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Universal phone charger given go-ahead

By Reuters

Posted on 23 Oct 2009 at 08:02

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has given its stamp of approval to an energy-efficient universal mobile charger.

The new standard, based on the micro-USB interface, will replace the battery of different chargers on the market today.

"Every mobile phone user will benefit from the new Universal Charging Solution (UCS), which enables the same charger to be used for all future handsets, regardless of make and model," the ITU claims in a statement. "Some manufacturers are already incorporating the UCS in their devices."

The association hopes a universal charger will help reduce waste by cutting down on the number of chargers produced and then thrown away with the purchase of a new handset.

There are already more than 4 billion mobile phone subscriptions around the world.

In June, top mobile phone suppliers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other industry majors agreed to back an EU-wide harmonisation of phone chargers, which means phones compatible with standard charging devices are available in Europe from next year.

The EU estimates unwanted phone accessories account for thousands of tons of waste in Europe each year.

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User comments

Sense at last

Thank goodness. A tiny ray of sanity. I was horrified when my last phone upgrade was hoisted on my by work to find that the Nokia charger had changed. Thankfully I put the SIM card back in the old one and am still using that - the new one is for 5-year old eyes and tiny fingers.

By cats_five on 23 Oct 2009

Wow, a mini-usb charger for the iPhone eh...

LOL

By robgt1 on 23 Oct 2009

Pun

A battery of chargers? Dear oh dear.

At first I found it confusing, "The new standard ... will replace the battery ...", but than I realised it was just a pun. But was it worth it seeing as you confuse people. Think about it Mr Editor.

By peterm2k on 23 Oct 2009

But ...

Watch out for tokenism - the iPhone already charges over USB and I remember reading that Apple is not signed up to fit mini-usb sockets on the iPhone, just to ship an adapter, so still another cable to carry around.

Hopefully other Gadget manufacturers will follow this too - I just bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7. It is great except that Panasonic have gratuitiously used a non-standard USB socket the same size as, but incompatible with, mini-usb. Also the battery does not charge over USB requiring to be removed from the camera and inserted in a special charger - and it is a special battery with predatory pricing for replacements.

You'd think manufacturers would be keen to use these standards since it would allow them to trim costs and achieve a more competitive headline price.

By JohnAHind on 23 Oct 2009

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