Micro USB Selected As Universal Phone Charger Connector
From now on you need not to throw away your phone charger whenever you buy a new phone as today the european commission and all the major cell phone manufacturers have agreed to back a micro-USB standard connector for cell phone chargers beginning 2010.
In a statement, the EU said that by having to buy a new charger and dispose of the current one, even if it is in perfect condition, generates a great deal of electronic waste. “I am very pleased that the industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers,” said EU Vice President Gunter Verheugen, in a statement. “They will be able to charge mobile phones anywhere from the new common charger. I am also very pleased that this solution was found on the basis of self-regulation. As a result, the Commission does not consider it necessary to introduce legislation.”
Under the accord, the companies including Nokia Corp., Sony Ericsson, Apple Inc., Motorola Inc., Research in Motion Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co. committed to developing the universal charger, which will work for data-enabled cellphones that support USB data exchange.
The chargers will be usable only for data-enabled phones, which have more capability than just standard calls and SMS texts. Data-enabled phones are expected to account for almost half of all new mobile handset purchases in 2010. New data-enabled phones will come with a standardised charger but after an unspecified time the two items will be sold separately, industry group DigitalEurope said.
According to the vice president of the European Commission, Gunter Verheugen, the original plan was to push for a universal charger for all devices. “It would have taken much longer, so we decided to tackle mobile phones first and at the same time we continue to discuss with the industry the other products,” he said today. Inventing a small charger that powers a cell phone and a laptop is a challenge, the commissioner said.
Mobile phones require around 1.5 watts while laptops need close to 100 watts. That’s why a mobile phone charger is a tenth the size of a laptop charger. Universal chargers for various devices already exist but they are the size of laptop chargers, so they waste a lot of energy if they are used just to charge a mobile phone.
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