USB 3.0 100W Power Standard Seeks To End Proprietary Chargers 247
judgecorp writes "The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has published a Power Delivery standard which will deliver up to 100W. The specification (press release with link to full details) includes new bi-directional — and backward compatible — USB cables, and has been proposed as the new connector between mains adapters and laptops, eliminating e-waste by standardizing a proprietary component."
At home, only having to run one cable to the wall might be nice, and being able to grab some juice from any friend may end the disaster that is forgetting your laptop power brick when on the road. And imagine only having to pack a single power hub instead of three or four redundant transformers (how many people don't use their laptop to charge their phone nowadays?).
Obligatory XKCD (Score:5, Insightful)
http://xkcd.com/927/ [xkcd.com]
Re:Obligatory XKCD (Score:5, Insightful)
Great idea (Score:5, Insightful)
This would save me from carrying extra junk about and having to find a very specific type of junk when it fails. This is a brilliant idea.
Everyone seems to be bashing this idea, I've no idea why.
Re:Obligatory XKCD (Score:5, Insightful)
Right. Because all those different chargers cover wildly differing use cases, such as "charge battery" and "charge battery".
Re:Stupid, stupid, *stupid* (Score:5, Insightful)
They aren't designed for 1kW or line voltage, they're designed for 100W, which according to the article will be delivered at a maximum of 5A, 20V, charging in this mode will require a cable rated for this amount of current.
Are you living in the 90's? Switcher power supplies nowadays accept a wide range of current inputs at a wide range of frequencies, this isn't a serious issue anymore.
Mini-usb had its problems that manufacturers complained about regarding durability and size, so they listened to the complaints and offered their improved version in micro-usb. Now manufacturers are saying they want to use the usb to charge devices and they need more power, and have been running more current than standard through the usb connectors. So in response they're improving the interface to allow more current for faster charging. I feel that the current pace in which they roll out new standards isn't terrible.
Offering the different speeds allows for great fowards and backwards compatibility. When you connect two devices they can communicate as fast as the slowest one permits, allowing you to use older hardware with newer hardware.
Follow the money (Score:4, Insightful)
Follow the money. Selling replacement chargers is an income source. Just look at Dell laptops: they use an industry standard connector with an additional pin inside. The extra pin serves only one purpose: the laptop can tell whether or not the charger is made by Dell. You can buy chargers from other companies, and they will plug into your Dell. The laptop will use the power to run, but will not charge the battery. This behavior serves only one purpose: to guarantee that you buy your replacement from Dell.
This kind of idiotic mentality is what finally let the EU to require a standard for mobile phones. The government shouldn't have to regulate such things, but sometimes the free market fails. I can imagine this happening here as well...
Re:Obligatory XKCD (Score:1, Insightful)
You forgot "authenticate user so that we can rip them off by selling them OUR charger at an inflated rate".
Re:Doubtful (Score:3, Insightful)
Their current connector does a lot more than USB, so probably no.
Which shows just how poorly designed it is. Other manufacturers manage to do USB, audio, video, accessories and charging over a standard USB port and headphone socket.
HTC even extended their USB mini socket to include some extra pins while remaining compatible with normal USB cables.