Universal charger for phones
The world's biggest mobile phone makers and network operators have backed plans to create a universal phone recharger.
Most manufacturers now produce chargers which work only with their own devices.
The re-charger will consume 50% less stand-by energy than today's cables, the GSM Association (GSMA), an umbrella group for the industry, said.
Firms to back the plan include Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, T-Mobile, Orange, 3, AT&T and Vodafone.
The majority of new handsets will support the re-charger by 2012.
"This is a broad agreement that will move the industry to a single, energy-efficient charger for all mobile phones," said Michael O'Hara, marketing director for the GSMA.
Mobile phone manufacturers will produce a universal charger by 2012
The telephone industry has benefited from the salon Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to announce through the voice of the GSM Association had decided to adopt a universal standard charger to recharge any mobile by three years.
Seventeen players in mobile telephony have already announced they were involved in the creation of this standard called UCS for Universal Charging Solution.
The chosen solution is that of a charger is connected to a telephone type connector micro-USB. Already used by some manufacturers such as Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung, it can deliver a voltage of 5 volts and a power up to 2.5 watts.
"It's a team that now our phones high and mid-range that we will gradually generalize to all our models. The HD Player and the Blue Earth that we present today in Barcelona and will be marketed in March and April in France are equipped, "says a spokesperson for Samsung.
Besides the generalization of the micro-USB connector on the mobile industry will also work to develop a standard compatible charger that will reduce 50% of its power when it has finished to reload the laptop. After the charge, a weak effect continues to consume up to 0.5 watts while it is plugged in, while a well designed model stands at 0.03 watt.
Good news for users and the environment
The advent of this solution should make life a lot easier. Thus, people who have a Nokia, for example using the Samsung phone charger from a friend and vice versa.
The standardization should also be reflected in lower prices. "Today, car chargers are expensive products in small volumes without any real competition. There are chargers cheap generic models for the most sold, but all mobiles are not affected. Standardization will necessarily lower the price of chargers and accessories (charger to cigarette lighter for example), "said Edouard Barreiro, a specialist in information technology to the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir.
The advent of a universal solution is also a very good news for the environment. Millions of chargers are discarded each year because the mobile member is obsolete and conversely, some consumers are sometimes forced to change mobile because they have lost the charger and can find no compatible model.
Manufacturers have folded under pressure from Brussels
Environmental advocates called in vain to create a standard for several years. The situation finally changed under pressure from the European Commission. Friday 13 February 2009, Günter Verheugen, European Commissioner for Industry, explained in an interview with Deutsche Welle radio that his patience was exhausted "regarding the standardization of shippers and that he hoped an initiative quickly the part of manufacturers.
"Brussels has put manufacturers under pressure and they took the lead to avoid the introduction of legislation too restrictive as it was with homelessness," said Edouard Barreiro.
According to Michael O'Hare, marketing director of the GSMA Association, most of the mobile market in 2012 should be compatible with the universal charger. "We are committed to ensuring that two thirds of mobile that we offer our customers in 2012 are provided with universal charger, "says a spokesperson from Orange.
Remains to be seen whether this initiative will inspire other draft standards in the world of high-tech. The MP3 players, game consoles and other mobile equipment with low consumption could theoretically benefit.
For laptops, the maximum power delivered by the micro-USB port (2.5 watts) is however not sufficient, and that industry should agree on a different technology such as Power Over Ethernet for example.
