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What does this mean in practice? Are Android phone makers going to have to license the Lightning port from Apple? Or is the EU going to declare that USB-C is th
by Rebelgecko 7y ago
What does this mean in practice? Are Android phone makers going to have to license the Lightning port from Apple? Or is the EU going to declare that USB-C is the be all end all of phone plugs?
It sounds like they're trying to standardize the actual chargers, I wonder how that will work USB-PDs many different modes? What about proprietary fast charging schemes? (maybe those already died out after the move to USB-c?).
I'm slightly uncomfortable with the idea of a universal standard stifling innovation, so hopefully the EU will be responsive if something better gets invented in the future. I'm guessing that whatever comes after USB-C will exist in the US and Asia for years before its allowed in the EU... which may or may not be a good thing I suppose. USB-C as a plug has so many capabilities.
It's interesting that they're looking at wireless charging too. Other than my toothbrush and an induction stove, I can't remember the last time I saw wireless charging that wasn't Qi. The only exception is some of the experimental room-scale charging startups. I suppose they're already fighting against the laws of physics, the laws of the EU can't be that much worse.
- SideburnsOfDoom 7y ago> Are Android phone makers going to have to license the Lightning port from Apple? Or is the EU going to declare that USB-C is the be all end all of phone plugs? It looks more like the latter. After all, Apple is the odd one out now. https://www.androidcentral.com/eu-may-push-iphones-adopt-usb-c-androids-prefer https://www.androidcentral.com/eu-may-push-iphones-adopt-usb...
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- GeekyBear 7y agoApple's chargers already have moved to USB-C. It's the cable included in the box with newer iPhones that is USB-C on one end and lightning on the other.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoAbout a year ago someone posted a "Look at the cool stuff I bought/saw on my trip to Shenzen" blog post and one of the items featured was a bastardized Chinese USB-C and Lightening cable that technically met neither spec but worked with either. I think you'll see a lot of those for sale.
- nailer 7y agoHow would that work? USB C is female, lightning is male.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoI have no idea. I figure they got creative with the shape of the female sockets and the amount they can move freely within the connector body but that's just an educated guess.
- Someone 7y ago”I'm guessing that whatever comes after USB-C will exist in the US and Asia for years before its allowed in the EU” Looking at what happened with RoHS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Subst... the EU forbid the use of lead-based solder, and the world mostly followed because, if they didn’t, the logistics and lower economies of scale would cost more than using the cheaper processes), it will have to be a lot better to make it worthwhile to manufacturers to completely replace their charging connector by something newer. I think it’s more likely ‘USB’ will remain the sticker on whatever comes next, with enough backwards compatibility to satisfy EU regulations. (‘USB’ is a marketing term, anyways. Current USB looks nothing like the first version)
- dTal 7y ago>‘USB’ is a marketing term, anyways. Current USB looks nothing like the first version How so? You can plug a first gen, USB 1.0 mouse into an Android phone's USB-C port with no more than a passive adapter, and it'll work. That's way more commonality than "just a marketing term" - it's functionally backwards compatible at the electrical, protocol, and driver level.
- Someone 7y agoUSB1:USB-C is a bit like 8086:x64. The latter ‘boots’ pretending to be the former, but preferably doesn’t spend much time in that mode. USB1: 4 wires, half-duplex, with the host in control. Upstream- and downstream ports determine who’s the host. Negotiation of bus speed in hardware, using a few diodes/wires. USB3: 9 wires, full-duplex, uses 8b/10b encoding (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8b/10b_encoding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8b/10b_encoding). Negation of bus speed in software. USB-C: adds more power options, displayLink.
- int_19h 7y agoIt doesn't matter how it's implemented from the user's perspective. The important part is that it's guaranteed to work - and it does.