Apple backs common charger for mobiles

 

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Posted on 30 Jun 2009 at 10:32

Apple is a surprise signatory to an agreement by leading phone and mobile technology makers to harmonise chargers and standardise on the micro-USB connector.

Ten companies have signed the EU’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) and committed to “provide chargers compatibility on the basis of the Micro-USB connector”.

European Commission vice president Günter Verheugen said that first generation of new inter-chargeable mobile phones should reach the EU market from 2010 onwards, though some newer smartphone models, including BlackBerrys from RIM and handsets from HTC, are already using Micro-USB to charge.

"I am very pleased that industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers,” Verheugen said. “They will be able to charge mobile phones anywhere from the new common charger. This also means considerably less electronic waste, because people will no longer have to throw away chargers when buying new phones. I am also very pleased that this solution was found on the basis of self-regulation. As a result, the Commission does not consider it necessary to introduce legislation.”

But it will implement a new EU standard, guaranteeing safe use of new mobile phones as well as avoidance of radio interference problems.

Currently Apple uses its own dock connector for charging and syncing iPhones, and licenses the technology to companies that want to make compatible accessories, such as speaker systems.

Since that seems unlikely to change, it is possible that the company will provide an adapter to allow iPhones to be charged using a standard micro-USB cable, an option that would appear to be permitted by the carefully worded MoU.

The other signatories to the MoU are LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research in Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Texas Instruments.

Author: Simon Aughton