Mobile Phone Charger Standardization; Good for the Consumer and Environment

Europe is blazing the trail trying to eliminate the dearth of incompatible chargers which eventually end up in landfills by cajoling the top 10 mobile device manufacturers (Nokia, RIM, Apple, Motorola, Sony Ericson, Samsung, etc) into adopting the Micro USB plug as the standard charger interface to smartphones. Most of today's smartphones use the Mini USB plug as the charging and data interface so why did they choose Micro USB.

• Size; because the Micro USB connector is smaller is offers manufacturers more options as devices get smaller and/or thinner.
• Durability; interesting enough the Micro USB connector can withstand 10,000 cycles of insertion and removal compared to 500 for Mini USB connector (Wikipedia). I can vouch for that having experience connector failure on multiple devices with Mini USB connectors.

Another benefit to manufacturer will be the cost savings of not having to include a charger with the device.

Some of the USB connectors from left to right; Micro B plug (Micro USB), Mini B plug (Mini USB), Type B plug, Type A receptacle, and Type A plug.

What will manufacturers with proprietary connectors like Apple's 30 pin dock connectors do? My sense is that they will provide an adapter, since like Apple most manufacturers want to keep control of accessories.

I have used single charger solution from iGo (laptops and mobile devices) and Gomadic (mobile devices) for a while and have been very happy to just purchase replaceable tips every time I acquire a new device with a different charging connector. The iGo is the most versatile using a power brick to charge my laptop and mobile device using AC, DC (car), or aircraft power. The Gomadic's wall charger and DC car adapters are smaller to travel with if you are only taking your mobile devices. Overtime this standardization could spell doom for these vendors, however I think we are a ways away from that…

Source: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090629/tc_nm/us_telecom_eu_mobile