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Universal Phone Charger Approved By UN Body
andylim writes "Plans for a universal mobile phone charger have been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations body. The charger has a micro-USB port at the connecting end, using technology similar to what is commonly used with digital cameras. It is not compulsory for manufacturers to adopt the new chargers, but the ITU says that some have already signed up to it. 'We are planning to launch the universal charger internationally during the first half of 2010,' Aldo Liguori, spokesperson for Sony Ericsson told the BBC."
My last three phones have all had a mini-usb charge/data port.
It's pretty much the standard already.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
Now I can take my UK charger to America and still have to but a new adapter/charger!
Make a whole lot of sense to me... could use more of the same in other areas.
Although it is funny to watch all the iPhone users I work with scrabble about sharing one cable at work between them whilst we drown in a sea of standard USB cabling!
The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
If Apple would now implement a micro-USB port onto the iPhone instead of that dock connector.
And preferably something easy to take out. The end of the cable that came with my iPhone is rather small and hard to pull compared to the one that came with my 2nd gen. Nano.
This folks is one of the two UN organisations (both older than the UN) who could run the WWW better than ICANN. The other being the Postal Union (UPU or IPU I think they changed their name).
So, there you go, the UN is not just the political shit. The ITU is what means that you can phone from point A to point B, they are the logical choice for control over the WWW and domain name system.
The charger has a micro-USB port at the connecting end, using technology similar to what is commonly used with digital cameras.
Well, cameras tend to use mini-USB, so it's "similar to" insofar as they're both USB variants. In which case they may as well have said that it's "similar to" just about anything that hooks up to a computer via any form of USB. Also interesting that they've gone with micro-USB, as I've never seen a micro port on anything except for a tiny flash drive I have. The plug is almost too small, quite honestly.
Yes, the ITU has such a terrible track record. /facepalm
voltages. You know, without lugging various plugs along and all that.
The closest to this is the humble car charger, but as far as I can tell, sadly airports and hotels I've been at don't have 12v sockets handy (maybe I didn't look hard enough and be wrong). There isn't always access to a car and in a lot of places, you don't exactly want to leave expensive electronics in one.
It's good to have a standard, pity it's 10 years late. Also, why the hell is this not mandatory?
This should hopefully get you one step closer to that. Assuming the phones don't require a "smart" USB connection, all you should need is a USB wall plug (of the correct type, obivously). From there, you just use your USB-microUSB cable.
Great. Now I can have everything limited to charging at, at a maximum, 500 mA @ 5 V! Just what I've always want... oh wait, I think the charging times for most of my gadgets are already too long. If you can't charge to full capacity within a lunch break, it takes too damned long.
Remember this February news: http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/09/02/16/206213 "EU Commissioner Wants Standard For Mobile Phone Connectors"
next up is convicing manufacturers to NOT put chargers in every phone package. Nor the stores to offer them for free. If its free, you'll take it for a spare.
if they put a charger in every package then there will be zero fewer chargers floating around in the world.
flood the market with a decent, efficient charger say for £5/$10 and then things will start to improve.
Glad to see the UN is tackling the important stuff first.
Why this was tagged !important is beyond me. This only has plus points! It is a very important step in reducing carbon- and other needless emissions. Imagine how much this saves in copper and other materials! The price of phones and other appliances can go down a small bit because the consumer doesn't have to pay for a charger every time it buys a new one. Packages become smaller so shipping new phones costs less energy. Shops can store more phones in the same space, so the chance that the phone you want is out of stock will become smaller... I could go on and on. This is a giant leap for the environment and the consumer!
-- Cheers!
The Koreans carriers back in late 2005 and China a year later. It's about bloody time - the world needs less junk.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
The plugs are annoying, but you can literally get a set for under ten bucks. It's usually not that hard to plan ahead and carry the one or two you will need for the countries you're visiting. Practically all phone chargers run on 100-240V, anywhere fom 50-60 Hz (and probably then some!) and all you need is the plug.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
What was wrong with the already approaching-de-facto standard of mini usb? Or is it only that popular where I am?
Mini USB is one of those things that *everyone* has a lead for, they come with cameras and mp3 players and the like. What's better about micro usb?
Mobile phones can either habe one combo-connector for power, recharging, pc sync, headsets, mike, volume control etc.
or several connectors, each with its own purpose. but to have several connectors would be more expensive.
So if manufacturers now move towards the micro usb connector, they need a second connector for headset,
mike etc.two is more expensive than one.
so when you buy a new phone, and you have old cables for $manufacturer you can thrown them away.
but you can buy chargers for micro usb, yay! as if you didn't already have one for your usb mp3 player
or other gadgets.
and isn't having a standard good? well, the problem isn't solved. htc for example has a connector that
covers both usb and headset/mike etc. so unless there is also a new standard for headset/mike/etc,
every manufacturer will now move to micro-usb plus his own proprietory headset/mike/etc. connector.
not much of an improvement.
but of course it is change, and change always has the great option to throw away your old stuff and buy
new stuff. if everyone needs to buty new stuff: great for the economy! yay!
> "We are planning to launch the universal charger internationally during the first half of 2010,' Aldo Liguori, spokesperson for Sony Ericsson told the BBC."
Wow. This must be one of those UN resolutions that are enforced by the USAF.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Universal standard?
Somebody please tell the UN that their jurisdiction is limited to this planet only, and they can't go round telling G'ould, Klimgons, Kzinti, Minbari, Mersians and Moties what to do.
More plug cycles. Mini is rated for 5,000 plug/unplug cycles, micro is rated for 10,000.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
The UN has nothing else to worry about!
This is getting as bad as X10 and Netflix, we've got Microsoft using those nasty Vibrant in-page popups, to generate hits on Bing I assume... every time someone's mouse drifts over one of those popups they get another hit on Bing to inflate their popularity.
Thank gawd the UN is on top of the really important issues affecting humankind.
I was worried they'd be effin' around with stuff like climate change, human rights and nuclear proliferation.
I can sleep peacefully in the knowledge that the world is in capable hands.
Now I hope they do something about those flimsy little plastic caps on the milk jugs that are always falling into the garbage disposal. And the floor mat on the passenger side of my BMW M5 that always gets knocked askew when someone gets in or out.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Oh well, this just means we'll see overpriced micro-mini adapters from Monster Cable with oxygen free dual overhead cam gold plated contacts in every phone store.
- Wikipedia
I like it! It will surely save us lot of money while on international business traveling. Phone communication expenses is my large bill during trips.
Surely they mean terrestrial, not universal. Or are we really hoping that the Xymoleians from Sirius B will adapt to this standard?
I have had 4 digital cameras that have failed after a couple of hundred insertions using mini-USB. I know people who have gone through 3 or 4 Playstation Dualshock 3 controllers as the socket damaged in the same way. The pins usually bend downwards.
as: suddenoutbreakofcommonsense
This signature intentionally left unblank.
If it is not compulsory for phone manufacturers to include it, what is the point of approving it?
That is so awesome. Too bad this is still 5 years out in the US. At least we have standardized the AC outlet side of it. We're half way there!
I hope and kind of know that they will use this for non-cellphones like mp3 players and other gadgets. It is seriously stupid the amount of chargers that exist at home...
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
When you drive a wankers' car you get what you deserve.
Do you have even the slightest idea what the ITU is?
is the UN even getting involved? is there imminent danger of war or conflict over this? no? then why.
Is this new standard water resistant? It has to be if it ever gets to military devices. I always though the Apple MAC power connector could easy be water resistant just by sealing the edges around where the connector meets the body during assembly. Just think, expanding that could have a universal connector for mobile devices that can survive a dunk in the pool or toilet.
Just because it has the same form factor doesn't make the chargers compatible.
Output power makes a huge difference.
I have chargers going from 300 to 1000 milliamps, and the low powered charges don't work well in higher power draw devices.
Moto nerfed the chargers for some of it's phones by adding a resistor that allows the phone to recognize an "unauthorized" charger.
I like the idea of a voluntary standard, but going with micro USB is the wrong direction. Use a standard USB *port* on the charger. No cable, no weird stuff. Everyone already has a standard USB to whatever-your-device-uses cable. Go with that. Standard USB is now universal. The other advantage with that is USB ports are everywhere and you can charge your device without buying a charger at all. Now that's a better standard. If you must buy a charger, a perfect example of the right device is the Apple USB charger that you can get for every iDevice they make. It has internation input voltage support (100-240v) with clip-on plug adapters (so you can plug it in to your type of outlet) and the output is a standard USB port. Bingo. In fact this existing adapter will work with tons of existing devices of all brands by using your standard USB to whatever cable that you already have.
Hahahahaha !
SIP a single RFC? Can you imagine the number of SIP related RFCs and associated drafts? SIP WAS simple, it is now a mess. Even if we restrict to RFC 3261, if you can asnwer the following questions you are already a MASTER in SIP:
- what is the difference between request URI and the "To" header? Are they redundant?
- what is the difference between the "Contact" header, the "P-Asserted-Identity" header and the "From" header?
- what is the loose routign mechanism and what is the relationship with the "Via" headers?
- what is the need for "from tags" and 'to tags".
If we go a bit further:
- Why is SIP/SIMPLE do we need to introduce an "etag" and why not resuing the callid ?
- etc.
We are a company that is based on SIP and very in favor of this protocol mostly form market reasons but one should not be blind: this protocol has its problems like any other. At the beginning, it was sooo "simple" that it could not even support "announced transfer" or line supervision which is a must for corporate telephony then the real people jumped in and added what it takes to make it usable and added complexity.
Even the big telco that are hated so much in this forum jumped in and created the IMS standards based on SIP (under the ETSI Umbrella = European ...). They took it to the next level of complexity but they NEEDED IT because they are the guys who enable you and me to call from A to B without even thinking about how this is done (since more that 100 years).
If you imagine one second that you can only read ONE RFC to start working on the real SIP world, you are VERY WRONG (see RFC 3581, RFC2327, RFC 3264, RFC 3550 + all the RFC dedicated to packetization, SIP/SIMPLE, MESSAGING, ....)
Now if you compare SIP with H.323, I agree that initially, one can see a lot of advantages.
- H323 has a stupid protocol layering
- slow dialog establishment, etc?
and although they have improved this, this is still not perfect but they have advandages as well:
- camera control and double video streams are a reality in H.323 world wher in SIP it is still on paper only and badly documented.
- screen and application sharing are a reality on H.323 world. They are non existant in SIP
- H.323 has defined a clean standard for NAT traversal where SIP has a set of "best practices" spread in various RFC (keepalive, rport, symetric RTP, etc.).
if you cannot read the ITU standards that is basically because:
- most of them need to be bought
- they have a strong culture of separating the function and the encoding, which renders them difficult to grasp for field hackers
- ITU protocols are often based on ASN.1 BER encoding and therefore are compact an binaries and cannot be test with a simple TELNET connection, which seems to trouble a lot of Internet gurus.
Emmanuel
http://www.ives.fr/
Should we call it UUSB now then?
My Blackberry 8700v (yes, it's old) rejects my Tomtom-USB car charger after 5 seconds. So I can't charge my Blackberry in the car.
My solution to Blackberry on WindowsXP and Windows7, is simply to connect the Blackberry, then the Windows hardware wizard asks if it can connect to Windows Update for a driver - say "yes" and a simple and unobtrusive "RIMUSB.sys" on XP (RimUsb_AMD64.sys on Windows7_64) will get installed automatically. Then you can charge your Blackberry normally without any annoying Blackberry software being installed.
You're talking about mini USB That's a different standard.
The UN standard is for micro USB. The micro USB standard was adopted in 2008. It's a different connector.
No, but I know how it's paid for, and who's paying for it.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Your KRZR uses a MINI USB connector.
The new standard is for MICRO USB. The two are not compatible.
Mostly agreed. Still, it is possible to write a SIP endpoint based on a couple of well delimited RFCs (SIP, authentication, RTP), while even decoding the hierarchy of an H.323 message is a mess.
As for the culture of writing in a language developers can't read, and charging for access to standards: if it depended on the ITU the Internet would not exist and sending bits across continents would be considered an expensive technological miracle, much like international phone calls 30 years ago.
Now can we please have carrier connect standards so i can move from one carrier to another without having to get new hardware 1/2 the time?
I don't have that problem with my land line and can choose any model i want, so why should i have it with my cellular 'line' ?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
So in other words, you don't know shit about shit, but that won't stop your from shooting your mouth off.
I'm sorry, but I seem to be missing something here.
these work by magnets, as I understand.
While I'm not sure that that magnets are bad for electronics/flash type drives, they sure as hell can't be good for my ipod classic (120gb).
Be seeing you...
HTC uses a proprietary variant of the mini USB connector that's compatible with standard mini USB. HTC does not use micro USB.
Blame the Yanks for that one. Most of the world operates on 210-240v. As an Australian I can take a 240v Australian power pack to any country in Asia except Japan (even then its mostly OK because 110v will not cause much damage to a PSU expecting 240v). My biggest issue is that Most of SE Asia use the NEMA plug (which will fall out if a slight breeze passes it) or the even more annoying UK plug.
12v is almost never used although most hotels in the Philipines will have a 12v plug in their bathrooms.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
could we at least get an international standard outlet? same prongs? same voltage?
South Korea currently uses a standard phone charger, and then the phone company gives you a gender with your phone purchase.
Everyone just carries around their gender (lol) and can use any charger.
You actually no longer get a charger with a new phone because they assume you already have one with your previous. They just give you your gender (lol).
I wonder if there's a better term than gender. Your adapter?
"Hey, lemme borrow your gender"
Am I not funny?
That's pretty old news, actually. The European Union already convinced phone makers to agree on a standard charger a few months ago.
Say out loud: I'm an Aspie and I'm somewhat proud, I guess. Uh. Can I write an email in all caps instead? Hm...