or switch to a 'standard' connector?
I thought that the EU had a rule about proprietary phone connectors now? mini & micro USB would be easier to deal with, no?
Apple has filed a patent application for a gadget dock that conforms to the shape and size of whatever you plop upon it. The filing, self-confidently entitled "Aesthetically pleasing universal dock," describes a desktop charging and connectivity adapter that's constructed in such a way as to modify its grip to accommodate …
All apple iPodWhatevers use the same connector, but have a different foot print. Changind the connector to fix this problem would just mean that you have more devices that don't fit into the one stand properly and would therefore need even more of those easily losable little plastic bits.
A combination of the two (standard connector /and/ morphing adapter) might be a nice idea.
I believe that the article is about a holder to take the weight of the device, not to actually connect to it. Presumably a micro USB socket cannot reasonably support the weight of a device without breaking after the 100th plug/unplug.
Personally I employ a small trained monkey to bear the weight of my mobile devices.
Apple's dock connector does a lot more than just charge and transfer data. It also transfers audio, control signals from remotes (e.g. on car steering wheels), video, and a few other things if I'm not mistaken. Apple's best bet for complying with that particular law is probably to put a mini USB port on the bottom *as well* as the dock connector.
"""It also transfers audio, control signals from remotes (e.g. on car steering wheels), video, and a few other things if I'm not mistaken. """
What's to stop them sending all of that data over usb, like everyone else?
"""Apple's dock connector does a lot more than just charge and transfer data."""
Ah, right, so video, audio, and control signals aren't data! Silly me!
There was never a /rule/ about connectors. The phone companies got together and finally decided to agree on a universal connector rather than spread the abundance of different connectors where even two phones by the same company didn't have the same connector (e.g. Samsung U600 & U900). There's nothing stopping Apple adopting the same standard, although it would make a mess of the iPod add-on market which has largely relied on the connector for iPods being fairly static.
Motorola have a head start on this, my work phone charges up over a standard USB connector which is the same cable that Nikon ship with their SLRs; saved me a load of hassle when I forgot to bring the cable home...
My phone, BT headphones and several other devices now all charge (or trickle charge) from USB. If someone could just convince Cowon that they don't need to have stupid proprietary connectors on their otherwise excellent devices, I'd only have to carry one cable for anything, ever!
I seem to recall that the Chinese government made their preference for a single connector known, and the EU were making noises about the issue too.
So while there may not have been regulations actually put in place, the device manufacturers were nudged in the right direction.
Let's assume Apple get this patent awarded. It has to be the easiest one ever to exploit without fear of legal action - if I design a "universal dock" which works in exactly the same way but is styled to be brute ugly Apple can't touch me. After all, their patent is for an "aesthetically pleasing" one!
So this patent application doesn't actually propose a solution to a specific problem, it just offers some general "wouldn't it be cool if" type, non-specific handwaving?
Most of the readers of the Reg are "skilled in the art" of non-specific hand-waving, and this is pretty obvious to them, so until Apple actually make a working model, they should be told to bugger off.