Micro USB for all Phones

I have my house and vehicles all wired up with USB hubs that allow me to charge all my mobile devices. Having a mini USB connector has now become a major purchasing criteria for all my new mobile devices. So why am I telling you this? Well I though this was one of those quirky personal things but according to the following announcement it appears that I am not alone in my desire for standardized power connectors on mobile phones:

Mobiles to have same charging socket   [ Barcelona | Reuters News Service, 19 Feb 2009 ]

Key mobile phone industry players have agreed to fit phones with the same power socket by 2012, industry group GSMA said on Tuesday. It said handsets would have a micro USB interface, already used to transfer pictures from digital cameras to a computer.The initial group of companies that have signed for the change include Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.Operators such as AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, T-Mobile and Vodafone are also part of the initiative.The GSMA said that eventually it expected mobile phones to ship without a charging plug and cable because everybody would have one. This should also lead to less waste and could yield energy savings because the agreement calls for chargers to meet efficiency targets, the group said.

The pessimist in me wants to bet that they will probably somewhere in the standardization process decide on some new connector with some new patented royalty producing technical specification but I have decided to instead look forward 2012 and the day I wont need to check the connector when making mobile device purchases.

In the mean time I will evangelize the benefits of USB as the universal power connector and perhaps the sheer weight of market forces will accelerate the adoption of this standard.

<Gary>