It's Time to Reduce The Tangle of Wires We Use for Gadgets

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060629.html' target='_blank'>http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060629.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I was interviewing Howard Stringer, the CEO of Sony, on stage at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference a few weeks ago, when domestic guru Martha Stewart rose to ask a question. Dipping into a shopping bag full of charger cords and electrical adapters for the electronic devices she carries -- laptop, cellphone, digital camera, BlackBerry -- Ms. Stewart asked Mr. Stringer why each device requires a different, and incompatible, charger. "Why can't this thing be this thing?" she asked, holding up two identical-looking, but very different, charger cables. The audience of high-tech executives, identifying with her complaint, applauded."</i><br /><br />This topic is not new and we have discussed it many times, but I think the time has come for us gadget lovers to stage a revolt. Walt Mossberg in his latest article, along with the help of home-maker Martha Stewart [I am now a Martha Stewart fan :)], is shedding light on the corporate greed that is keeping the consumers from getting a uniform charger. I can understand that the battery size cannot be standardized, but the charger and the connector can be common. While shopping for our gadgets we spend a considerable amount of time researching for the smallest and the lightest version of the product; when it is the time to travel with our compact gadgets, it is ironic that we find ourselves burdened by the backpack full of travel chargers. :evil: How can we end this corporate greed?

[ctmagnus]

Two words: BoxWave VersaCharger.

Combine that with a retractable charging cable for each device, and that's a step in the right direction.

However, it would help enormously if manufacturers went so far as to standardize on one actual charger. Something along the lines of what iGo (www.igo.com) has done, only without the bulk.

[Rocco Augusto]

However, it would help enormously if manufacturers went so far as to standardize on one actual charger. Something along the lines of what iGo (www.igo.com) has done, only without the bulk.

in wireless a majority of the profit for the stores suprisingly doesn't come from handset sales or contracts that they sell each month but instead from the large amount of accessory sales. the average accessory you buy for $19.99 usually only cost the company less than $1.90 to purchase (with plastic casing, etc). This is one of the main reasons why different models of phones, even from the same manufacturers, have different ports for accessories.

another reason, which is also equally as important, happens to be that each phone is using a different power regulations. more often than not a universal third party charger will kill your battery a lot quicker then a charger made for one specific model of phone.

once, a few years ago i sold a lady a nice LG charger that just happend to fit in her Samsung phone. this wasnt something i did on purpose mind you, someone just put the wrong device in the wrong packaging because the connectors were pretty much the same. two days later the customer came back into the shop with a phone that had burn marks all over the battery. turns out the charger i sold her was pumping to much electricity in the mattery and caused it to heat up to the point of leaking/burning the exterior.

in theory, it would be great if all plug-ins would be universal but i understand why they arent after seeing what could happen with the wrong charger first hand. not to mention, all the universal phone chargers and vehicle/home combo chargers i have ever sold have a REALLY high return rate due to making batteries overheat.

[mbranscum]

I am now a Martha Stewart fan

Now I'm getting worried about you! :wink:

[Sven Johannsen]

When talking about chargers you have two basic parameters, voltage and current (or watts, if you want to go that way). The device you are charging has a voltage range that it will accept, and a minimum current rating that it requires. The charger current rating is the maximum it can safely provide. So given that the voltage is the same, as long as the charger rating is higher than the device requirement you should be good to go.

This is assuming that the device has some sort of smart charging circuitry, and all small electronics almost have to, or they would blow up. The charging circuit regulates the amount of current allowed to charge the battery. It makes sure things don't get too warm. That's why there are temperature sensing circuits on some devices you can actually access and display. Too much voltage and the charging circuitry can't act properly and you wind up with something having to dissipate the extra energy, and it dissipates in heat.

When working with normal cell phones there seems to be a wide variety of voltage requirements. 3.3v, 5v, 6v, etc. It would be easy to grab a charger with the wrong voltage, but potentially the right plug. For most of the smart device world though, there is a general understanding that the device will hook to a USB port on a PC and potentially charge from that. Now you have pretty much nailed down the voltage requirement. 5v (nominally). Now I need a charger with enough current to support the hungriest device, and it will be fine on the others...except for the connector. Fortunately I have collected a significant number of devices that all use the same mini-USB connecter. All these things don't care if they are hooked to the 500mA (.5A) of a USB port, the 2-2.5A of the typical wall wart, or the potentially 7.5A of my Socket battery pack.

Now my problem though is that I have a number of things to charge all at once. So what if all my devices have the same connector, and same requirements, when I get to the hotel they all need to be charged. I don't want to charge the PPC, then the cell phone, then the portable Media center, then the BT headset, I want them all charging at once, so I need multiple chargers anyway. What I really need is a hotel room that doesn't have every outlet used up except those in the bathroom.

But for the concept...Martha Stewart...Hear, Hear.

[Kris Kumar]

I think the biggest problem is that there is no regulation on what the voltage and connector should be for charging gadgets.

If only there was a regulation that said that all mobile gadgets should be capable of charging with only 5V chargers (and a maximum limit of the current they can draw), then at least the charger can be standardized from voltage point of view. Then it is just the matter of connectors.

Even with the connectors I feel that mini-USB is the best way to go. I am annoyed that my Digital Rebel does not charge from the mini-USB. :evil:

The ideal way to regulate things would be to classify mobile gadgets into three or similar categories:
- Low power - cell phones, pagers, media players, cameras
- High power - laptops

Now define two voltage levels like 5V for low power and 9V for high power devices. How much current gets used can easily be controlled by employing a small circuit on the device itself. The regulation will only specify the upper amperage rating.

The connectors also can be standardized between mini-USB and the newer flat-mini-USB (HTC StrTrk).

[Kris Kumar]

Now my problem though is that I have a number of things to charge all at once. So what if all my devices have the same connector, and same requirements, when I get to the hotel they all need to be charged.

I think that problem is easier to tackle than carrying 2 or more chargers.

If the gadgets start using USB based chargers, you can carry a mini powered hub. ;-) Or I am sure a splitter can be employed (as long as the charger can support the amps required to charge multiple gadgets).

[Kris Kumar]

Here is the part that really annoys me. I wanted to mention this in my main post, but then was waiting for some reader feedback.

During the last few years, my daily life requires me to charge Smartphones. Every six months of so, I change my Smartphone or occassionally I get one for review. Even though the Smartphones are pretty much standardizing themselves around mini USB, there is still something about the way USB pins are wired or the devices expect to be wired that controls whether or not the device will get charged. Case in point:
- Red-E my first Smartphone worked well with vanilla USB chargers
- MPx200 and SP3i/SMT5600 required special USB chargers, but they were compatible with each other
- MPx220 of course broke the trend with custom connector :twisted:
- SP5/2125 work with the SMT5600 charger that I have, so that is good
- Now I am playing with Moto Q, and it seems like it wont charge with my previous charger and requires the Q's USB charger. :evil:
- Of course the StrTrk will change all this, but I am hoping there will be a mini-USB to a flat-USB adapter.

And anytime I have to buy a charger, I have to buy one for work and one for car.

[ctmagnus]

:clap: I ordered a JAMin on Friday. According to iGo's site, the SMT5600 uses the same charging tip as the JAM, and the JAM and JAMin are darn near identical, so I'm pretty much good to go there.

In this case, it was pure luck.

[Kris Kumar]

:clap: I ordered a JAMin on Friday. According to iGo's site, the SMT5600 uses the same charging tip as the JAM, and the JAM and JAMin are darn near identical, so I'm pretty much good to go there.

In this case, it was pure luck.

You are lucky. I am so annoyed that HP/Compaq never standardized on the mini-USB trend. My 2210 uses the stupid Compaq flat connector. :evil:

[Kris Kumar]

in theory, it would be great if all plug-ins would be universal but i understand why they arent after seeing what could happen with the wrong charger first hand. not to mention, all the universal phone chargers and vehicle/home combo chargers i have ever sold have a REALLY high return rate due to making batteries overheat.

I am sure that a small circuit can protect these devices. And a little bit of regulation or industry stardardization can solve this problem.

[Kris Kumar]

Two words: BoxWave VersaCharger.

Combine that with a retractable charging cable for each device, and that's a step in the right direction.

However, it would help enormously if manufacturers went so far as to standardize on one actual charger. Something along the lines of what iGo (www.igo.com) has done, only without the bulk.

It is good that vendors out there are trying to solve customer frustrations. But it is the principle of things - why do the gadget manufacturers want us to go that route.

The annoying thing is that Motorola, Samsung, Dell, IBM won't standardize the chargers within their own product lines. That is what Walt Mossberg was annoyed by the most. You can understand that manufacturers want to differentiate from the others so that they can keep their accessory division going, but it is pure greed when they change the charger for every other product.

[Sven Johannsen]

If the gadgets start using USB based chargers, you can carry a mini powered hub. ;-) )Which requires a wall wart :)

Or I am sure a splitter can be employed (as long as the charger can support the amps required to charge multiple gadgets).
Tried to find one? Nobody makes that. I have a BT headset/transmitter pair that actually came with a cable with a regular USB A connector and splits to two mini-USB connectors on the other end so you can charge both pieces of this set at the same time. Brilliant, the engineers must have been geniuses. Or maybe they actually used the product.