Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, NEC, Qualcomm, Samsung, Texas Instruments and three other wireless heavyweights have all signed an agreement under the eye of the European Commission to adopt a microUSB standard on data-enabled devices. This will hopefully cut down on consumer waste when it comes to chargers, as well as make life easier when switching devices. The change to microUSB will probably be the biggest deal for Apple, who have shoved people into using their inconvenient proprietary iPod plug for so very, very long. Charging seems to be the main focus of the agreement, though considering data-enabled phones are specifically targeted, it will also make syncing and transferring a heck of a lot easier. A move like this follows closely in the steps of North America – CTIA has already thrown in their support to get all mobiles running on microUSB chargers by 2012.
[via Reuters]