Finally Some Sanity…
Electronics, Misc. February 17th, 2009I read this news article with great joy: Universal Cell Phone Chargers Coming Soon. How many cell phone chargers do you have? Between my wife and I, probably about 10. Out of the 10 chargers we have - 3 work with our current phones. If I hadn’t kept to the same brand the last time I changed phones, I would have had to get a different charger. This makes so much more sense.
All the major handset makers, including, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson, have agreed to use the Micro-USB technology as the common universal charging interface,
This will happen in 2012.
I wish they would do this with computer batteries, DVD and TV remotes, electric razors, and I am sure I will think of other things as the day goes on. What do you wish they had a universal standard?
Mark Viquesney
March 9th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I refuse to buy any cell phone, mp3 player, etc that does not communicate and charge through a standard USB connection!!
The worst is the custom laptop chargers- like DELLs that use some communication with the battery charching circuitry in the laptop and the expensive external adapter. Without the expensive dell charger, you can run the laptop, though not charge the battery.
How about universal battery packs for laptops, cameras etc. (at least within the same brand even!!) I stick with AA powered cameras just to use standard NiMh batteries. I would rather have a laptop pack that used standard AA NimH cells than the ridiculously expensive and custom Lithium Ion packs. So what if you do not have quite the same power density, when you can afford to have plenty of extra packs or cells around??!!
March 9th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I agree – it is so frustrating to no have standard USB connections. I too have started to make sure what type of connection the device has before purchasing. We have three laptops at my house – one my dad gave me seven years ago, another for our use that is three years old, and then my wife’s work laptop. Too many cables right there – and trouble if one of the kids mixes the cables up. I am thinking about getting one of those wireless battery chargers – not sure if they work for laptops, but everything else they seem to.
June 29th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
[...] A while back I wrote about how there would be universal chargers at sometime. In Europe, it is now to become reality. The European Commission and several leading cell phone manufacturers agreed Monday to back a mini-USB standard for cell phone chargers beginning next year — two years ahead of schedule. A universal charger standard would have several advantages, not the least of which means that consumers won’t bear the additional expenses of purchasing new chargers for future generations of phones. [...]