[LINK] Micro-USB Mobile Phone Charging Standard Announced

[Kim Holburn]

How long did it take for companies to get this?  Is it the  
environmental/recycling laws?

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8996

> Micro-USB Mobile Phone Charging Standard Announced
> Jason Mick (Blog) - September 22, 2007 1:35 PM
>
> The ZX Series of Micro-USB connectors by Hirose provide a good idea  
> of how the standard looks.  (Source: Hirose)
> Relief from the tangled mess that is the cell phone charger market  
> today is finally in sight
>
> Last week a group of power players in the mobile phone  
> manufacturing industry gathered to discuss the future of phone  
> charging and data exchange.  The Open Mobile Terminal Platform  
> boasted such manufacturing leaders as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola,  
> Sony Ericsson and LG.
>
> The decision they reached in this meeting will have a significant  
> effect on cell phone users worldwide.
>
> The companies reached an agreement to put an end to the mess of  
> incompatible proprietary power connectors that has plagued the cell  
> phone industry for years.  The companies agreed to adopt a new USB  
> standard called Micro-USB: a shrunk-down portable version of the  
> USB 2.0 standard.
>
> Micro-USB is smaller and thinner than Mini-USB which many cell  
> phones currently support.  The standard was develop early this year  
> and introduced by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the group  
> responsible for new USB standards.
>
> Market analysts state that the chief negative impact of this  
> decision will mainly effect the cell phone manufacturers who agreed  
> to it--possible decreased accessory sales, which have typically be  
> boosted by manufacturers utilizing incompatible proprietary  
> chargers and connectors.  With the new standard, consumers will no  
> longer have to purchase a new charger if they simply get a phone by  
> a different maker.  They will be able to use their old charger with  
> their new phone, until a new standard is adopted.
>
> Companies do stand to gain, though, because they will no longer  
> have to pay for part of the user disposal and recycling fees for  
> chargers as certain environmental laws worldwide have forced them  
> to do in the past.  New phones will be compatible will old  
> chargers, so consumers can keep them.  The European Union's WEEE  
> directive had forced cell phone manufacturers to pay part of these  
> costs.
>
> Another financial benefit for the cell phone companies is that they  
> won't have to include a charger with phones they sell, possibly  
> cutting a major cost.  This will in turn allow for smaller, lighter  
> phone boxes, which will cost less to ship and store.
>
> To give an idea of the average specs of a Micro-USB connection,  
> Hirose, a major manufacture provides the following the following  
> information on their ZX series Micro-USB design:
>
>     Durability of 10, 000 cycles (mating/un-mating), extraction  
> force of 8N (initial and after cycling), contact resistance of 30m  
> Ohms (initial, 10m Ohms rise max. after cycling) is only an example  
> of the ZX connector performance levels.
>
> The biggest winner in this long coming development is the consumer,  
> who will no longer have to worry about proprietary connectors and  
> will be free to use old connectors or their friends connectors.
>
> The move won't change anything overnight, as it will likely be  
> first implemented in next year's cell phone designs.  However, the  
> decision to commit to an industry wide adoption of a compatible  
> Micro-USB standard promises to eventually fundamentally change a  
> major aspect of the cell phone industry.

--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
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Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961