10 Mobile Phone Manufacturers Agree to Univeral Charger in EU

In a move that leaves us wondering why it took the topical environmental uproar to stimulate  an obvious step that should have been taken years ago, the European Commission has overseen a voluntary agreement signed by 10 mobile phone manufacturers to eliminate those obnoxious phone-specific chargers in favor of a universal, micro-USB charger. The signees, which include Samsung, LG, Apple and Nokia, together make up about 90% of the mobile phone market in the European Union, so the agreement is quite significant.  It’s expected to go into effect next year.

While the main intent is to eliminate the thousands of tons of waste created by junked chargers,  this agreement will go a long way in making it more convenient to switch phones and charge multiple devices with one charger. For the time, manufacturers will begin offering a universal charger with new phones, but the intent is to phase out the charger altogether and build a micro-SD directly into the phones themselves.

Take a good look at that bin of useless, antiquated phones and chargers in your garage and dream of the day when the standardized charger comes with every new phone. Then scratch your head and try to figure out wtf it didn’t happen back in ‘98 or so. [via arstechnica]