About time too!

[tim123]

I understand why they have all insisted on having custom plugs/sockets for their chargers, it's a very simple and lucrative business model to make income from car chargers, car kits and additional desktop chargers.

As you say this is a deliberate business model. The reason for this is that the networks insist manufactures sell the phones to them at below cost. So the only way that they can make a profit is on accessories.

Take that income away and the shelf price of phones goes up. (Not that 3 out of 4 companies actually make a profit)

tim

[expat]

Micro-USB connector is a bit fiddly to fit in your car when you are driving along one handed on the motorway.

I've never tried this of course, but I just imagine it would be a bit tricky...

Recommended workaround: don't do it while driving.

[swamp]

Micro-USB connector is a bit fiddly to fit in your car when you are driving along one handed on the motorway.

I've never tried this of course, but I just imagine it would be a bit tricky...

[TykeMerc]

yes its about time and needed for laptops too - though I think PoE (Power over Ethernet) is intended to solve this.

I agree on the laptops too (Power over Ethernet isn't an idea I much like and thoroughly impractical if you use wireless ), that being said the PSU's from my last 4 Dell laptops are interchangable as are those from the two IBM's although obviously not Dell to IBM etc.
My last 2 Nokia mobiles have had different plugs.

[Rookie]

So all holes will be exactly the same?

Yes. There will always be a perfect fit. Never again will you find that your charger is just too small for the hole.

[DodgyAgent]

So all holes will be exactly the same?

[MPwannadecentincome]

yes its about time and needed for laptops too - though I think PoE (Power over Ethernet) is intended to solve this.

[threaded]

As you say, about time! I keep at least 2 chargers in different places, and I gave up Ericsson in part because they kept changing the charger connector so I hat to keep buying a new chasrger every time I got a new phone. Ludicrous.

It's also a good way to "region lock" devices so the manufacturer can charge (pun intended) different amounts for the end product.

Roomba is a good case in point. If you buy the American machine it is a lot cheaper than the UK version. The power supply design is capable of running from any reasonable mains voltage. But if you swap the American for a British plug on the charger, you find what they think of you doing that. It is a simple fix to make their charger work in the UK, and not burst into flames, and, when you look into it, you find it must actually cost more to have the inferior components installed (they're actually more expensive to purchase in bulk than the 'good' ones) and handle several versions of the same device.

[TykeMerc]

I understand why they have all insisted on having custom plugs/sockets for their chargers, it's a very simple and lucrative business model to make income from car chargers, car kits and additional desktop chargers.

It's high time that mobile phone companies and for that matter the vast majority of rechargable low voltage electronics used a standardised charger simply to cut down on clutter for their customers if nothing else.
At the moment I have seperate chargers for mobile, PDA, bluetooth hands free (not a comical earpiece I must add), Satnav receiver, camera and DS.
Fortunately the camera came with a charger which takes a USB cable and I have a USB cable with interchangable ends for some (not all) of the devices which I carry in my laptop bag with a USB data/charge cable for my PDA.

[expat]

As you say, about time! I keep at least 2 chargers in different places, and I gave up Ericsson in part because they kept changing the charger connector so I hat to keep buying a new chasrger every time I got a new phone. Ludicrous.

[Rookie]

At last indeed. But why did it take so long? I've lost count of the number of the bloody things that I have scattered around the house in various drawers and cupboards.

[swamp]

Universal charger for phones plan

The world's biggest mobile phone makers and network operators have backed plans to create a universal phone recharger.

Most manufacturers now produce chargers which work only with their own devices.

The re-charger will consume 50% less stand-by energy than today's cables, the GSM Association (GSMA), an umbrella group for the industry, said.

Firms to back the plan include Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, T-Mobile, Orange, 3, AT&T and Vodafone.

The majority of new handsets will support the re-charger by 2012.

"This is a broad agreement that will move the industry to a single, energy-efficient charger for all mobile phones," said Michael O'Hara, marketing director for the GSMA.

In a statement, Mitti Storckovius, director of environment, devices at Nokia said: "By supporting this industry initiative on common charging solutions, and enabling consumers to choose if they need a charger with every new device or can re-use existing ones, we can contribute further in improving the industry's environmental footprint."

The micro-USB connector will be used as the common charging interface.

Manufacturers had been under pressure from the European Commission to produce a standardised charger.

EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told German radio station Deutsche Welle last week that there were more than 30 different kinds of charger in use across the 27-nation European Union.

The GSMA estimates the new charger will mean the potential elimination of up to 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7894763.stm