Universal Mobile Phone Chargers Coming in 2011, Says European Commission

From eWeek: The European Commission (EC) announced that the first universal mobile phone chargers should arrive in Europe during the first months of 2011.

The chargers, which will charge via micro-USB slots and be interoperable between brands, are result of a June 2009 agreement made by 14 leading mobile phone makers — Apple, Emblaze Mobile, Huawei Technologies, LGE, Motorola Mobility, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Alcatel, Texas Instruments and Atmel. Following the agreement, the EC issued a mandate to the CEN-CENELEC and ETSI — two European standardization groups — requesting the development of European standards for the chargers, and two have since complied.

"I am very happy that the European [standardization bodies] have met our request to develop within a short space of time the technical standards necessary for a common mobile phone charger based on the work done by industry," Antonio Tajani, EC vice-president for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said in a Dec. 29 statement. "Now it is time for industry to show its commitment to sell mobile phones for the new charger. The common charger will make life easier for consumers, reduce waste and benefit businesses. It is a true win-win situation."

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