Micro USB: one charger to rule them all

You know the drill: buy a new phone, toss all your old chargers, docks and headsets, buy all new ones, rinse, lather, repeat. Gadget fans have long been exploited at the hands of multiple mobile charger standards but if a recent agreement between some of the largest manufacturers offers any indication, the cycle of peripheral churn may finally be coming to an end. The Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP)--which counts Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG, and Nokia among its members--has announced that it has reached an agreement to use micro USB as the standard charging-plug for all phones. "This is cheaper to the manufacturer, and also results in a smaller, less heavy box, which reduces on shipping costs, storage costs, warehouse costs and so on," said Dean Bubley, of Disruptive Analysis. "It has got to have beneficial effects for everyone."

For more on the new standard:
- see this CNET article