Finally.. A Universal Mobile Charger.. From the EU
Posted on 30 June 2009, at 8:00 am, by Drew Guttadore
How many chargers are you carrying around in your messenger bag? How many in boxes and shoved under desks etc? Well today, we have had some progress in that direction thanks to the European Union Industry Commission
According to the BBC, the European Commission has struck a deal with 10 mobile manufacturers to develop a single mobile phone charger. The manufacturers include Motorola, Nokia, RIM, Apple, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung. The 10 manufacturers involved carry 90% of the mobiles sold in Europe and an estimated 350-400 million users. There are currently approximately 30 different chargers used by these users.
The agreement is voluntary and will be based on the micro-USB connector and should be available next year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_8124000/8124293.stm
Has anyone noticed that the EU has taken the global lead in setting new green standards and driving other technology standards? Note that Microsoft has had to unbundle Internet Explorer from the Windows, the laptop manufacturers have had to make their notebooks totally recyclable and with lower power usage. They have also driven down roaming costs across the EU.
Instead are we seeing a large shift in terms of how the global spheres of influence are moving? The EU is driving quality and ecology and Asia now driving the market in terms of manufacturing. Acer is beating Dell, Motorola who?
Where is the good ol USA in all of this? Where do you think the emphasis could/should be?
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July 1st, 2009 at 11:29 am
I recently reviewed (and subsequently purchased) the new Plantronics Voyager Pro bluetooth headset. I was disappointed, at first, that they changed the charging adapter from the one they used on prior units, but then I realized that they had gone to the Micro USB standard. That was a very cool thing they did after all.!