Mobile phone Manufacturers Settle Upon a Standard

Cell phone manufacturers, once almost gleeful that the number of different standards they devised were confusing and cumbersome for the customer base to deal with, have decided to unite on a charging standard, which will make things much simpler for everyone.

from Tech Connect

Following a request from the European Commission to settle on a standard for mobile phone chargers, tech titans Nokia, Apple, Samsung, LG, Research In Motion, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, NEC, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments have submitted a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through which they commit to have charger compatibility in the not distant future.

The EC wants a common charger so as to reduce waste, reduce phone costs (since you won’t have to buy a phone together with a new charger), and ultimately put an end to all the annoyance of having incompatible chargers for phones from different manufacturers.

“I am very pleased that industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers,” said Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industrial policy. “They will be able to charge mobile phones anywhere from the new common charger. This also means considerably less electronic waste, because people will no longer have to throw away chargers when buying new phones. 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.”

The ten companies that have signed the memorandum are set to use the Micro-USB connector for their inter-chargeable mobile phones, the likes of which are expected to start shipping in Europe as soon as next year. The EC has stated that it will work closely with the industry so as to see the phones supporting the common charger hit stores as soon as possible. Encore!

Those who want to blame the European Union for making things tough on Microsoft, and various other ills, might want to look at this, and reflect on what can be done by governmental bodies for the common good.

I can remember a time when Nokia had no less than 4 different charger models, all for currently sold phone models, 3 of which used the common barrel plug form factor, two of which were identical, and differed only in their assigned voltages. It made things exciting for everyone concerned.

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perhaps this time the Swiss were the deciders!

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