European Commission Set to Adopt Universal Micro-USB Smartphone Charging Standard in January

[Daveoc64]

Personally I'd like a mini magsafe connector, maybe mini usb magsafe? Note sure if it would work when charging only from USB port though, maybe not enough current to drive the magnet?

The magnet isn't powered by electricity.

The real obstacle would be that a phone is far too small (i.e. not heavy enough) for magsafe to work.

You need it to be heavy enough that the cable will disconnect with a sharp tug on the cable rather than just causing the phone to fly off a table.

 

[Stella]

The government has NO RIGHT to dictate the design of a product.

But they already do in every day life, especially when it comes to safety.

Are you suggesting that all these laws are dropped so dangerous amounts of lead can be put into children's toys, or car manufacturers can freely build death traps, or buildings that fall down in 12 months time, and burn to the ground at the sight of a flame?

 

[johnnyhow]

This is a pretty poor law and the EU has no right to exert its influence in such a specific area.

I think this law should apply only to devices that primarily function as phones. The iPhone is more like a PDA, an ipod, a camera, a video editor/ player. I really hope apple simply includes a usbmicro adaptor, or a dock that has a micro-usb outlet in it.

Remember, phones simply must be compatible with micro-usb, an adaptor will make the phone compatible, most likely you'll be charging your phone yourself, and if you're taking it away with you, how hard is it to chuck the adaptor in your hand luggage?

This is the one time where I support a company finding a loophole in such a ridiculous law.

 

[kernkraft]

This is terrible. The government has NO RIGHT to dictate the design of a product. If micro-USB everywhere is such a great thing, then people will demand it. Now Apple has no right to innovate as they see fit because some fascist bureaucrats in Brussels think they know how to design products better.

1.) Do you know what fascism means?

2.) I recently sold my classic car, a 1983 SL Mercedes. That car looked different in the US and in the rest of the World. Due to some US federal safety regulations, the US models had to be equipped with stupidly large bumpers ( ). Compare my car with Bobby Ewing's:

 

[Daveoc64]

This is a pretty poor law and the EU has no right to exert its influence in such a specific area.

I think this law should apply only to devices that primarily function as phones. The iPhone is more like a PDA, an ipod, a camera, a video editor/ player. I really hope apple simply includes a usbmicro adaptor, or a dock that has a micro-usb outlet in it.

Remember, phones simply must be compatible with micro-usb, an adaptor will make the phone compatible, most likely you'll be charging your phone yourself, and if you're taking it away with you, how hard is it to chuck the adaptor in your hand luggage?

This is the one time where I support a company finding a loophole in such a ridiculous law.

Why did Apple and the other 11 major phone manufacturers agree to do this voluntarily then?

 

[wreckshop]

This is terrible. The government has NO RIGHT to dictate the design of a product. If micro-USB everywhere is such a great thing, then people will demand it. Now Apple has no right to innovate as they see fit because some fascist bureaucrats in Brussels think they know how to design products better.

That's ridiculous. Governments should regulate product designs in the greater interest of public. One example is how the US government stepped a few years back and mandated all 32"+ HDTVs must have a built in HDTV tuner.

There's no technical reason why an iphone needs to use a proprietary cable. The only one that benefits from a proprietary connector is apple because they can charge $20 for a cable that shouldnt cost more than $2.

 

[kalsta]

"accurate" is an odd word. You can be just as accurate with the "English" system of weights and measures as with SI.

For that matter, fractional measures can be just as accurate as decimal measures, although the range of practical measures is more narrow, but that's not a part of the US standards (yes, wrenches will use measures like 1/4", but if you were measuring the spread of the wrench you would measure it as 0.250" or whatever).

The logic and beauty of the metric system is apparent to all who use it. It's madness that the US still uses the outdated Imperial system. I mean seriously guys, you're still measuring things in fractions of body parts!

What was this thread about again…?

 

[darkplanets]

The logic and beauty of the metric system is apparent to all who use it. It's madness that the US still uses the outdated Imperial system. I mean seriously guys, you're still measuring things in fractions of body parts!

I know its off topic, but no one uses imperial units for practical uses; science and math are pretty much entirely metric. I say pretty much because there's always oddities (BTU for example), but for the most part the imperial system measurements are simply meant for the "uneducated" masses.

 

[NakedPaulToast]

It's about time.

The long term effect will be manufacturers of all electronics can start moving to micro-usb connectors.

Cameras, GPSs, e-readers, bluetooth earpieces, bluetooth handsfree, handheld video games, PDAs, MP3 players, battery chargers, electronic picture frames, walkie-talkies, etc

The long term effect will be reduced cost for AC adapters, and data cables.

Car manufacturers can include a a few USB-A ports, a much better alternative to the bulking cigarette lighter, and adapters. Electrical outlets with a USB-A port can be placed in convienant places in your house for charging.

I can't believe how much money I have spent for replacement adapters, car adapters and data-cables over the years. I now have a drawer full of AC adapters with various voltages, polarities and connectors.

I honestly don't understand why more don't see this as the start to a very good thing.

 

[BaldiMac]

Uhm, like when I travel and want to carry only one charger to charge my Kindle, my camera and my phone. Having an adapter is a pain in the ass.

The only reason Apple is using the proprietary connector is to suck a few extra $$ from you through licensing fees.

Micro USB is way smaller than the i-port, so it would actually be better for slimmer devices.

You jumped into the middle of the conversation and took everything out of context. We are not talking about your Kindle or your camera. We are talking about the impact of this standard which applies to smartphones. Here are the two situations we were discussing:

A) Having a micro-USB to USB adapter that could be used with any charger that meets this standard included with an iPhone.

Or

B) Not being able to charge your iPhone with most other chargers.

The question was how is (A) worse than (B). The answer should quite obviously be that it's not.

Yeah, as long as they are Apple's standards....

Do a little research. Apple supports a long list of standards that they don't control.

What? You mean the Standard USB is going to be changed to Micro USB? You mean the PORT on the computer? No, that's wrong, we're talking about the port on the phone, not on the computer. So it's the phone-end of the cable that will be Micro-USB, not the computer-end. This is pretty obvious, since normal-size USB is standard anyway. What isn't standard is the types of charging ports the various phones use. Nokias have 2 different kinds of Nokia chargers, Samsungs have even more, etc... The iPhone uses a 30 pin connector, which isn't standard as well... So Micro-USB would be the standard port to be found on every phone, so that you can charge it with the help of a Micro-USB to Normal-USB cable. That makes sense!

No. I don't believe that anything will change with respect to the iPhone other than the fact that they will include a micro-USB to USB adapter with the charger. The dock connecter will remain the same. The dock connector to USB cable will remain the same. The USB connector in the charger will remain the same. The only difference will be a small adapter that costs less than a buck.

There's no technical reason why an iphone needs to use a proprietary cable.

Of course there is a technical reason to use a proprietary connector. Do you think the extra pins are there just to take up extra space?

The only one that benefits from a proprietary connector is apple because they can charge $20 for a cable that shouldnt cost more than $2.

The other one to benefit would be the consumer who would like to output video from their iPhone. Can't do that over USB. And that's just the obvious example.

 

[wreckshop]

Of course there is a technical reason to use a proprietary connector. Do you think the extra pins are there just to take up extra space?

You need extra pins to charge a phone?

 

[davidcarswell]

The Eu members of parliament are a bunch of pariahs

And that's different from our senate? How?

 

[backdraft]

"It makes so much sense that I believe the U.S. will follow," says Banos. "It would be insane not to."

That didn't work out too well for the metric system or the proposed one world currency idea, but we'll see! Lol

 

[mixel]

I don't mind this at all.. It'll be nice being able to charge things around the house in so many new places with no hassle.

I wonder where apple would put a micro USB port? (considering I doubt they'd remove the 30pin connector, I'd imagine they'd just add another port, as un-apple as that would be)

I have mini-b cables up to my eyeballs.. Micro USB is at least a very small unobtrusive port though.

 

[robotmonkey]

I don't like getting into Politics - especially US Politics much, but this is such a broken sentence.

The US Democrat party != liberals. Liberals do not have to be left wing (the opposite makes far more sense).

True "liberals" would absolutely not support the state imposing regulation on something like this.

Americans use the term "liberal" to describe the "Left Wing" (ha!) Democrats.

I think this is a very good idea, as I've bought two car chargers in the last year and neither of them will work with my newly purchased iPhone 4.

You are thinking of classic liberalism. Since the 20th century, liberalism has meant something completely different, i.e. "social justice" and statist regulations. This policy is a deal between corporations. That would be corporatism, more commonly known as economic fascism. And before I start getting labeled as a crazy bigoting idiot that's calling the EU a Nazi regime, the Nazi party (in english the national socialist workers party of germany) was not economically Fascist. And that's nice that you don't want a bunch of chargers, but unfortunately for you the iphone is not designed by you. Under what morals does a person subscribe to when they tell a person how to make their product?

 

[robotmonkey]

1.) Do you know what fascism means?

2.) I recently sold my classic car, a 1983 SL Mercedes. That car looked different in the US and in the rest of the World. Due to some US federal safety regulations, the US models had to be equipped with stupidly large bumpers ( ). Compare my car with Bobby Ewing's:

Do YOU know what fascism means. A defining feature of Fascist economies is policy planning between the government and corporations (which is why Nazi Germany was not fascist, but nationalistic socialism. The Italians were fascist).
I agree, it is ridiculous that the U.S. government had bumper regulations like that.

 

[djhash]

Someone mentioned a dock connector...Something like this?

 

[kalsta]

I know its off topic, but no one uses imperial units for practical uses; science and math are pretty much entirely metric. I say pretty much because there's always oddities (BTU for example), but for the most part the imperial system measurements are simply meant for the "uneducated" masses.

I don't understand this logic. Why have two incompatible systems in popular usage when standardised use of the metric system would make life easier for everyone? Sure, there's that initial hurdle of learning something new, but kids don't have this problem. There's really no excuse for anyone born in the last 30 or 40 years not to have been taught to adopt the metric system, and for the government not to enforce use in car speedometers, road signs, package labelling, etc.

 

[NokX]

sure would suck to be a micro-usb competitor. your product was just made obsolete not by consumer demand, but by the government.

 

[NokX]

I see the EU's point and I see how it would be a good idea, but I don't like the law. What if using something else is better? Maybe not right now, but how long will this law hold back innovation from a new port and standard being better to use?

nailed it. thread's over.

 

[djhash]

Would it be hard to just make a slit after the first 5 pins, then allow room for micro-usb to fit in there? And make something on the top and bottom to hold on to the micro-usb. It already has a hold/indent on one side for that specific purpose.

Sure would make all previous versions incompatible though, unless they put the contacts on the other side. The micro-usb has all contacts on one side so it wont affect it. Problem is with the metallic shielding would have minimal contact which probably is against usb specs.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

sure would suck to be a micro-usb competitor. your product was just made obsolete not by consumer demand, but by the government.

umm there are not really any. The maker of the cables 3rd party cables honestly like this law. It helps them more than hurts them.
The only people it hurts are the cell phone manufacturing companies as well who where making a killing of selling extra property connectors and licensing fee to the 3rd parties and that is the group that is real backer to this.

MicroUSB falls under the USB consortium. It is one those standards for moving data. Something that oh look the cell phone companies had to pay to put on their phone any how to so they could move data. Instead of using their own special cable for it they can just use a standard they have access to that they already are paying for.

 

[AidenShaw]

I would think they would simply include an adaptor that would allow you to connect the phone to a micro-usb charger. An adaptor wouldn't be that costly.

If "include" means "include for only an additional $29.99" - you're probably right.

Adapters and dongles for Apple are like "added warranties" for Best Buy - pure profit.

 

[madina]

Compatibility At Last!

It's about time there was cooperation between manufacturers regards phone chargers.

I'm sure there's enough chargers out there to fill a small ocean already.

Lets hope similar moves are made with other devices/hardware.

What is inside those chargers? they are often heavy and probably not good for regular landfill where probably most of them end up.

I got a load in my cupboard not sure what to do with them. Manufacturers should act more responsibly perhaps offering to dispose of the hardware or offering good advice as to how its customers should do so.

Perhaps there should be an international committee/watchdog which has the foresight and prevents huge waste like this ever occurring.

 

[The Stig]

nailed it. thread's over.

Nice! Thanks!

The Stig