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."

Comments

Sure they will

[silas_moeckel]

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.

Already exists*

[GameboyRMH]

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.

Re:Already exists*

[EdZ]

Through-hole uses a ton of extra space, bot for the component itself and on the PCB, something you don't want in a small device. Plus, SMT is a LOT more resistant to repeated sudden G-loads (e.g. dropping your phone). If you shove your USB cable in like an ape or dangle your phone by it then yes, a through-hole component would probably hold up longer.

Wasn't that one of the the points of Micro-USB?

[b0bby]

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.

Sad

[hbean]

Anyone else think its gotten a bit sad that a company building something to last/stand up to use has become a news story?

Sometimes "stronger" isn't stronger

[MadCow42]

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.