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Micro-USB Cellphone Charger Becomes EU Standard

Posted by timothy on from the wish-they-seemed-stronger dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The European Commission has put into effect a June 2009 agreement stating that major cellphone manufacturers should standardize their charging/data connection ports to the popular Micro-USB format. CEN-CENELEC and ETSI provided the standards by which these 14 companies will abide to make cell phone recharging and data transfer easy." Apple may even bring the next-gen iPad along for the ride.

16 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. US by weems · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wish they would do this in the US. It's dumb that each company has their own chargers.

    1. Re:US by Kral_Blbec · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I would guess that most companies are going to bring it over to the US by default. If they have to design the EU versions with micro usb then hopefully they wont reinvent the wheel to redesign it for a US release.

    2. Re:US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But, but... the invisible hand of the market?!

      (Yes, that was sarcasm).

    3. Re:US by ThreeGigs · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Micro is rated for more insertions (I believe 10,000) than mini. Plus, micro enables thinner devices.

    4. Re:US by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 5, Funny

      The invisible hand of the market has a propensity towards fisting.

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    5. Re:US by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 5, Funny

      Micro is rated for more insertions (I believe 10,000) than mini.

      I kept telling my GF that, she wouldn't buy it.

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      This space available.
    6. Re:US by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Worse, they might corrupt the whole idea by supporting USB, but requiring the charger to authenticate itself, and either refusing to charge or deliberately drawing less power when you detect the wrong charger.

      --
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    7. Re:US by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

      I wish they would do this in the US. It's dumb that each company has their own chargers.

      If they did this in the US, you would hear screaming about how it's another example of government's heavy thumb on the "free market" and comparisons to Stalin, Pol Pot and Kim Jong Il. Fox and Drudge would say Obama was "taking over the cell phone industry" and "shoving" "new regulations" down our "throats".

      I don't think it's safe to try to do this sort of standardization here in the US. We've got enough trouble. It might be the last straw that sets off violent revolt. "They took our cell phone adapters! Those TYRANTS!"

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  2. Murtazin is not a "trusted insider" by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 5, Informative

    The claim that iPad 2 will have Micro-USB port in TFA hinges on this:

    The most recent rumor, courtesy of the Mobile Review blog editor-in-chief Eldar Murtazin, says the iPad 2 will include a USB port. ...
    AppleInsider reports that Murtazin is a trusted insider with good sources

    That's as incorrect as it goes. He's an "editor-in-chief" of an organization that consists of precisely one person, namely him; and he is well known in Russian Internet community specifically for making wild and unsubstantiated predictions, often also claiming "insider info". The majority don't come true. So if that's the only source of that information, I would be wary about its correctness.

    That said, if EU mandates micro-USB, it would seem that Apple won't get much choice there for iPhone, and then it would make sense for them to align the rest of the line-up with it, even if the law doesn't apply there. So it doesn't take an insider to make an educated guess here.

    1. Re:Murtazin is not a "trusted insider" by DrXym · · Score: 4, Insightful
      What Apple will allow software and hardware related will be the issue.

      It's not hard to see what will happen there. Nothing. 3rd parties that pay $$$ will get to licence limited access to whatever APIs expose music streaming, volume control etc.

      I expect by default that the change in cable will let you charge via a standard cable and preciselessly nothing else.

    2. Re:Murtazin is not a "trusted insider" by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Informative

      What can Apple's connector do that micro USB can't?

      A great many things. The dock connector has pins for:

      • RS-232 serial (great for very simple peripherals - there was a separate RS-232 port as well on older iPods, but I think it's gone now).
      • Composite analogue video output.
      • YUV analogue video output.
      • Stereo audio output.
      • FireWire data.
      • USB data.
      • Power (3.3V, 5V and 12V DC, up to 45W).

      In contrast, micro USB has pins for:

      • USB data.
      • Power (5V DC, up to 7.5W).

      You can, for example, use an iPod dock to directly drive a TV (useful for presentations - Keynote will export for the iPod so you can give presentations without needing to take anything bigger than an iPod with you). The second audio output in the dock means that you don't need to unplug the headphones when you drop the device in the dock. I don't think the FireWire pins are connected anymore, which is a shame because that allowed simple device-to-device connectivity (and, for example, plugging in an external hard drive directly to the device without needing a computer - iPod Linux let you do this and so did some other third-party firmware).

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  3. Samsung Captivate by bazald · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, are they legally allowed to recess the port in such a fashion that only the official cables can reach the "standard" Micro-USB port, or is that just a mistake on Samsung's part? (It's pretty much my only gripe with the phone FWIW.)

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  4. Re:Micro-USB is not popular by romiz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Micro-USB is stronger one, rather than Mini-USB, or at least is supposed to. And it is designed so that it's the cable that breaks first, instead of the device.

  5. Re:Rated for more insertions? by quenda · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's not the fault of the actual connector. Nokia just failed to attach it to the circuit-board properly.
    It is only surface-mounted in the N900, no solder-through pins or resin.

  6. Re:And will this allow for innovation still? by Shin-LaC · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cell phone manufacturer had a chance to get it right, but for years they chose to use custom connectors and make a killing selling overpriced chargers and cables.
    Sometimes the invisible hand of the market needs a little nudging from the mighty foot of the state.

  7. USB Battery Charging specification by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    and either refusing to charge or deliberately drawing less power when you detect the wrong charger.

    One could argue based on the power management portions of the USB specification that drawing less power meets the spec, but refusing to charge does not. A device MUST NOT* draw more than one unit of current (100 mA in USB 2.0) until it successfully associates to the host controller. After a device is configured, it MAY request up to five units (500 mA) but MUST NOT draw more than the host says is available. The recent Battery Charging v1.2 spec specifies a protocol on the data lines that devices can use to detect dumb chargers and chargers that can provide more power, so that devices know when they MAY deliberately draw more power. You SHOULD support manufacturers of phones and other devices that support USB Battery Charging.

    * RFC 2119 modal adverbs != shouting.