Does anyone have a Nokia charger?

By Katie Buchanan

This is the subject of a fairly regular email sent around the office, as I expect it in other offices worldwide. Almost everyone has been in the situation where their mobile phone, which they have become to completely rely on, is just about to die because the battery is flat. This leads to frantic search for a compatible mobile phone charger.

This scenario however might become a thing of the past. Last week 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers (including Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG) announced that they are committed to introducing a single universal charger for all new mobiles by the beginning of 2012. Interesting however, Apple and its hugely popular iPhone (which sports a unique charging mechanism) is not currently involved in this movement.

This move will have both fairly immediate and longer-term user benefits. Firstly, it will provide the ability to use the same charger for multiple items (e.g. work and personal mobile). Secondly, the charger will be better for the environment, since it is going to be significantly more energy efficient than current chargers. I suspect manufacturers hope this will counter the environmentally unfriendly image of the mobile phone industry.

The coming together of different manufacturers/brands to ultimately benefit the consumer is brilliant news,  particularly since it will undoubtedly have an impact on the accessories market.

Wouldn’t it be great if other product manufacturers take their lead? For example it would be really handy to have a universal laptop charger.