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European MEPs Back Single Charger Standard

posted by Dopefish on Saturday March 15 2014, @08:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the one-plug-to-rule-them-all dept.
lhsi writes "Members of the European Parliament have backed a regulation for all smartphone devices to use a standardized charger, a Micro USB connector being the favored type (and one that is in use already).

The regulation is still only a draft law and must be approved by Europe's council of ministers. However, that body has already given its informal backing to the law, suggesting it will win final approval.

European member states will have until 2016 to translate the regulation into national laws and manufacturers will then have 12 months to switch to the new design

The reason for this regulation is both to help consumers and to cut down on electronic waste (51,000 tonnes annually)."

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Saturday March 15 2014, @09:30AM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Saturday March 15 2014, @09:30AM (#16836)

    If all phones use the same charger then sooner or later phones will come without charger, because it can be expected that the buyer already has one, and not supplying one allows the seller to cut costs (either increasing the profit margin, or allowing to undercut the charger-supplying competition).

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by etherscythe on Saturday March 15 2014, @12:27PM

    by etherscythe (937) on Saturday March 15 2014, @12:27PM (#16867)

    ...or more specifically, people will already have chargers built into their cars, their notebook power adapter will also have plugs for cellphones, and maybe even bedside lamps will come with this capability. Once the standard is finalized and widely used, it will create opportunities to add features into a wide variety of existing devices we have on hand already. The stand-alone wall-wart will become virtually obsolete.