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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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European MEPs Back Single Charger Standard
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I'm not a robot like you. I don't like having disks crammed into me... unless they're Oreos, and then only in the mouth.
-- Fry
(Score: 3, Insightful) by umafuckitt on Saturday March 15 2014, @01:49PM
I think we're already close to a standard. Many devices nowadays have USB A wall chargers and a cable with mini-USB, micro-USB, or some Apple connector at the other end. We're already almost at the point where we can agree on the charger unit and only need to ship products with device-specific cables. The input port at the device may change, but adaptors can solve this. Heck, even Apple even make a tiny micro-USB to Lightening adaptor. If there is widespread adoption of a future symmetrical mini-USB that is more robust than the current micro-USB, then I reckon such an adaptor could stick around for a good while.
As a side note, I bought a USB A to Nintendo 3DS cable a while ago. This way I can travel with one or two USB A wall adaptors and charge any device but my laptop.