eu, phone makers agree on charging standard

BRUSSELS—
Don\'t ask about the right charger in the office any more.
At least the EU and handset makers hope so.
The world\'s leading handset makers announced on Monday that they will ensure their data
The enabled phone and charger will work together from next year.
EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said standardized chargers will reduce the cost of manufacturers and reduce the number of chargers that consumers throw away when buying new phones.
Although the agreement applies to the EU, the normalization is likely to apply to mobile phones and chargers sold outside the Member States. Nokia Corp.
Samsung Electronics.
LG Electronics Co. , Ltd.
Sony Ericsson, Apple, Motorola Inc.
Sports Research Co. , Ltd. and NEC Corp.
Dedicated to the development of micro-based charging standards for mobile phonesUSB interface.
Together, they account for more than 80% of the world\'s mobile phone market.
Several of these companies have already produced mobile phones that are charged through micro-phones.
USB ports, but they can\'t guarantee that they will work with Chargers made by other companies.
\"What we are doing here is that we agree that any external power supply can charge phones from other manufacturers,\" said Tony Graziano, technical director at DigitalEurope . \", Representing digital technology associations and companies operating in Europe.
That doesn\'t mean all the new data.
The supported phone will come with Micro-USB ports.
Graziano says manufacturers can meet the terms of the agreement by producing adapters.
Apple, for example, has been using proprietary connectors for its iPhone and can produce an adapter that plugs into the phone to accept micro connectorsUSB charger.
Bridget Cosgrove, director general of DigitalEurope, said the group was \"optimistic\" that the rest of the world would soon adopt the same universal charger \".
Consumer rights groups are calling for more ambitious plans.
\"You could have expanded it to different small household appliances like MP3 players, small digital cameras and pda,\" said Gabriele Fleischer of the Berlin Consumer Council . \".
Texas Instruments
And Qualcomm, two U. S.
Companies that make mobile phone components have also signed an agreement. ------
Brussels-based AP writer Barbara Shide and New York-based AP tech writer Peter Swenson contributed to the report.