packaging, and putting the device through channel. You aren't being ripped off here."
So let me get this reasoning straight... we're not being ripped off because the company that supplied the device had to spend money to implement the feature? You think they paid for that on their own dime? We probably get charged $5 for that $1.94 in "added functionality" when we buy our phones. It's hilarious that there are people here that deny that greed played any part in a decision made by profit-seeking companies (not that there's anything wrong with that).
And yeah it's great to have a standard, but I'm sure there will be a new standard for some reason or another in 2012.
I'd be pretty pissed if I were using a Nokia phone.
Now I'm pissed I'm not using a Nokia phone.
My Nokia E71 has micro USB for syncing, but a cannot be charged that way. Sucks
My Express Music 5320 phone already uses the micro USB to sync as well.
If you can't figure out the reason why microUSB was chosen then you shouldn't be writing about cell phones on a tech blog.
Was it greed? No. R&D costs money and putting microUSB on every phone is going to cost the manufacturers plenty of R&D effort.
Was it microUSB's robustness? Perhaps it was a factor in the decision but not the main concern.
So what does that leave? Perhaps the blindingly obvious fact that microUSB is the smallest standardised charging+data port around! Of course DSLRs don't use microUSB. Why would they? Phones are small, DSLRs are not.
It isnt greeed...isn't it just the fact that its smaller?
2012? Let our childruns worry about it, I'll be too busy operating my flying car.
Nobody mentioned the glorious fact that you practically never have to carry your cell phone charger with you anymore, or buy a new one when you travel overseas, since everywhere you go, someone you visit will have a charger you can borrow.
Brilliant and I hope it catches on to other types of devices.
This is great news, as stated above mini-USB is to big although currently used on many current devices, many would naturally evolve to micro USB.
Always it may mean that mobile / cell phones will come down in cost slightly as micro USB component will come down in cost due to a much greater supply and standardisation, also Chargers will not always need to be shipped with phones as after the 1st Generation of Micro-USB equipped phones, then people will alreay own a suitable charger.
I was pretty pissed when I first saw this interface as there was almost no place to buy a microUSB cable -save from the manufacturer. I found it on my Nokia N810 and thought it was a new 'Nokia Standard'- but then it returned to haunt me on the Treo 800w and more recently on my Blackberry Storm...
I was recently able to find a car charger and a home charger for $15 each at Target that has two interchangeable ends included; MiniUSB and MicroUSB; which will charge about 90% of my portable electronic gadgets.
MicroUSB is rated for up to "10,000 connect-disconnect cycles" where MiniUSB had no such rating- which makes sense for cell phone use.
Why isn't HTC using this on their newer phones? Oh wait- I forgot; they are using their 'ExtUSB Standard' so they can omit the 3.5mm/2.5mm headphone jack... (But at least a normal MiniUSB will work on their phones)
You have to love 'standards'....
There are a few BIG reasons for standardizing to micro-USB (which 5 manufacturers announced LAST YEAR that they were standardizing to, this is just more people signing up).
Of the 2 big reasons one was hinted at...
insertions 200-500 for USB and mini-USB vs. 10,000 for micro-USB
the other is that micro-USB requires compliance with the newer Battery Charging specification...
Standardized mini-USB & USB max amperage 0.5, micro-USB 0.9-1.8, so ~1.8 to 3.1 times more current (i.e. faster charging)
a third note is that there is a prototype for a USB 3.0 micro-USB port (which is a micro-USB 2.0 port right next to an similar 2nd port to allow for the other required wires)
one last note...
micro-USB also allows for USB-On-The-Go, which could let your phone act as a slave (i.e. when hooked up to a computer) or a host (i.e. when hooked up to a printer or PROJECTOR or SECOND DISPLAY)
The maximum drawable current on any USB port in the USB 3.0 spec is 900mA, not 1800mA.
@Mio
Not when you're using a dedicated USB charger. The standard allow for dedicated USB charger to supply up to 1.5A and the portable device can accept up to 1.8A from a dedicated charger. Basically, if you're using a sync and charge cable, you can only get 0.9A, but with charge only cable + matching charger it can output up to 1.5A.
I just hope that newer PC (especially the one with USB 3.0) can recognize a charge only cable and output 1.5A.
Ah. My bad. I need to get around to reading the spec soon. I'm sure at some point, I'll need to move on from developing for USB 2.0.
I don't get what the big deal is about standardizing phones. I use the charger that comes with my phone when I get one and boom, it works. What difference does it make if you can get 10X more connect cycles, most people I know have a phone for 2 years and get a new upgrade. We don't keep our phones for 20 years.
Because some people carry more than one phone, or similarly charger-needing device. For example, I carry 5 devices that would take this charger: N800, N810, and 3555b (all Nokias: 2 internet tablets and a phone), and two Bluetooth headsets.
The N800 has mini-USB for data, and the N810 and 3555 both have microUSB for data; all 3 use Nokia 2mm chargers. One headset uses a miniUSB charger, and the other uses microUSB.
So I need at least three cables to cover charging and data for my 5 devices, or more if I want data to one of my Nokias while I charge a headset. I'd much rather be able to use one power cable and data cable for all of these. Also, most phones come with one wall charger -- so I need to buy a second charger or USB charging cable for the office, and one for the car. Even if I used only one device, as you apparently do, that's two chargers I have to replace with each different phone I get. (Fortunately, with 3 Nokia devices, I can leave a 2mm charger each place, as I rarely need to charge more than one at a time, but I need the ability to charge any one device at any time. But it's still a mess with the headsets, and would be worse if I changed even one of them out.)
Do you seriously think anyone with a "pro-level DSLR" ever plugs it in via USB?
The only reason anyone would ever do that would be to use it tethered to the computer - not exactly a common usage mode.
I feel bad for all the older people with bad eyesight, this will be even more frustrating to connect their cellphones to plugs...
If a person can't see the connector, I'd bet he/she can't read what's on the screen either...
I've had this on my headset for about 1.5 years now, because I read at that time that Micro-USB would one day be the standard for cell phones - it's not much different in size lengthwise, and it's only slightly more frustrating to tell which side is up or down. Doing it in the car while your driving is a PITA but there are only 2 possible ways to plug this thing in.
Nilay, you're barking up the wrong tree on this one.
MiniUSB was killed off in 2007 by the owners. They will not do any certification for any Mini USB products any longer. Without certification, you're not allowed to use their logo.
http://www.usb.org/developers/Deprecation_Announcement_052507.pdf
"No new certification of any of the following will be allowed: Products with Mini-AB or Mini-A receptacles, Products with hardwired captive cables using Mini-A plugs, Cables with Mini-A plugs"
Most of the major handset manufacturers are members of the USB Implementers Forum and have no choice but to comply with their rules.
Furthermore, Mini USB takes up a hell of a lot more volume than MicroUSB: so much so that you couldn't use it to charge in a slim phone or a bluetooth headset, whereas Micro is OK.
Finally, the universal charger standard has a USB type A socket on it, not a cable with a MicroUSB plug, so you can use the UCS charger with a Mini USB cable, an Apple dock cable, a Sony Ericsson cable, a KTF korean standard cable or anything else you like.
There's no categorically compatibility issue for anybody who has Mini USB equipment and you do not need to buy an adapter.
You've made the same mistake I did, unfortunately: mini-A is a seldom-used connector anyway, mini-B is the one that's all over the place and it's still completely valid. Great minds make the same mistakes, I guess. ;)
Hadn't read your post! That's weird... I've even heard Mini-B was depracated from members of the USB IF.
Ah well, there was not a hope in hell that Mini-anything was ever going to be accepted by the industry, because of the size / reliability issues and there's a hell of a lot of pressure to move to Micro completely.
Yes, but mini-A/AB being deprecated means that USB OTG requires micro-AB connectors, which requires micro-B for compatibility, so it works out the same... micro is still the better universal standard.
If you're anything like me, and you've read the specs and you've wrecked your share of mini-USB connectors, this is a welcome development. It's really, really hard to replace mini-USB connectors without specialized tools (I totally destroyed an iPaq rw6828 a couple years back trying it), and micro-USB is spec'ed to have a much higher tolerance for quick plugging. Overall, it's good. And I don't care if I have to buy a $1.49 adapter for its use.
Exactly!
My Dash won't even charge half the time I plug it in anymore due to the mini-usb port being worn out. I welcome the more robust Micro-USB connector.
WRONG.
Your DSLR and portable hard drive gets plugged in 1 or 2 times a week...maybe?
Your 3G, soon to be 4G devices are going to get plugged in 1 or 2 times per day.
I'll gladly pay the $5 for a new universal power cord if it means smaller ports, phones and stronger connections.
If they are going to standardize, I think going with the slimmer connector - allowing smaller packaging in the future - makes sense. Yes, they could use mini to save people a few dollars now, but in the long run, more and more devices will benefit from the smaller connecter. I can hear you complain later on about the huge connector on the side of your BT headset if they had gone with mini.
D.
meh... who cares about micro usb...
inductive charging is the way of the future!
and magnets too!
With the green brigade barking at everybody about improving efficiency, do you think that replacing a 99.9999% efficient piece of wire with wireless charging technology that beams 60% of the energy into the ether and only sends 40% where it needs to go would have been a good idea? :)
Mini-usb is small enough. So what is the REAL reason for this?
The REAL reason? Mini-USB is NOT small enough. It's already been said here but the chipset is larger as well as the socket. A small bluetooth headset is actually hindered by the size of the connector...and wouldn't you like the headset and the phone to use the same connector ALL of the time?
@godfall, wtf are you talking about? USB is USB, no matter the size of the connector. micro-usb and mini-usb use the same chip, and on most mobile devices a USB bridge will be built into one of the other chips in the phone.
How does USB being USB relate to the size of the receptacle, connector, and the controller residing on the device? I have to ask you 'WTF are you talking about?' because you don't seem to even support any contradicting argument to what I said...tool
This is a good thing. Micro USB is about 2mm smaller than mini USB. That might not seem like a lot, but if you can save 2mm here, a mm there and a mm there, what you end up with is a this thinner, sleeker device.
how is it possibly greed driven? if it were really greed driven, they wouldn't have standardized on anything. now you can go to any store and buy any brand micro-usb. and you don't have to buy an adapter - if you get a micro-usb phone, it will come with a micro-usb charger.
and mini-usb does, in fact, suck. it breaks pretty easily, and it is significantly larger than the new standard. DSLRs and hard drives may have room for the larger connector, but phones don't.
This is pretty funny considering you try to disagree with me when I essentially say the same thing....WTF?
Hmm...I like it on my Moto Q...good nuff for me
Nano-USB (10e-09), expected in phones in 2011. Followed by Pico-USB (10e-12) in 2014, then femto, atto, zepto and finally yocto (10e-24) in 2026.
If you take the absolute of the power and "add 2" you get the last two digits of the year the industry decides to screw us over.
I wonder what happens after 2026? Perhaps they will re-do the metric system to accommodate sales? Metric 2.0 anyone?
THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a mini-USB standard. It was all manufacturer-driven.
There are at least 3 different mini-USB formats, with some manufacturers using more than one of them. Mini-4-pin, Mini-14-pin and Mini-8-pin. And even with the same number of pins, there are differences. Blech!!!
So they tossed it all away and replaced it with one 5-pin micro-USB standard. And about time.
Awaiting Nano-USB.
The mini-usb on my wife's blackberry is toast.
I would be much upset if they settled on that, it is not durable at all.
I had thought my Nokia phone was using a propriety non-spec adapter like that fruity company and their computers (more spent on useless adapters =( )
Good to see that this is now a standard and more devices will be using it in the future.
FWIW - I had bought the new BB curve 8900. I really liked it, but for a few things (including the back key being hard to press). Anyways, I had found it difficult to choose between it and the bold. In the end, I returned the 8900 in exchange for the bold. Main reason was because bold uses mini USB v. the curve using micro USB - I didn't want to have to buy new chargers etc. and this off-set the diff in price of the device...
at least this will force HTC to stop using their proprietary Mini-USB with the audio and mic connections. I'd be much happier with a micro-USB for charging and PC connection and a 3.5mm phone jack (the iPhone style 4 connector version, that works with regular headphone plugs as well as headsets with built-in microphone) for sound.
Bologna, micro USB is just as prone to wear as mini is. I have a RAZR2 phone I picked up for cheap and the connector is worn out to the point where if I plug it in, it usually beeps at me three times, once for the plug, once because I set it down and it lost connection, and once because I let go of the cord and it lost connection again. If anything, it seems LESS robust and MORE prone to wear because of the oblong shape of the connector. The Kodak-style USB connector which is about half the size of micro USB seems a better solution, a box is more robust and less prone to wear than an oblong shape.
99% of the things I own use a mini usb.. f*)(# going to micro.
Although I find the switch inconvenient, don't sweat the money angle. The switch is going to take a year just to start rolling, and Chinese manufacturers will have flooded the market with cheap non USB-logoed micro cables (just like they did with non logoed mini cables) within 5 months.
The USB plug on my XPERIA X1 is incredibly hard to find in the dark, and hard to plug/unplug with a single hand... maybe a mfgr might include a charger with a beefed up tip that has some prongs or clips extending out the side to clip into matching holes on their device, but would still adhere to standards, that might work.
Or your car manufacturer can just have a standard USB A port that charges your phone and mounts it as a mass storage device so it can access your MP3s!
The biggest benefit I see here is for car chargers. Every time I get a new phone I have to buy an extra car charger for like $15-20, and sometimes you might grab the wrong one by mistake. Now you just keep one wall charger from the first phone and buy one car charger and you're set for life, as long as you don't break them.
I don't get it. Does that mean that moving forward the end that plugs into your phone will be a micro-usb for ALL cell phones?
I'm assuming that would have to include any new models of iPhones that get released too.
The intention is that all phones will have a MicroUSB socket for charging and data.
The reality is that not all phones will - some phones for emerging markets are just too low cost and low margin to swallow the more expensive connector. And some manufacturers will resist compliance with every bone of their body to gain an advantage (Apple?)
However, those phones may still benefit from the UCS standard because it specifies a standard USB A port on the charger so you can still have an adapter cable, which means you can still reuse your charger.
Kudos to everyone for calling out Nilay Patel for being wrong here
If the crappy, thin charge connector of my 2.5 year old phone hasn't broken yet, there is no way a new cell phone would outlive a mini usb connector.
So yes, I do think.
Well, I don't see a problem with micro-USB being the new standardized charging and syncing connector. My Plantronics 925 headset has this new micro-USB. It comes with the micro-USB cable, charging and the leather charging case too. I'm happy for this new standard even for my bluetooth headset.
This is a non issue.
there are dozens, if not hundreds of cell phone connection standards. Someone FINALLY is trying to make a standardized standard, and you are simply mad that they didnt pick the one on your phone.it's the better standard, and better suited for use in phone.
Desides, since why is "but everyone else does this!" a good argument to resist change?
this just in, I can't type without making twenty typos...
aren't you a lawyer? this post just doesn't seem like someone smart wrote it, all sorts of FAIL