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SMK Toughens Up Those Tiny Micro-USB Connections
An anonymous reader writes "If a gadget ships with a micro-USB port, I see it as a plus because it isn't proprietary — meaning I can easily and cheaply buy replacement cables. But the micro-USB ports aren't the strongest connectors in the world, so if the gadget is expensive (a smartphone) and you accidentally bust the port, you're in trouble. And that's easily done. Japanese manufacturer SMK may have fixed the problem, though, with a new double-strong connector design. They started producing them on Friday, and at an output of 500,000 a month, hopefully they'll be shipping with most new gadgets before long."
Unless it's going to reduce there under contract replacement costs smartphones will not have these. US phone companies want your phone to break every couple of years so you buy a new one with a new contract so they can have horrid service.
No sir I dont like it.
It's called a "through-hole mounted connector." Phone manufacturers just like to save a few pennies by using a surface-mounted connector, which is weak as shit.
*Yes this is even stronger, good for the improvement. But through-hole is strong enough, the problem of weak connectors was caused by phone manufacturers being cheap bastards.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Stop depending on a dab of solder to support a connector and mount it to the case where it belongs.
This used to be the standard way of doing things.
Already broken once. Filed down my cables (what the hell was Nokia thinking?) but still seriously concerned that things going to pop off anyday.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
I thought that one of the reasons to move to micro-usb was that the parts most likely to be damaged are now on the easier to replace cable side, as opposed to mini-usb where the springs were on the device side. So I would think that the likelihood of device side damage was already less than with mini-usb.
Busted DC jacks (and sometimes USB ports) are a huge problem. Mounting the DC jack to the case and connecting to the motherboard with a cable makes replacement easier, but it's only treating the symptom and not the problem.
Apple has a marvelous idea, but seem to be the only ones using it.
The EU decides that all cell phones should use a MicroUSB connector for charging. The MicroUSB port really wasn't meant for constant plugging and unplugging.
Phones break when the ports fail.
Like that isn't scary. I tend to plug my phone in 6 times a day I wonder how long the connector will last?
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I agree. However I remember that Apple also patented the discussed DC jack, and doesn't probably want to license it for less than 100% of your laptop's price.
Apple what now? Their connectors are horrible and their refusal to follow the industry standard (oh, we only care about the environment when it's not affecting our opportunity to turn a buck) was one of the reasons I went Android in the first place.
Anyone else think its gotten a bit sad that a company building something to last/stand up to use has become a news story?
"Give someone a program, frustrate them for a day... Teach someone to program, frustrate them for a lifetime."
Right, better watch out for that zOMG expensive gold plated Apple cable - retailing for a whole fucking arm and leg price of $4.04
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10831&cs_id=1083101&p_id=7863&seq=1&format=2
Hopefully the connectors are stronger than their website.
Yup, that sure is a "magsafe" connector alright.
Oh, no, wait: it's a 30-pin iPod cable, which uses the same SMT jack that everybody complains about...
Original link seems slashdotted for me. Here's an alternate:
http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/smk-just-made-micro-usb-ports-a-lot-stronger-20110919/
I know it seems like an odd complaint these days, but my issue with USB connectors - pretty much all of them - is that I don't understand why they don't have a more obvious bias.
It's not clear which side of the plug is up.
Oh sure, if you are looking at it in bright light, you can USUALLY tell clearly.
But if you have bad vision, or are trying to put the cable in a blind spot (we're never plugging in cables that are hard to see, under desks, in the dark, or all three, are we?) it's pretty much a 50% chance if you have the plug right side up.
With the micro usb it's even worse, given their delicacy putting them into a phone, and the ease that one might misinterpret the "not fitting this way" with "not fitting because I'm not pushing hard enough".
Why didn't they make the USB plug format a triangle or some other shape that has a clear "top" and "bottom".?
-Styopa
What is the industry standard for laptop DC connectors? Last time I checked there wasn't one. Of all of the non-standard connectors, Apple's magsafe connector is the best design I've seen.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
i think they are talking about the magnetic one on the laptops:
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/mb_ib_power_060110.gif
That's essentially the question when it comes to whether we get to see them in devices. If they only cost a fraction of a cent more than the old connectors, there's no chance that they would get used, even if they tripled the lifetime of your gadget.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I don't believe that Apple doesn't have a valid patent on it. Waring has had magnetic breakaway cables for years and has been using them for powering deep friers.
I can't remember the last time I busted my Bluetooth port.
Sometimes making something harder or stronger doesn't actually solve the problem. Firstly, you can simply shift the breakage point to something more expensive (the circuit board itself). Often, making something more flexible and forgiving goes a lot further. A "soft" connector that flexes instead of breaks would be much more useful.
I see this with surface coatings all the time. If we have a problem with scratching, making the surface harder actually is counter-productive. Making it softer and more malleable is more likely to solve the problem (the surface deforms around the particle that's scratching it, often resulting in no damage. Even when it still scratches, the resulting defect is much less noticable).
"Bend with the wind"... it's why Bamboo is such a useful material.
I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
Somebody needs to do this for CAT 5. The network cables in the conference rooms always have the tabs broken off.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Busted DC jacks (and sometimes USB ports) are a huge problem. Mounting the DC jack to the case and connecting to the motherboard with a cable makes replacement easier, but it's only treating the symptom and not the problem.
Seems to me, that approach solves the problem quite well.
I've never seen a "busted" DC jack...just DC jacks that were soldered rigidly to the PCB, and broke away.
That said, the magnetic connector on the macbooks is a neat design. My only complaint is that it disconnects much too easily. I can't count the number of times that my girlfriend has been using her macbook in bed or livingroom and got a low-battery warning because she didn't realize the connector had fallen off. The battery on that machine has seen far more cycles than it had too, and is near end-of-life now.
This is surely part of Apple's master plan. Easily disconnected power = more battery cycles = shorter battery life = more high-margin battery sales. Plus if you have a Macbook Air, you have to go to the Apple store to have your battery replaced. Brilliant but slimy.
Don't fight against the current, use the current to achieve your goals, effortless doing.
The fact that you believe mfrs switched to SMT from through-hole [i]for cheapness[/i] means you're completely ignorant of the issues involved.
Your phone would be the size of a can of soda if they were still using through-hole parts. Even if the connector was through-hole, the phone would be much thicker than it needs to be.
Micro USB works just great if the user isn't clumsy or an imbecile.
I've never broken one or even heard of one being broken. Laptop power connectors on the other hand ...
This is like racing cars in the 1960s... Make them stiffer! Stronger! OK, now they don't break anymore during crashes, but the driver is now jelly. The connector needs to be WEAKER, so it disengages instead of transmitting stress.
agreed - while it seems the vendors are getting smart and standardizing their power connectors (Lenovo uses the same for almost all their laptops now, same as dell) they are only standardizing them in house.. not cross vendor.
i would love to see Apple license the mag safe connector a reasonable enough rates that everyone can use it.. or just put it out there as a standard (like display port)
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
In theory it should be simple, as the author suggests it is, to pick up a cheap replacement cable. However in fact, many of those cheap replacements have non-standard length (does a standard even exist?) tips. As a result, often they either make no contact or the connection is so delicate it's essentially useless. If I happen to find a brand/vendor with satisfactory products, I usually stock up (I go thru these things like crazy at work).
I agree. However I remember that Apple also patented the discussed DC jack, and doesn't probably want to license it for less than 100% of your laptop's price.
Yup. There was a company that tried to make some external add-on battery for Macbooks, and they had to resort to buying Apple adapters and chopping off the connector to use on their product, because Apple would not license at any price (or the per-unit price was more than a new power adapter).
People like overpaying for things that start with "i".
Like the Samsung iNtercept?
True, but a 1-year hardware warranty often runs out before the 2-year service contract runs out.
If they only cost a fraction of a cent more than the old connectors, there's no chance that they would get used
They might cost less once you figure in the cost of in-warranty repairs.
That's doubleplusgood news!
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Wireless devices ought to be totally wireless. They already have Bluetooth, so they don't need a headphone jack. Syncing can be done over the Bluetooth, WiFi, or cellular radios, which are already present. Charging should be inductive. (The inductive-charging people need to agree on a standard, or one of the three competing schemes needs to win.)
Then the unit can be sealed up and made watertight and dust-tight. There's already a Casio G-Shock phone that meets military ruggedness standards, so this is quite possible.
I don't believe that Apple doesn't have a valid patent on it. Waring has had magnetic breakaway cables for years and has been using them for powering deep friers.
A lot of patents on this sort of tech are simply a reiteration of what should be considered prior art with an appended "in a mobile computing device."
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
+1 The real solution is inductive power.
How about we go back to the rugged mini-usb and throw this micro-usb shit out? Night and day difference in robustness.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Funny, we have a bunch of gear here -- mostly cameras but a couple of disk drives and gadgets with microUSB connectors. In this pool there are four different and incompatible styles of connector -- differing in the exact shape of the shell. Drives me crazy when my wife keeps losing her camera cable and I need to hunt up a replacement. Be nice if the buggers were standardized like the full size ones. Glad they are someplace but not on my planet.
Along with orientation, one pet peeve of mine with USB has been that the very 'squared off' edges mean that even if you have the orientation right, you have to get the parts exactly lined up before they'll insert. I wish there was a slight 'funnel' at the opening of the female port to make it easier to "start" the connector getting inserted.
No use fighting the river.
My experience is it's very rare that the connector itself gets busted. A far bigger problem is solder joints and/or PCB tracks getting busted as the connector moves relative to the PCB.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
In that east coast earthquake a few weeks ago, I was in my car and had my phone plugged into the recharger. The phone went flying and when I picked it up, the recharging plug had snapped off. The port was fine, though.
Technoli
Shouldnt they just make it USB3 while theyre at it?
Even a magnetic connect charge cable would help.
I don't read AC A human right
Interesting - my experience has been just the opposite. Typically the center pin breaks off and the solderPCB connection is just fine. Granted this has been with a couple iPod docks and laptops.
I want someone to build the equivalent of a wireless USB dongle that also does induction charging.
Leave it plugged into your phone, set your phone on the charging platform, and it would start charging and USB-connect to the computer.
I have no idea what any engineering problems with that would be, though.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
hey young cable and connector designers, I have this brand new concept for you. its called 'strain relief'.
what a novel concept, huh?
maybe consider giving it a try. I've heard they used to use them on reliable things, back when things were DESIGNED to be reliable and work for decades (and not months).
when I see small connectors that could break and disconnect from the host pcb, I always look for some stubby cable to act as a strain relief.
in the last 10 years, I have not seen a cable/connector design that's worth shit. is this the sign of the 'new designers' who completely don't understand their own field? sure seems so. look at hdmi for an example of how NOT to design cables and connectors. look at the db25 and db9 for an example of how TO design things that work and don't break off.
(oblig 'sheesh' here because we all suffer due to this 'new wave' of poorly designed non-strain-relieved connector standards)
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
I've been looking for a low profile USB port saver, you know, like one of those mini Bluetooth dongles, with a female extension lead.
Should manufacture it really, it's pretty essential and doesn't seem to exist
A blog I run for the wealth
If it didn't cycle, the battery would last even less time. If you leave MBs plugged in all the time, the battery dies quite quickly.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?