17 of the largest manufacturers of mobile phones and mobile operators with the support of GSM Association, announced their intention to develop a single standard on which there will be a universal charger (universal charging solution, UCS) for mobile phones. The purpose of this initiative is to minimize the power consumption in standby mode, to eliminate more than 50 tons of "extra" charges, and to simplify the life of the owner of a mobile phone.
The adoption of Micro-USB as a common standard has several advantages for users and the industry, the GSM Association (GSMA) said. In particular, it allows manufacturers to stop shipping a new charger with every handset, and it lets buyers avoid the need to have multiple chargers for different devices.
That means the new chargers will be up to three times more energy-efficient than an unrated charger, and exceed the requirements of both European Commission efficiency codes for power supplies and the US Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star V.
The single charger will be able to power up future handsets and should allow consumers to charge their phones almost anywhere - even overseas.
The companies who have signed up to the universal charger commitment are: the 3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone.
Noticeable, and to our minds rather shameful absences, from the agreement include Apple, RIM, Palm and HTC. Come on, guys, if Nokia can make it work across its huge platform of handsets.
