Apple absent from universal phone charger push

12346»

Comments

  • Reply 101 of 115
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Apple doesn't have to make this adaptor, any cable manufacturer can make it.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by igxqrrl View Post


    There is a simple solution to this. Apple just needs to ship a small converter with their devices that plugs into the dock connector and provides a micro-USB port.



  • Reply 102 of 115
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ebernet View Post


    Apple's trumps it, and you need not carry an additional sync cable - you just disconnect it from the charger...



    Not quite. Nokia phones have synced wirelessly for a LOONG time now via IR and BT. Cable is just an option which they provide at no extra cost.



    Nokia chargers have had the same voltage for well over a decade (propably longer). It's had the same simple charger plug for ALL models for well over a decade (possibly longer).



    In the recent years have they adopted a new plug, which is just a smaller sized plug due to the miniturization of the phones and the need to have a physically smaller plug (not that the old one was big. Think 2.5mm headphone plug size). The new phones come with a simple resizing plug to enable the use of old chargers with the newer type phones (with no added cost).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ebernet View Post


    Well then, they should do what Apple does and not supply two cables, one permanently attached to the charger, and one needed to sync. Apple actually is the company that gets it right here...



    You still sure about that?



    The microUSB becoming a standard will have tons of benefits as other devices will then likely use the same solution for charging as phones do. Think about cameras for example and you'll quickly see why this is a HUGE benefit for us all.



    BTW, nothing is stopping apple from using the same charger. Just add a microUSB to the Dock connector on the outside. Next to the white cable. Move the cable a little and voilá!



    I have an iPod and a Nokia phone and to be honest, for the simple task of charging, the Nokia beats the iPod as the charging connector is a simple plug. The iPod's dock connector needs to be aligned even for simple charging as I don't use the cradle (I'm mobile), which is a bit tedious (but bearable). Micro USB sounds just as tedious. Syncing wirelessly is just perfect!



    Regs, Jarkko
  • Reply 103 of 115
    that heap of chargers with their wires here and there in the apartment took me
  • Reply 104 of 115
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    I charge my iPhone using the USB cable plugged into a Linux system all the time, you can't install iTunes and I can't sync it yet it still charges.



    When I plug it into my PC at work with Windows XP it is recognized as a camera and starts charging, again iTunes is not installed.



    If you bring your phone to my place, bring your USB cable you are quite welcome to plug it into the charger Apple supplied with my iPhone, except all you Nokia owners who need one cable for charging and one cable for syncing.



    With my iPhone there was one USB cable, one AC to USB charger and one Australian adapter plug.



    All Apple would need to do is supply another cable male USB to male micro/mini USB (whichever one the EU wants) and a female micro/mini USB to 30 pin dock connector.
  • Reply 105 of 115
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    If you bring your phone to my place, bring your USB cable you are quite welcome to plug it into the charger Apple supplied with my iPhone, except all you Nokia owners who need one cable for charging and one cable for syncing.



    Again: Why would I need a cable to sync? Bluetooth is sufficient. Isn't a cable "so last season"? I can charge my Nokia phone from any USB port with a USB<->Plug cable just as easily as i can charge my iPod (actually the plug is a bit easier than the 30-pin). I can even charge both from my car with my cigarette-lighter-to-USB charger (universal you see).



    Regs, Jarkko
  • Reply 106 of 115
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jahonen View Post


    Again: Why would I need a cable to sync? Bluetooth is sufficient. Isn't a cable "so last season"? I can charge my Nokia phone from any USB port with a USB<->Plug cable just as easily as i can charge my iPod (actually the plug is a bit easier than the 30-pin). I can even charge both from my car with my cigarette-lighter-to-USB charger (universal you see).



    It really depends on what you want to sync. Bluetooth is about a tenth the speed of USB 1, or roughly that of low to mid range DSL speeds. If you're only syncing contacts & calendar type stuff, then Bluetooth is fine. For photos, music and movies, the more and bigger the file, the more you're going to wish you didn't do that. iPhone photos might not be so bad, a quick estimate shows you might be able to sync a photo every three seconds. A single song is going to be more like 30 seconds to a minute.
  • Reply 107 of 115
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    This is all true, but this is the foundation of capitalism. You can charge as much as the market is willing to bear. If you have a hot product charge as much as you can for it.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by igxqrrl View Post


    Apple's licensing charges for the dock connector are also exorbitant. As are the charges for the little "Made for iPod" and "Works with iPhone" logos. Companies pay these fees because at this point they don't have much choice. The iPod is dominant. But you and I pay a significant premium for every iPod compatible device because of it.



    This premium flows to Apple's bottom line, and adds to their $25 billion cash hoard. Sorry, but I need my money more than Apple needs it.



  • Reply 108 of 115
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lantzn View Post


    First generation iPod firewire connector only. I had one.

    http://media.techeblog.com/elephant/...5-450x-r_5.jpg



    That was the point I was making. It was a firewire connection on the iPOD and not a dock connector. The other end was firewire that plugged into a Computer based Firewire port or a similarly shaped port on a power brick that was WAY bigger than the little adapter that come with the iPhone now.
  • Reply 109 of 115
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jahonen View Post


    Again: Why would I need a cable to sync? Bluetooth is sufficient. Isn't a cable "so last season"? I can charge my Nokia phone from any USB port with a USB<->Plug cable just as easily as i can charge my iPod (actually the plug is a bit easier than the 30-pin). I can even charge both from my car with my cigarette-lighter-to-USB charger (universal you see).



    Regs, Jarkko



    Well you'd better bring a Bluetooth dongle then as my PC doesn't have one, do you have much experience with installing drivers on Linux because I'm sure as hell not letting you anywhere near my kernel to shove in a Bluetooth stack.



    This was about charging anyway, not leeching my pr0n!



    Samsung, LG, Motorola, SonyEricsson, Blackberry, HTC and most other manufacturers will charge while syncing.



    Why the world's biggest manufacturers left this simple expedient out is beyond me, unless they want to sell more cables.



    As if their current line up of chargers wasn't enough:- 3.5mm, 2mm and Micro USB.



    My car charger also has a USB port so if you have your sync cable charge away except for Nokia, apart from one or two of their latest models.
  • Reply 110 of 115
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    Well you'd better bring a Bluetooth dongle then as my PC doesn't have one, do you have much experience with installing drivers on Linux because I'm sure as hell not letting you anywhere near my kernel to shove in a Bluetooth stack.



    This was about charging anyway, not leeching my pr0n!



    Wait, who leaches porn using Bluetooth? I didn't know that was a topic of the discussion.



    What's wrong with Linux that it doesn't have good built-in Bluetooth support? It's not as if it's a new standard that came out as a surprise.
  • Reply 111 of 115
    All the iPhone needs is a single MicroUSB socket and a single 3.5mm headphone jack. Together, they would provide all the functionaly you would need. The benefit of this is that when you come to buy another manufacturers phone, you do not need another bundled charger or cable because the one you got for your iPhone is fully compatible. That means one less plastic charger has to be made, and one less plastic charger ends up in landfill. The whole point of this is so that each new phone you buy doesn't need to come with yet another new charger!
  • Reply 112 of 115
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrochester View Post


    All the iPhone needs is a single MicroUSB socket and a single 3.5mm headphone jack. Together, they would provide all the functionaly you would need. The benefit of this is that when you come to buy another manufacturers phone, you do not need another bundled charger or cable because the one you got for your iPhone is fully compatible. That means one less plastic charger has to be made, and one less plastic charger ends up in landfill. The whole point of this is so that each new phone you buy doesn't need to come with yet another new charger!



    Can you get the full functionality of the 30 pin dock connector from microUSB, including things like TV out?



    If you can it won't be an issue, if you can't Apple will have to supply another port and cable.



    They will also have to duplicate the charging function that already exists in the dock connector.
  • Reply 113 of 115
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    So Apple ships a 30-in Dock connector dongle w/ a MicroUSB female port. Done. Next?



    Make it a little transverse strip, w/ the MicroUSB at one end. Tiny, thin, light... usable on any iPod/iPhone...



    Seriously, this isn't rocket science.
  • Reply 114 of 115
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    Can you get the full functionality of the 30 pin dock connector from microUSB, including things like TV out?



    If you can it won't be an issue, if you can't Apple will have to supply another port and cable.



    They will also have to duplicate the charging function that already exists in the dock connector.



    3.5mm jacks can do TV out (all Nokia phones with TV out come from the 3.5mm or 2.5mm jack). So there's no need for another port.
  • Reply 115 of 115
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrochester View Post


    3.5mm jacks can do TV out (all Nokia phones with TV out come from the 3.5mm or 2.5mm jack). So there's no need for another port.



    As far as I know the little TRRS jack only does composite. iPod can do composite, s-video and component.
Sign In or Register to comment.