Universal charger for mobiles announced

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


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, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, AT and T

share print story pdf email story

Recommended articles

Search

Loading

Best iPad 2 apps

We detail the best iPad 2 and iPad apps in the app store Which iPad app should you download?

Windows 8

All the features and details of the new Microsoft operating system explained What's new in Windows 8?

iPad 3 rumours

What comes next? We look at the possible features, leaks, images, specs and more

Pocket-lint poll

Q. Will you be buying a PS Vita?

Vote YES Vote NO

» LAST TIME
When asked Will Samsung be making a mistake if the Galaxy S III isn't shown at Mobile World Congress in February? 51% said yes and 49% said no