UN sets universal standard for cell-phone chargers

This is interesting. If the chargers need to be 3 times more efficient, then doubtless they will be more expensive to make.

On the other hand, the huge increase in the volume for production of these chargers will drive down costs.

How much more expensive will these licensed chargers be, and how much of that increase will be fictitious?

Still, do you have any idea how much money I would pay to be able to charge my sister's phone with my charger?

Thank them thank them thank them. Finally one cord. I have so many cords and you can't use them for anything. What a waste.

Rose

It never should have even come to this, this should have been done long ago. When the cell phone boom happened the consumers should have banded together and insisted on a universal charger for all small electronic devices. It sickens me to see big business run away with our dollars for something that common sense tells us is wrong. Its shows that there is no one in washington that represents my interests, they only care about satisfying the wallets of big business.

Actually this was announced by the GSM Association and major phone manufacturers in Feb (the good news). Bad news, it's voluntary, and the implementation plan is not until 2012.

Unfortunately, there is probably so much money to be made by forcing customers into buying new/different chargers that I suspect the manufacturers will be slow to adapt.

This is great, now if they would have made it mandatory then I might see it in my lifetime. Since its not mandatory, anyone who isn't doing it already won't start.

I'm sorry, but they did try..Wireless charging is here and as soon as the price goes down, its the next best thing. Its a shame that every time a governmental thought comes about, they're still behind the curb. They need to set the stanard, and not be behind it....what a waste...

Well, I think a wired charger that is efficient that is used by all the phone, ipods, cameras and such would be a good approach.

I don't like the wireless mutual inductance method. It is inefficient especially if the paid to charge them on is large to accommodate more than one item. The efficiency can't be any higher than the ratio of the smallest area (device most likely) to that of the larger area (the pad most likely). Though the magnetic field is most likely small the field will heat up any metal nearby through the either induced eddy current or magnetic hysteresis. It will impose a voltage on ground loops in houses or businesses affecting sensitive measurement devices if there are any.

So I don't like the idea or wireless mutual inductance for charging cell phones for the above reasons and I don't think it will be much more convenient to boot.

Micro-USB for this standard? Great- many people probably already have at least one charger that uses this. Many people leave their chargers plugged in (sucking leakage current) even when not charging. Using a common charger, people would only need one charger instead of many. Better to unplug it when not in use, but most people are too lazy.

The charger may be 3 times more efficient now, but when an even more efficient set of chargers come to market you will have the same mess you have now. Besides that, I agree with the collegue when he said that everything will eventually charge wirelessly anyways so this is pretty much moot.

Don't fall for the wireless charger scam. You still need to buy a "sleeve" for each device to use it. When you change devices, you need a new sleeve, even if they use the same plug (sleeves match the shape of the device). This does not cut down on waste, and it takes more energy to charge than using a standard charger.

Why is the focus on cell phones anyway? There are plenty of other devices that use transformers. Many that take much more power , even while turned off. For instance your Stereo receiver, TV, computer, Wireless router, Cable Box, Satellite Receiver, etc.

Go feel your stereo receiver when you wake up. It will still be warm, which means it's been consuming power all night long. That's the price you must pay to have a remote control. The device need to be powered up to receive a signal from the remote. We could save a lot more energy by using physical on/off switches on these devices, and using the remotes only to change channels and volume.

Transformers consume power even if the device isn't turned on. The bigger the transformer, the more power it consumes at idle. Cell phone chargers have very small transformers, and are just a small drop in the bucket.

But kudos on making a standard plug, which should reduce cost since they won't include a charger anymore.

Finally, my new moto's have that connector, ahead of the game for once.

A good portion of Cell phones, PDA's, smart phones, digital cameras, bluetooth headsets, GPS, and so many other devices already use the Mini-USB style plug. So why is it that they decided to make the Micro-USB the standard?

A lot of the devices I buy I look for the Mini-USB and Im already using the same wall charger for at least 4 different devices. Now I will have to have a Micro-USB wall charger to coincide with my Mini-USB until all my Mini devices need to be replaced.

Would have made more sense to standardize the Mini-USB.

Makes sense to me. I more often replace my phone because the phone went bad than because the charger died. Although manufacturers will probably be slow to adopt this, with a universal charger you could buy them separately, and presumably cheaper if all you need is the phone. (And it would reduce the number of chargers being thrown away because the phone died.)

I think it is about time. I had heard something about the micro-USB becoming a standard in Korea about a year ago. It is really too bad that this is more a suggestion than anything else. Samsung and Nokia will have to find more ways to make extra money on accessories.

Annoying that they had to choose micro-usb, and not the very widely used mini-usb.

Hmm, we could make the widely used mini-usb the standard, and only a few people would need new cords. Or make something brand new the standard, and everyone will have to buy them one more time!. And we can pretend we're saving the world while we're at it!

Thank God!! I'm tired of having so many cords hanging around. You don't know if you should save them, return them to the mobile phone stores or throw them away. The cords I have never fit any of the new phones I get, or course not, they make you buy a new one to fit the new phone!

This is 2009 and we're almost as backward as we were when the light bulb came into use. Each manufacturer had a different size base which was stupid. Now we have wires coming out of our ears that are of no use when we change phone manufacturers. It should be mandatory. No one likes change unless it's their idea. Smarten up and do it right for a change.

That makes sense, I can not imagine if we have different connectors for our microwave, toaster, blender etc etc. the kitchen would look like a jungle of wires.

this is a very good idea, but it should also be expanded to automobiles, do away with the cigar lighter and install a single or double port as is found in some products, mount them in front on the dash and in back on the center console

The charger thing got way out of hand with proprietary junk over the years. Could you imagine if wall plugs were as random and rapidly-changing as mobile phone cords? We would have never gotten past the 1920's. Standardize it. Phone companies should be making their money on real technology and services, not unique cord ends.

e-man,

I think you are missing the point .. I know I replace my cell phone every other year or less .. most of us do, we don't replace our Stereo receiver, TV, computer, Wireless router, Cable Box, Satellite Receiver, etc. in this time frame .. the amount of emissions to make these chargers just for them to hit the landfill in 2 yers is amazing.. Sure seeing universal power for other electronic devices is a great concept .. but the cell phone really needs to be addressed.. We all know it is a scam from the cell phone makers since the profit margines on cell phones themselfs is very small, accessories like chargers is where they get us..

Charge me $5-10 more for my cell phone, please make the charger universal for all my cell phones ..

E.L.

as an IT professional i support a standard. as it is, in my world at the moment, i carry around a small canvas tool bag to cary all my different cables / changers. please help us.

It is a good idea to standardize the plug. As for wireless charging, that's another term for brain cancer risk. It's a dead-end in the long run. You want to be walking through microwave fields around the office, and inductance gradients? Just because you can get something to work, doesn't mean you should. Remember this: Agent Orange worked great at defoliation.

While they're at it, how about a new standard for those gawd-awful 12-V car chargers that are still being designed to be compatible with 'cigarette lighters'. I suspect these outlets are used as power sources over cigarette lighters by a ratio of 10-to-1 these days. And if we need several power sources we have to carry around a bulky 'octopus'. Depending on how much current is required, why can we have a small new socket and plug similar to a headphone, or firewire, or USB connection - just different enough to avoid confusion.

Stop the UN! This is how it starts. First they tell us what cell phone chargers we must use. Then they enslave us. Wake up people! Where are the Tea Baggers when we need them.

Ooopsie. I meant, of course, "Why ** can't ** we have a small new socket and plug... ?"

I just bought a new phone, which I love.

I noticed, however, that they chose to make the charger just like a micro-usb, but with a little "cut" taken out of the corner. Just enough of a change that you have to buy a new charger for your car at $30+ and add the old cell phone charger to the drawer of unidentifiable plugs, cords, and whatnot that we all have.

Surely it would have been easier to create a micro-usb connector. afterall, they already exist in the world... but noooo, they have to make a new shape. Pretty soon, our cell phone chargers are going to look like lucky charms – "honey, have you seen the cell charger with the moon shape?"

i own small electronics store and i sell more than 30 different models and there are much more is a great idea.

It would not phase me one way or another if manufactures used a standard connector as I can already order individual connectors and bulk cable for making my own chargers. It's also easier to just cut the cord and wire it to a much larger capacity (same voltage) power supply and throw the factory charger in the trash.

The only people I can really seeing this affect is parents with kids who have a lot of different portable electronics. My son has countless devices which operate at different charging voltages. Nintendo Inc. is one of the worst – EVERY device they have manufactured comes with a different style connector.

Induction charging seems like a fun idea, but who wants to add a bulky device to the back of their toys or cell phones? I certainly don't.

Why do you have a box full of chargers if you don't have the device anymore? Throw it in the trash already!

It certainly is a common sense solution.

And as long as there are adapters for all existing cellphone brands it shouldn't be hard to transition from the current system to universal.
Not to mention having both options (universal and wireless) for charging devices will help reduce a lot of headaches and waste in the future.

But the UN can't do it all alone, we (all of us) as costumers need to support this effort in whichever way we can to encourage our prefered cellphone brands to adopt this standard.

Once there's a standard for the charger (micro USB, in this case) it's easy to just get a little adapter for your particular phone. On my desk at the moment, I have ... let me see ... my phone (incredibly tiny little coaxial connector), a handsfree speaker and a Bluetooth handset that looks like a Western Electric model 300 handset (mini-USB), a handsfree earpiece (Motorola connector), my MP3 player (proprietary thingie), and my GameBoy (different proprietary thingie). Oh, and a micro-USB connector that goes to something or other. Six different connectors for seven devices. Enough is enough.

Ya'll missing the point here but that's why I jumped in...I'm all about the big picture. Sure they can make all the plugs the same, fine and dandy. It will probably be Sony OR Motorola that will produce a companion BATTERY that will only charge with THEIR brand charger. Yup, save the world alright, wish they meant it.

Its a fairly good idea, but if it becomes mandatory, then thats socialism at work. Hey, maybe they will tell you what to buy next at whatever price they set

its about time, having said that its time for laptop chargers to go to usb connections format.

A universal standard for cell phone chargers is way overdue, and if some telephone companies decide not to adopt the new standard because it is not mandatory, then they will surely notice a downward trend in their business. However, since consumers really like this new standard on so many levels, I have the sneaking suspicion that they will end up conforming with the standard as well.

it's about time some standard came out, I've kept every cord I have ever been given, despite the device no longer working, would love to revive a long loved device.

If it were that simple,
then this may too
sign salt into your wounds
as if, I who also share
of your rare genius fruit,
let it wither,
to die on the vine.
von

I had a phone with a micro-USB charger, about the most fragile connector I've ever seen for charging anything. Happily back to mini-USB now, don't think I'd ever consider buying any device with a micro-USB charger again.

I've already implemented my own standardization campaign, and now all my devices must use the mini-USB connector. That's all I buy. If a cell phone or GPS doesn't use it, I cross it off my potential buy list. Simple. It's by far the best choice (the micro-USB is too small). Everyone do it, and my de facto standard will take over in a year or two. Consumer power is unstoppable.

Matt said: They need to set the stanard, and not be behind it....what a waste...

governments do not innovate – that's not their job nor something of which they are the least bit capable. Industry innovates – the sooner we learn that govt is not our panacea, the better off we'll all be.

Govt makes laws, provides security, and builds roads. Anything beyond that and they govt is beyond the scope of work as well as outside of their skill set. Far too many people think that the govt can solve all their problems and it's just not realistic.

For those asking why Micro USB vs Mini USB, check into the plug-unplug fail ratio. basically Micro USB lets you plug something in approximatly 20 times more often before the plug does not work anymore. and if you plan on using your cord for 5+ years you are going to need to be able to do that.

Let's be a bit smarter and break the charger into two pieces. We can have the part with the electronics and the actual cable. The end of the cable plugs into the charger has a USB connector and then each manufacturer just has to produce a cable from USB to their device. That way no hardware needs to change.

Every desktop computer has used the same style of plug for the last 20+ years, and new ones still come with replacement plugs. If you think a standard is going to stop ewaste....keep dreaming.

It never should have even come to this, this should have been done long ago. When the cell phone boom happened the consumers should have banded together and insisted on a universal charger for all small electronic devices. It sickens me to see big business run away with our dollars for something that common sense tells us is wrong. Its shows that there is no one in washington that represents my interests, they only care about satisfying the wallets of big business.

It's about time!..mini usb all the way!

The UN, at their Copenhagen COP15 climate treaty website, does not even mention the Gordian Knot of cellphone charger cords. - Therefore, not to worry, just a personal inconvenience and extra expense, not a climate driver to global habitat destruction

When an ice bear strangles itself with a cellphone charger cord;
We will see it all over the news networks,

By the time this takes to be implemented- meaning standerdization of charger plugs- tech advances will be so dramatic that this will all be obsolite. I am predicting cell phones that will either charge by shaking(body movement) or charge by body heat or other heat sorce. Cell phone teck advances will make them so small that they could be woren as a watch. Eventually every body will be implanted with a cell phone device with a gps locator. This sould be compulsary much as licence plates on a car . Just think of the implications of knowing where every body is-not just for tracking criminals but for finding lost children or adults. The device could also unlock homes or start cars or there equivalent in the future. Devices such as these are allready implanted in moose to stop illigal poaching. When the divice detects that the animal is cold (dead) it signals and a gps locator signals the game warden.

Last I checked the UN does not have any real power to direct that. They can make a suggestion, but cannot mandate it.

UN wants to be top dog, not only in binding international climate control

I doubt companies will be tripping over their feet to put this out. Go buy one charger for your home and one for the car (or an adapter so there is only one cord). Great idea, and if the phone companies wanted to, there would have been a standard years ago. Too bad the accessories bring in a nice bit of change. Yea they make their money on the plans, but any time you get a new phone you have to buy $50 worth of cables to charge it at home and in your car. It probably costs under $1 to make each cable (and that is probably WAY high for most estimates). New Phone, OK, in addition to your plan, we just made another $30 on you today, thanks for shopping.

The universal charger is great idea - and very overdue.

The UN does a lot of this kind of useful standardization work, but not enough people know about it . Mike who wrote a few minutes ago is right - the UN does not have power to insist on these kinds of things, but there's a lot of voluntary compliance with its standards in telecoms (and many other fields, like aviation), so it works anyway. That's because the standards are well thought-out , with worldwide participation; and they make sense.

As for the paranoid comment from "Itsall Aplot" about the UN supposedly taking over everything - well, for my money the UN makes a million per cent more sense than those crazies, any day.

It doesn't matter what the UN wants, if they can't keep nuclear inspectors in Iran, how in the world are they going to tell the device manufacturers what to do?

Cell phone manufacturers have an ENORMOUS incentive to make chargers that only work with their own phones – remember they practically give away the phones, and make their money on the coverage plans, and on extras like a $40 charger (that would cost $9 for anything else).

Devices like Blackberry that already use micro-USB are way ahead of the curve, and you can find a USB cable laying around just about anywhere, so it sure would be nice if the other companies would get on board. But don't hold your breath – that beep you hear means your batteries are running low....

I wonder where poor Walter gets his "information" from - Fox "News' maybe ??. The UN does in fact have its nuclear inspectors in iran, and has had for years.

All of which is, of course irrelevant to the matter of battery chargers. The UN-standardized ones will get adopted, via market forces - just the way other UN standards get adopted. As soon as one manufacturer supplies and supports the universal micro-USB charger, customers will want it and it will become a source of competitive advantage - whereupon other manufacturers will surely follow.

For those praising wireless reloadable devices,I hope those come with a common global standard, otherwise you have another mess that will be dealt with 10 years too late again (doesnt look like I can place my mobile on the reload pad for my wireless electric toothbrush).

I hope some manufactorers use micro USB for other small electric devices as well (toys for example).

Don't they have something better to do.

Being in the tech field for nearly 30 years, this has always been a pet peeve of mine. However, what most dont realize is that all the various components have different operating voltages to power and charge them. So, in order to reduce potential warranty claims from "breakage" if someone yoyo (or your mother) were to plug the wrong charger/power supply, manufacturers used various types of connectors. The cell phone industry should have done this long ago as there is a minimal difference in their power consumption. And, yes it was done for profit.

I actually proposed this idea to Google's 10 to the 10th promotion last year. 2010 estimates for cell phone production globally is 1 billion.

Now what about laptop chargers 180 -200 million of these with the equivalent of 6 cell phone batteries per machine.

Dear all,

Regarding the small but consistent power consumption by either a disconnected charger's "leakage" or various larger devices with critical circuts alive to sense a remote.

Is there no technology that can mitigate both of these issues?

I for one – might pay a bit extra for an improved technology.

Thanks