Late last week, Deutsche Welle reported that the European Commission has formally approved a policy that will require nearly all smartphones and simpler data-enabled phones to adopt a standard micro-USB charging connector as of January 2011. The policy is a formalization of an agreement signed by ten top mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple, last year.
The industry agreed that the new charger will be for all smartphones and all “data-enabled” phones – and will use a micro-USB connector. The new universal chargers will not cover older mobile phones.
[I]t is unclear how Apple plans to comply with the standard, given its proprietary 30-pin connector compatible with all existing iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch models, as well as certain other iPod models and a host of accessories.
I wasn’t under the impression that the agreement required the connector on the phone itself to conform to the micro-USB standard. But I may be wrong.
At its core the idea behind the legislation is a great thing. But the devil, as always, is in the details. If it is anything like the EU’s effort to standardise roaming text charges for European mobile phone subscribers, then don’t expect great things.
In any case Apple is heading towards wireless and contact-less syncing these days.