Here comes one charger for all mobile phones

BARCELONA, SPAIN: Leading mobile phone manufacturers have agreed to introduce a universal charger for handsets.

This was announced on Tuesday, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, by the GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association), which represents more than 750 of the world's cell phone operators.

The new interface will be a mini USB. Blackberry Storm already uses this interface. The companies that have signed for the change include Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

It is expected that the universal charger will come into existence by 2012.

Though this move would reduce the mobile accessories market drastically, the universal charger has a green aspect to it. It will reduce the standby energy consumption by 50 per cent, thus reducing the amount of greenhouse gases. The estimate is based on the potential elimination of 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers.

"The mobile industry has a pivotal role to play in tackling environmental issues and this program is an important step that could lead to huge savings in resources, not to mention convenience for consumers," GSMA CEO Rob Conway said in a statement.

With this move, GSMA expects that it could ship mobile phones without a charging plug and cable because everybody would have one.

How do you see this 'green move' on the part of mobile phone manufacturers? Will it help effectively address the environmental concerns?

©CyberMedia News