A day that most mobile phone users have always dreamed of looks to finally be coming true: universal chargers are on the way.
You would be hard pressed to find an owner of a mobile phone who hasn’t at least once wished that all models of phones could use the same charger. If you lost yours, and then had to hunt down just the right style, you realized what a huge pain having all of these different models truly was. And the worst was if you were trying to use an older phone and your charger had been discontinued. Luckily it looks like those days may finally be going away.
According to the Guradian, it was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain that manufacturers have agreed to the new universal charger, based on the micro-USB standards BlackBerry users are already accustomed to on the Bold model, will begin appearing by the end of 2009, and will be widely adopted by 2012. The new chargers will also feature a 50% reduction in standby power consumption. Both benefits are part of the mobile phone industries efforts to improve their standings as being more green friendly as the business has always been seen as one of the least eco-friendly out there.
This is a development that has long been needed in the marketplace, and one I couldn’t be more excited about. Having been a mobile phone user since the early 1990’s, I have had more chargers than I can remember, and I have always though there needed to a universal standard. I honestly didn’t think we would ever see the day as the companies like selling you accessories specific to their phones, but it looks like consumer demand will finally win out. The micro-USB format also makes the most sense as it will also give you easy syncing capabilities with your computer.
The phone I will be surprised to see this on will be the iPhone; due to its physically slim nature, it will be difficult to put the micro-USB port into it. It would also be surprising if Apple would want to move away from their connection that they use on all the iPods. I may be wrong about this, but I would be genuinely shocked if they joined in this movement.
Anyway you slive this, this move is a win for consumers and the environment.
