Push for one micro-USB charger

Cell phone usage is continuing to get simpler as cell phones become more closely integrated into society and manufacturers continue to push for global compatibility.

Recently initiatives have been taken by two groups to make cell phones simpler for views and more user friendly.

At the Global System for Mobile Communications (GMSA) a significant number of carriers and manufactures announced the push for one micro-USB to be globally accepted so that cell phone users could purchase one battery charger for use on multiple phones.

After a vote passed at the GSMA it was declared that most new mobile models will be developed after January 1, 2012 to accommodate a micro-USB charger so that users will not have to replace their charger when they replace or purchase a new mobile model in the future.

This would reduce the amount of excess unused chargers by about 51,000 tons.

However, while most major cell phone companies from the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) group support the change high end smartphone companies such as Apple (iPhone) are not expected to accept the change.

OMTP is also striving to make Visual Voice Mail more compatible with consumers’ needs as mobile phone users can see the sources of voicemail and decide rather to listen to select messages or delete messages without perusing.

Currently some users have this option but due to compatibility issues among mobile handsets VVM is not yet available for all handset platforms.

The OMTP is combating this by announcing a recommendation that VVM is implemented with a IMAP4 or SMS protocol.

Thus, regardless of what handset a consumer receives, the VVM can be accessed in the same manner making it easier for end users to operate and utilize VVM.