Skip to main content

EU Moves Towards a Universal Phone Charger

EU Moves Towards a Universal Phone Charger

The European Commission has announced a new Memorandum of Understanding that will have major mobile phone makers work together to create a universal mobile phone charger based on micro-USB connectors, with the first compatible mobile handsets slated to hit the EU market in 2010. The move is designed not only to make things easier for consumers—who won’t have to hunt around for chargers particular to a specific mobile phone whenever they need to power up—but also eliminate waste, since consumers won’t have to toss out perfectly good chargers whenever they replace or upgrade a phone. The memorandum of understand also means that the EU won’t have to legislate a universal charging solution…assuming the industry can carry the idea on its own from here.

Companies who have signed the memorandum include major industry players Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Texas Instruments. Although the agreement is voluntary at this point, the companies represent about 90 percent of the current EU mobile phone market.

"I am very pleased that industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers," said EC vice president Günter Verheugen, in a statement. "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."

The EC hopes the common charger program can be expanded in the future to cover additional electronic devices like cameras, media players, and notebook computers.

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
4 things Android phones still do better than the iPhone 15
Clockwise from top: natural titanium iPhone 15 Pro, Nothing Phone 2, green iPhone 15, and Obsidian Black Google Pixel Fold.

The Apple iPhone 15 lineup is here, which includes the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The Dynamic Island and USB-C are now available across the lineup, the standard models get a big camera boost to 48MP, the Pros get the new Action button, and the Pro Max even has a fancy new tetraprism telephoto lens for 5x optical zoom.

While all of this sounds impressive, Apple’s iPhone lineup is still behind the competition. Android phones have had some of these features for a while now — and even do some things a lot better.
Faster USB-C charging

Read more
Don’t want the iPhone 15? The latest iPhone SE is $149 today
The Apple iPhone SE (2022) being held in a mans hand.

Apple's iPhone 15 is already out, but if it's too expensive, you may want to consider going for the affordable third-generation Apple iPhone SE. It's currently available from Walmart for a very low price of $149, for savings of $230 on its original price of $379. There's a catch though -- the device is locked to a prepaid plan from Simple Mobile. If you're fine with that, then hurry with your purchase because we're not sure how much time is remaining before one of the cheapest iPhone deals ever expires.

Why you should buy the Apple iPhone SE 2022
The Apple iPhone SE 2022 remains in our roundup of the best iPhones as the top choice for those with tight budgets. It comes with limitations, including a a dated design, poor battery life, and just 64GB of storage, but for its cost, it's an excellent entry point into the iOS ecosystem. The smartphone is powered by Apple's A15 Bionic chip, which is the same processor inside the iPhone 14, and it features a 4.7-inch Liquid Retina display that's compact enough to easily use the device with just one hand.

Read more
Save on Apple’s USB-C Power Adapter to go with your iPhone 15
The Apple USB-C Power Adapter on a white background.

If you've just bought yourself a shiny new iPhone 15 then lamented the fact it doesn't come with a power adapter, we've got the right Apple deals for you. Over at Walmart, you can buy the Apple USB-C power adapter for $17 instead of $19. Sure, it's a tiny saving of $2 but you need this adapter anyway, so you might as well save a couple of bucks while you're at it. If you need to know a bit more about the adapter and why it's so useful, read on. Otherwise, just hit the buy button to get straight to saving some cash.

Why you should buy the Apple USB-C Power Adapter
So, you've weighed up whether to go iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro and bought your new phone. Then you've cursed the fact that there's no way to charge it via a regular power source and you're limited to plugging it into your laptop or USB-C dock to recharge. That's where you need to buy the Apple USB-C Power Adapter.

Read more