Europe approves common charger standard for mobe-makers The European Parliament has signed off on its proposal to force mobile phone makers to adopt a common charging standard. The new regulation means that if mobe-makers' want to meet European standards for “radio equipment” they'll have to ensure their products will have to be chargeable using micro-USB. But there are ways out of …
Nevermind that microUSB will be obsolete and replaced by the reversible Type-C USB connector before this goes into effect in 2017. That's the problem with mandates like that, they freeze tech in the past.
Imagine if in 2004 they mandated that a smartphone has to include a euro key, to make it easier to type in monetary figures, but they wrote it in a way that assumed a physical keyboard. No one would care in 2004, but 10 years later it would be a bit of a problem keeping the EU stuck in the past :)
> Nevermind that microUSB will be obsolete and replaced by the reversible Type-C USB connector before this goes into effect in 2017.
Yeah, honestly, never mind that. The Micro-USB is good enough. That the Type-C is smaller and reversible doesn't change anything. The options here are a) each manufacturer comes up with its own connector and its own standards, forcing us back to the charger hell of the early noughties, OR b) Micro-USB.
If down the road Type-C is found to be so much better that it's worth updating the standard, then by all means the EU should do so -- they can do that you know -- but the future existence of Type-C is in itself in no way an argument against having a EU mandated standard.
>Exactly right. It's not the job of the EU to impose stupid regulations like this one.
>Where's the common power connector for everything else? laptops, toothbrush, mp3 player?
And they should have a common connection. It's bloody annoying if you've forgotten your laptop charger and you turn up at a client and they all use a different brand. If they all used the same type you could leave the charger at home and not have to carry it about. It also means that if you buy a new one and you have plenty of chargers kicking around the house you could save yourself some money and not buy another. Of course, some manufacturers will probably charge you to not have the charger, but hey, they could make a law forcing them not to.
This is exactly the sort of thing the EU should do. There are plenty of things that they shouldn't.
>>And they should have a common connection. It's bloody annoying if you've forgotten your laptop charger and you turn up at a client and they all use a different brand.
So every laptop charger, no matter how small the laptop, should come with a charger capable of charging the largest, power hungry laptop?
I have a tiny netbook. No way will the charger for that work with a larger laptop, nor would I want to carry around a larger charger.
So every laptop charger, no matter how small the laptop, should come with a charger capable of charging the largest, power hungry laptop?
Why not? Every wall has a standard socket for you to plug your device in? More seriously, what is most important is electro-mechanical compatibility. One of the reasons why PCs were successful was the use of ISA (industry standard architecture) including the plug. The plug in the back of portable radios is also standardised. Why can't this be possible for notebooks et al.? So that you could drive a big 17" notebook from your netbook's charger? This would still allow bigger dedicated power bricks (for faster charging or gaming, say) but keeping cables common would reduce costs.
Exactly right. It's not the job of the EU to impose stupid regulations like this one.Erm ..... yes, actually, it is the job of the EU to impose sensible regulations like this one.
Otherwise, if manufacturers were able to use any connector they liked, untold misery would ensue; with a bunch of incompatible and proprietary connectors being used to ensure that the only replacement chargers available would be expensive ones from the original manufacturers (and whole rafts of devices could easily be rendered unusable at all, if the manufacturer decided to squeeze some more money out of you by discontinuing the supply of spare parts).
And no, the free market won't save you; because manufacturers would end up incorporating some "Intellectual Property" into their charging connectors, precisely to thwart third-party suppliers of compatible equipment.
Where's the common power connector for everything else? laptops, toothbrush, mp3 player?That would be at the wall end -- the CEE 7/16 connector is pretty universal across Mainland Europe, although BS1363 rules in Blighty.
For all I know, you might bemoan having to buy your electricity at a certain voltage and frequency; but now imagine having to replace at least all your plugs, and possibly your appliances too, if you decided to change your utility company one day from one who sought to make it harder to switch by being the only supplier of their voltage and frequency..
"imagine having to replace at least all your plugs, and possibly your appliances too, if you decided to change your utility company one day from one who sought to make it harder to switch by being the only supplier of their voltage and frequency.."
In the early days of domestic electricity supply, that was precisely the case. Even to the extent of choosing to go AC or DC. And then the governments of towns, regions and even whole countries mandated standards to make life better for the consumer.
> If down the road Type-C is found to be so much better that it's worth updating the standard, then by all means the EU should do so -- they can do that you know -- but the future existence of Type-C is in itself in no way an argument against having a EU mandated standard.
How is that any sort of improvement? A government mandated standard restricts the future to the past. Then when government "upgrades" the standard it then creates the same mess it claimed to be fixing.
Apple's Lightning is a no-wrong-side-up solution right now. USB-C could be a right now thing too if only others had Apple's foresight. Let the market decide, thats how we got to micro-USB in the first place.
I generally charge my phone in the bedroom while it is dark. I don't want any fruitless fiddling about wondering if the connector is the right way round or not, even if it takes just one second - assuming I haven't bent a couple of feeble pins in the meantime, that is. Whoever dreamt up D-type connectors needs shooting. Likewise for legislators who mandate their use.
>Yeah, honestly, never mind that. The Micro-USB is good enough.
Good enough? It could do with being less fiddly to insert, and less scratchy. For someone who has arthritis, an old 'Nokia' power connector is easier to insert, and thus fitter for purpose.
Lots of 'good enough' compromises eventually add up to a poorer experience.
>I generally charge my phone in the bedroom while it is dark.
Yes I've found none of the current generation of connnectors: Apple iPad2 and Micro-USB, to be particularly good compared to the old fashioned jack plug and it's variants, when handled in the dark.
I've also found that neither Apple's iPad2 and iPad4 sockets, nor the Micro-USB are particularly robust in the hands of an 8~10 year old boy - they tend to want to just push it in, as if it were a simple jack. - interestingly (and fortunately), I've discovered there are companies that specialise in replacing micro-USB sockets...
The D-type connector worked well in the larger format (RS232, Centronics, VGA etc.) but yes fails in the mini and micro forms, to me it is obvious that the solution was to simply copy the orientation key used on ribbon connectors, such as IDE and SATA cables...
Really? When you plug in your phone you pray to $deity just because you've avoided the second it takes to turn the plug round 180 degrees? And how long does it take to pray to $deity?
More like you try to put it in one way, doesn't go, flip it 180 degrees, try again, nope still doesn't work, flip it 180 degrees again and (finally!) it goes in.
I also assume you never bought anything with an Apple dock in the past.
The 16-pin connector was introduced in 2003 and retired in 2012 making a total of 9 years. As far as I can remember, no other manufacturers connector has come remotely close to lasting that amount of time.
Hell, even Nokia's 3.5mm one only lasted 6 years.
I know what you mean about RS232 and 432 ports - I've had plenty of dealings with them myself over the years. In good light looking more or less straight on, you can plug in an RS232 cable fine. If it's at the back of a PC or other piece of equipment with you leaning over, it's often guesswork territory.
"More like you try to put it in one way, doesn't go, flip it 180 degrees, try again, nope still doesn't work, flip it 180 degrees again and (finally!) it goes in."
I had to have a think about why my microUSB connector always goes in first time every time. It's because rubbing the connector gently between thumb and forefinger when I grab it allows me to feel the side with the raised logo on it so I know which way is "up". Oddly enough, I only just remembered that the connector for my phone in the car is opposite to the one in the house. Rough side "up" in the car, rough side "down" in the house. But I don't even think about it at the time. It's just one of those things you learn. Just like the many, many things you do without thinking when using your phone/tablet/desktop. You learn, it works, it quickly becomes automatic.
>So every laptop charger, no matter how small the laptop, should come with a charger capable of charging the largest, power hungry laptop?
No, every laptop come with an adaptor that can supply enough current for its needs. The tip of the cable should be peculiar to the voltage, unless a higher current draw demands a larger diameter connection. I have bought an after market laptop adaptor, and it came with 17 different tips - ridiculous.
If you buy a a candy-bar phone, you might get a 500mA USB adaptor, but if you buy a tablet you will get a 2.1A USB adaptor. Both are at 5v, and at a push the smaller transformer will charge the tablet... eventually. (though a Samsung Tab 10.1 will play dead for a couple of hours before it shows any signs of life)
Basically, a USB A Female socket denotes 5v.
"More like you try to put it in one way, doesn't go, flip it 180 degrees, try again, nope still doesn't work, flip it 180 degrees again and (finally!) it goes in."
That is because both the normal USB and the microUSB plug exist in a state of "Superposition" and the end must be physically observed at in order to "set" just what state the plug will be. That is why it always works on the 3rd try.
Little know fact: USB plugs in the 3rd position will try to plug into Ethernet ports by default.
Glad we've upgraded...
On the other hand, all of our smartphones now have micro-USB, so the 30-pin Apple connector isn't needed any more, so there is one charger in the kitchen and one cable in the car, not 2... Less tangled cables.
At work, on the other hand, I have one microUSB cable for all of the Android and Windows Phone devices we test, then a 30 pin Apple connector and a Lightning connector for the iOS devices...
I don't care if they scrap microUSB in the future and replace it with type C or Lightning, I want a single connector for all devices.
What makes them shitty?
I just did an informal poll of $house $devices, Samsung S4, Motorola Razr XT912, BlackBerry Storm 2, Samsung Stratosphere, four generations of Kindles (orig, 2012, HD, HDX), Acer A500. Everything except the Acer uses the micro USB, small side up. All 4.6-5 volts, except for the two extra-special-super-duper-$20-actually-nice 9.6 volt Amazon Fire quickchargers. Looking at the micro-usb, the small side 9-10 times has the USB icon (except for my fastboot USB cable, scorpion on that one ;)
It's much better than it used to be, I swear there were no feature phones back in the late 90's/early 00's that didn't have a oddball power connector.
Micro-USB is a shit solution, a failed experiment that hardware evolution should have taken care of by now. That politicians are artificially prolonging its lifespan annoys the hell out of me.
[ lost count of the stupid wobbly intermittent or plain broken microUSB sockets I've had to deal with ]
I as a consumer would prefer to retain a data cable for my devices. I hate the headaches that come with wireless connections.
The Micro-USB connector was designed by Nokia and is the flimsiest piece of garbage imaginable, being much less robust in practice than the Mini-USB connector it replaced. Interestingly, the USB-IF is now working on a Lightning-inspired replacement (in terms of mechanical design, not necessarily the dynamic pin assignment or DRM).
> the flimsiest piece of garbage imaginable, being much less robust in practice than the Mini-USB
I've never managed to break any of mine, but I guess it may happen. That said, Micro USB is rated for 10 000 insertion cycles, while Mini USB was rated for 5000 insertion cycles.
Well intended but flawed desiscion.
Micro USB is flimsy. I buy about one per month as the plugs are a easily damaged such that getting only intermittent contact with normal wear and tear ( for me ) after 3 or 4 weeks on the road.
Getting it in in the dark is not always easy if you know what I mean !
2 years? It's an decade in internet time. something else will be along anyhow.
Apples lightening connector seems to be better engineered in every regard, although not sure on the first point as I have only just switched back to Apples universe after a couple of years using a Samsung.
I will raise you one, since I'm using a Nokia N85 cable, which was already microUSB, not the more popular N95 which charged on a round pin and used USB just for communication, in the world largest WTF.
Good thing that my dad bought the car charger with it, and today my Samsung(s) get charged even before I get home...
On second thought, very few things are not microUSB, and even when they aren't, they are mini-USB instead, (like my Tom Tom GPS), which is nearly just as ubiquitous, or have the full USB cable shipped with them, which is the mother of ubiquity.
Now I need some universal solution like that to unjam the traffic around here...
How manay time do you use your connector and break it ?
I use one at work which has a t end with micro and mini. I plug and unplug at least 3 times per day 5 days a week and have for almost 3 years since I got my S2. Everyone who knows me says I am clumsy as godzilla in downtown tokyo. So if I havnt broke it I hate to think what you are doing.
Micro USB is flimsy. I buy about one per month as the plugs are a easily damaged such that getting only intermittent contact with normal wear and tear ( for me ) after 3 or 4 weeks on the road.
Crikey, what are you doing, using the USB cable to hang the thing off a necklace?
After checking the statistics on the Ingress client, a game I usually play on foot, it seems I have managed to walk for the vast majority of some 350km (217 miles or 2531 Brontosaurus lengths) with a micro USB cable strung between the 36WH battery in one pocket and the Xperia Arc S in the other. Both still work and it's the same lead.
Try not buying your USB cables from Poundland. No really, those cables are a bit shit.
Mandating wireless charging would cost more in electricity wastage (wireless charging is not 100% efficient) than the equivalent environmental cost of manufacturing the plugs, I'd wager.
Mebbe in a few years when materials science catches up with sci-fi (I'd love a wireless charging enabled desk...that doesn't cost £100's) in which case bring it on - and include other devices in there too (laptops, tablets, electric car batteries ;-) ) etc.
Steven R
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