Two major laptop makers have said they will back a new power supply standard even as the IEEE unveiled a team to undertake the initiative. Taiwan based Acer and Asus, two of the largest laptop manufacturers in the world will join the ranks of a number of laptop OEM manufacturers who have already voiced their support, according to a report by Digitimes.

The idea here is simple: To develop a universal power adapter that can be switched between devices and reused. Beyond helping to reduce the amount of e-waste, such a move will also increase consumer convenience and help bring down costs by eliminating the need to make a power adapter for every netbook or laptop sold.

This is particularly important as shipments of laptops have overtaken that of desktops for some time now, and the number of unwanted power adapters will start to pile up over the next few years. The IEEE says it wants to work on a standard on the connectors, power use and also a communication protocol and would encapsulate adapters ranging from 10 watts to 130 watts.

For more on this story:
- check out the article at The Inquirer
- check out the article at Laptops.co.uk
- check out the article at Digitimes

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