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Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

europarl.europa.eu

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Re: Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

#11

Post by yaakov34 »

deletes wrote: post #2

I have almost immediately remembered this: http://xkcd.com/927/

I remember that too, but I don't think that's how it will go down in this case. A mandatory EU standard has such tremendous weight that it will force a huge share of the market to comply. If the standard is actually any good, there will be no point in not complying with it in other markets. There is already a semi-mandatory EU requirement for micro-USB chargers which has reduced the number of cables that I need. If they standardize on the Lightning-like reversible next-generation USB (which is close to standardization, and looks good), then that's going to be the next universal connector.

Re: Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

#12

Post by salient »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #5

It's not exactly clear but I assume this means they'll have to provide some sort of converter to Micro USB or whatever? It's a great idea to have a common connector, but Apple aren't going to use the same as everyone else and everyone else seems to be compatible now anyway. It looks like the end result might just be iOS stuff costs a bit more and governments get some more tax money from a ridiculously marked up conve…

I think that already existed for years, and Apple is pretty much the only one in Europe who offers an adapter for their charger, while everyone else uses micro-USB.

So I may be wrong, but I think this is about actually forcing Apple to provide micro-USB directly.

Re: Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

#13

Post by coob »

minor_nitwit wrote: post #10
pokesmot wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. It already exists. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD820ZM/A/lightning-to-mic...

Any idea why it would be $20?

The same reason the regular lightning to USB is:

* Because it's an active cable, not just a pin mapping.

* Because they can.

Re: Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

#17

Post by alexcroox »

coob wrote: post #15

Ugh no thanks. Lightning is orders of magnitude superior to other current solutions (except cost). If it came to the point where this was actually enforced, I bet Apple would just pay the fines it receives and just continues to use Lightning.

Agreed, it's smaller, faster and gasp works both ways.

Re: Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

#18

Post by thirdsight »

coob wrote: post #15

Ugh no thanks. Lightning is orders of magnitude superior to other current solutions (except cost). If it came to the point where this was actually enforced, I bet Apple would just pay the fines it receives and just continues to use Lightning.

Just like AirPrint (IPP), AirPlay (DLNA), AirDrop (Bluetooth/OBEX), Facetime etc...

Basically as usual, it's Apple and everyone else.

I'll stick with my USB charger thanks as it is 100% ubiquitous as I will my Internet Printing Protocol, DLNA (which doesn't even require an Apple box to talk to my TV!) and bluetooth that works properly across all devices I've encountered.

Edit to add: I have 3 Lightning iPads in my house (none are mine personally). The male connectors aren't durable - two dead ones so far. I'm not sure about the sockets either which are way more expensive to replace.

Re: Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

#19

Post by wmf »

msvan wrote: post #16

I don't understand this. Are they going to force Apple to use the same charger as everyone else? Is that even possible? The article is unclear.

AFAIK they're forcing Apple to ship an adaptor so that iPhones can charge from standard power supplies.

Re: Common charger for all mobile phones on the way in Europe

#20

Post by SwellJoe »

coob wrote: post #15

Ugh no thanks. Lightning is orders of magnitude superior to other current solutions (except cost). If it came to the point where this was actually enforced, I bet Apple would just pay the fines it receives and just continues to use Lightning.

USB 3.0 is not an order of magnitude inferior to Lightning. As I understand it, the primary reason Lightning was chosen over micro USB was simply that the iPad needs more power than micro USB is specified to provide. That kind of thing can be resolved in the two years we have before this has to go into effect.

I'm always on the side of standard connections. Which is one of several reasons I never choose Apple products. Having it imposed by law feels vaguely wrong, but Apple's behavior (on this front, and several others) also feels vaguely wrong to me.

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