Wednesday, April 18, 2007
New USB Spec Promises Standard Connectivity And Faster Recharge Times
Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "HARDWARE" @ 10:00 PM
"With the announcement of the new Battery Charging specification, the USB-IF Battery Charging Workgroup has defined a standard way for portable devices to draw current from wall chargers or PCs. In addition, the Battery Charging specification allows PCs and hubs to provide increased levels of current, in order to shorten the charging time of connected portable devices."
For those of us who have been into Windows Mobile for some time, two of the bigger bugbears have been non-standard connectors and battery life. The former meant that every change of device necessitated buying new cables and accessories if you needed more than what came out of the box. The latter problem of course meant that you did need more than what came out of the box. While this new spec doesn't come close to solving issue 2, it does mean that stumping up for new cables and connectors may be a thing of the past. Manufacturers have tried to solve this in their own way (e.g. the HTC connector, and standard connectors across mobile phone brands), but one standard across all devices - phones, PDAs, and everything in between - would be a fantastic development. The change in the charging specification also means that even high draw devices (VGA comes to mind), have a chance at USB charging. Thoughts, everyone?
For those of us who have been into Windows Mobile for some time, two of the bigger bugbears have been non-standard connectors and battery life. The former meant that every change of device necessitated buying new cables and accessories if you needed more than what came out of the box. The latter problem of course meant that you did need more than what came out of the box. While this new spec doesn't come close to solving issue 2, it does mean that stumping up for new cables and connectors may be a thing of the past. Manufacturers have tried to solve this in their own way (e.g. the HTC connector, and standard connectors across mobile phone brands), but one standard across all devices - phones, PDAs, and everything in between - would be a fantastic development. The change in the charging specification also means that even high draw devices (VGA comes to mind), have a chance at USB charging. Thoughts, everyone?
