Japan is Testing USB Phone Charging Stations in Public Transport Buses (thenextweb.com) 71
According to Japanese news outlet IT Media, a public transport bus in the Tokyo area has introduced, and is currently testing, USB charging stations for commuter phones and tablets. From a report: While the local Bureau of Transportation hasn't formally announced or confirmed the trials, numerous passengers so far have reported seeing the charging ports. The service runs free of charge, with at least five of these wall-mounted charging hotspots placed inside the bus. According to reports, the service is currently available solely in a single bus. It remains unclear how long testing will continue or whether it will eventually roll out to more buses. Japan isn't the only country to have offered phone charging stations in public transport vehicles. Last September, London also equipped a limited number of busses with USB chargers. Similarly, Singapore ran trials with wall-mounted phone chargers on at least 10 buses in September last year.
Sounds like Helsinki, Finland (Score:1)
We've had those for in quite a few buses for a year or so.
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Same in Barcelona, I just noticed them today.
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Always wear a condom (Score:2)
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The Pixel seems to. When you connect via USB you get a notification, if you tap it you get a popup "Use USB to", defaulted to "Charge this device". You have to select one of the other options if you want to do anything else, every time you connect. I have a feeling it was the same with my Nexus 5.
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The iPhone won't connect to an unknown device unless you authorize it after unlocking.
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It doesn't matter. The handshake has already taken place at that point. Do you think it is fail safe and bug free? No it isn't.
The EU commission made a very retarded decision to push phone manufacturers to the faulty by design microusb port for both data and changing. Charging should have been on a standardized barrel jack with varying voltage - 3 to 48. And data should have been standardized on the much more robust port mini usb. You know, the one that doesn't come off the board with the cable whe
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I agree with you that allowing both data and charging on the same port has safety issues, but because of the advantages it has from a competitive point of view, I think EU was right in doing so anyway.
The issues will then have to be dealt with, and as others have pointed out, some Android devices ask the user permission to do this or that, with the port.
However, I do not at all agree with regarding the advantages of the mini vs. the micro USB port!
The micro USB mechanics may have challenges, but in my opini
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That is the thing, the issues are dealt with a new device because the manufacturers like it that way - sustainable growth they say, omitting to tell you that is sustains the growth of sales, not the other way around. I don't want to buy a new device after each bug is fixed and throw an otherwise perfectly good one in the trash.
The USB-C connector was not available when EU standardized the port, and it has its own issues on the electrical side. Yes, it is better than the micro, and perhaps the mini, but I h
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I don't have a lot of experience with the lighting connector, but I can see that the idea of not having to care about the insert direction is good, and fortunately that was adapted by USB-C.
My experiences with mini vs. micro USB is however the reverse of what yours seems to be.
Mini is larger and should probably be more solid, but perhaps it is just clumsy, and for sure it took up a lot of space on the host side, which I believe was one of the main drivers to go for the micro.
I will however admit, that I don
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Precisely this. My first thought when reading the headline was the follow-up article: 'Japanese Hackers Testing USB Phone Attacks at Charging Stations in Public Transport Buses'.
There should be a USB condom with an identifier or specialised port that is required to use the USB chargers, and condoms should be supplied.
Is this news? (Score:2, Insightful)
Here in the UK all modern buses has charging ports. I even advised my son on how to make a charge only cable so they couldn't be used to inject malware onto his devices.
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I'd just let the USB ports charge my external battery. Then, charge my good stuff with the battery. There are also "USB condoms" which cut the data ports and only allow charging.
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There is a USB controller in that external battery. Usually firmware flash-able. It is not safe enough. Have them provide 110-220V outlets and plug your trusted AC charger in it.
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Bar's have them some airports as well.
One bus... (Score:2)
USB charging ports on one bus in Japan. What will they think of next? Devices attached to the seats on which a person can rest their arms? Texturing on the floor to prevent a person from slipping if their shoes are wet? Electrically operated devices affixed to the interior of the bus that emit photons so people can see when it's night time?
Slashdot, please keep us abreast of such groundbreaking advancements!
Commonplace in Sweden (Score:3)
This isn't news (Score:1)
Denmark too (Score:1)
Ive seen this in plenty of busses in Greater Copenhagen.
I dont quite trust strange USB ports enough to actually plug my phone into one tho.
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Stagecoach in the UK have them already (Score:2)
I was on a Stagecoach bus recently in the UK and they had a USB charging port placed fairly low between each set of two seats (plus ports on the side below the window for the front sets of seats). I believe their fleet refit in late 2016 added them in. Apart from nicer (faux?) leather seats, the new bus also had *much* better onboard free wi-fi than their previous generation of buses too. A shame no-one but me ever seems to use the free wi-fi on the bus though!
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In New Zealand, Auckland Transport updated their requirements for new buses that all operators of AT services must follow in 2015. One requirement was that USB ports must be installed in at least every second row (on each side), other requirements include wifi and monitors showing up to date route information an announcements. With all the contracts being re-tendered between the end of last year and early next year about half of all buses will have these features bythe end of next year. These are local b
Go Wireless (Score:2)
Why not wireless? It eliminates the USB hacking concern. But there is more...no cable breakage, tangling, connector problems.
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How is this news? (Score:1)
Denver has had USB charging on its regional buses for over a year now.
NYC has tons of these already (Score:1)
NYC introduced a whole fleet of buses with USB charging ports (and WiFi) in May 2016.
They use USB-A sockets (Score:2)
It's going to be hilarious when all the new MacBook owners have finished converted everything to USB-C and then realize they can't plug things into a bus without a dongle.
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Or just use a USB-A to USB-C cable? Like I do with my Nexus 5x. Hilarious.
Get a charge-only USB cable for your phone! (Score:2)
If you can't find a 'charge only' USB cable, you can make your own easily enough out of a normal USB cab
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The only questions are: (Score:2)
Why is it not available in more public places?
Public USB charging ports are a vulnerability (Score:2)
Security Vector Alert. It seems to me that public UBS charging ports are a way for security vulnerabilities to be spread amongst the popululation. I assume that someone is already working on a way to implant malware in those ports. It's like kissing everyone in the city during an Ebola epidemic.
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Seriously--you're using this currently miniscule threat to throw water on this idea? First of all, the incidence of charging exploits is pretty low so I'm not too worried at the present time. Second, there are plenty of charge-only cables with no data lines, and there are plenty of USB data block devices available which also serve to prevent data from traversing a charge/sync cable (one example below). Providing people with options to charge their phones is a public service and should be encouraged. Educating people that there might be a risk is valid, but also educate them on the incredibly simple measures they can take to completely nullify that risk while retaining the benefit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T0DW3F8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (I'm not affiliated with this company, but I have 4 of these and they are marvelous for my work laptop where I'm not allowed to synch and for public charging stations)
You're obviously a glass half-empty kinda person....
The cigarette lighter jack is not really a bad idea here. You can easily plug in your own 12V to 5V converter, and with no data lines there is no data risk. Also 12V (or whatever the battery voltage is in japan) is a bit better for distribution. I suppose someone could still fry other phones if they want to really get creative, but if that happens close the doors and wait for the police. The worst case would be someone leaving a destructive device on the bus, but well, by the time they get whacked with
Idea! (Score:2)
Another great tech that will never make it to NA (Score:2)
All I see is another piece of useful technology that would never survive in North America, because we can't have nice things.
If this was made available in the US, I would give it a month before people started using USB killers, or suing the city for a million dollars and claiming it somehow 'broke' their phone.
Meanwhile (Score:2)
Washington DC (Score:1)
DC Connector buses have USB ports of them. Not just one bus, multiple. The standard WMATA buses don't yet have it though.
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road a megabus from DC to Pittsburgh or possibly Pittsburgh to DC- the bus had USB ports located above head of each passenger.
seems like the features installed on the latest model buses.
obamasweapon.com [obamasweapon.com]
Why is this needed on a bus? (Score:2)
So are trips on the bus in Japan a waste of time time or do their phones have insufficient battery capacity?