Universal charger for mobiles announced

MWC 2009: GSMA and 17 companies team-up for micro-USB charging for all phones

Universal charger for mobiles announced
View more images

17 February 2009 10:34 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

The GSM Association and 17 mobile operators and manufacturers have announced that they are committed to creating an industry-wide standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones.

The aim of the GSMA-led initiative is to see that the mobile industry adopts a common format for energy efficient mobile phone charger connections.

By 2012 the group wants to see a universal charging solution (or UCS) widely available in the market worldwide that will use micro-USB as the common universal charging interface.

By that deadline, the "majority" of all new mobile phone models available should be able to support a universal charging connector and the "majority" of chargers shipped should meet efficiency targets.

Claiming that a universal charger will make life "much simpler" for the consumer, it would mean consumers could use the same charger for future handsets, as well as being able to charge their mobile phone anywhere from any available charger.

The initial group of companies who have joined the GSMA's UCS initiative include 3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

Full tags
Phones, Phone accessories, Chargers, GSMA, UCS, MWC2009, AT and T, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, 3
UK Shopping
mobiles.co.uk, three.co.uk, carphonewarehouse.co.uk, Nokia.co.uk, o2.co.uk, orange.co.uk, phones4u.co.uk, t-mobile.co.uk, vodafone.co.uk, ebay.co.uk
US Shopping
bestbuy.com, ebay.com

share Subscribe to RSS feeds email story save story print story pdf

Comments

  • mini-USB thats all I'm saying Posted by Adrian, UK
  • The 'Majority' is the danger word here. It would be great if all mobile companies gave out universal adaptors in the meantime. I am sure it could cut the charger need by more than 50%. I have 3 phones at home each requiring a different charger. With a universal one, I could do with just one or maybe 2. Posted by Ramesh, UK
  • bout fooking time is all im saying. Posted by Chris Jenkins, UK
  • Micro-USB, not mini. There's a difference Posted by Sean White, UK
  • I bought this wonderful little cable made by motorola from www.fommy.co.uk which converts the mini usb charging tip to micro usb....so now can use existing mini charger to charge my older devices and micro charger to charger the newer devices...hoorah! Posted by A Smith, UK
  • They are already selling websites on the subject for big bucks.. I saw on one blog a UK website name just sold for twenty grand... madness.... this will though be huge business for some lucky people once these things are made... certainly good for the enviroment Posted by Gregg, UK

(Will not be published)

  (Next time sign in to bypass captcha)

Latest in Phones

Latest on Pocket-lint.com

About Pocket-lint

Pocket-lint is your one stop shop for gadgets, technology and consumer electronics, bringing you the low-down on the latest televisions, cameras, phones, GPS and much more. Whether it's learning about what's hot in the world of Apple, finding out about the latest home cinema kit from Samsung and Sony or merely seeing what not to buy, we have you covered. So check out our reviews, news, comment, hands-on photo galleries and videos. Enjoy.

Pocket-lint.com poll

Q. Do you still buy CDs?

Vote YES Vote NO

» LAST TIME
When asked Do you want the Droid by Motorola? 53% said yes and 47% said no

Top 10 Broadband

Compare 50+
broadband packages

Home Broadband »

Top products

tip us on news

reviews hub

Rss feed

Follow us on Twitter