The USB standard has spawned quite a few connector variants over the year. Apart from the basic “A” connector (the one that you put in one way, then the other way, and finally the right way), there have been quite a few mini and micro variants of the “B” connector. Now, with “C” we seen to be approaching, finally, a reduction in the number. But it seems to me that there is a need for another variant…
Recently, I have bought quite a few wireless devices that all share the property that they use a non-standard USB connector to charge. Unfortunately, they do not share the connector.
The Jaybird X3 charger is a little cradle that holds the device in place mechanically, with four pins in a zig-zag pattern:
Plantronics Voyager, with four pins in a row. Holds the headset in place with a magnet:
Finally, the Garmin Vivosmart 3, with four pins in a square held in place by a clip:
In contrast to these examples, quite a few other little things like speakers and computer wireless headphones charge using the nice standard micro USB B connectors. When traveling, it is enough to bring a single cable to keep things charge… but with these non-standard connectors, I either have to buy doubles of each charger cable or just move the cables around with me. Annoying.
So, I think we need another USB standard connector for devices where a flat on-the-surface connection is suitable. I would love to have a single cable along that could be used for all the wireless devices.
It makes a lot of sense for these kinds of devices not to use a micro-USB plug that requires a hole. There is not a lot of room, and waterproofing is likely easier without the hole.
* I guess that technically, these are just charging cables that happen to use USB at the other end. But it still makes sense
Flat surface. Water resistant. Standard. Charging.
We actually have that.
Qi.
Yes, wireless charging. So even if the Qi standard (yes, it has won for all practical means) requires a rather large surface and might not yet be the answer, isn’t this the direction to go in?
Make the coil under the surface smaller but crank up the Teslas!
Wireless charging would indeed be a good way to solve this.
Got the same comment on LinkedIn and Facebook (where I linked to this blog post, it is a bit impractical that we get feedback and discussions scattered across platforms like that).
The size constraints are a possible issue, but on the other hand, the batteries involved are also typically pretty small… so they could charge quickly even with a weak feed. We would also need a standard way to hold devices in place for charging. A phone is typically going to stay put based on it being a flat heavy object, but a wristband will not.
We do not need another ‘Standard’ USB connector, what we do require is a STANDARD connector. USB began with the Type A, no problem, then came the plethora of variations, again little problem so long as the technology was covered and we could identify what connector is what, unfortunately it all went awry and the standard discarded when they introduced three different USB Mini connectors none of them compatible with the other but all called MINI, so when you try to purchase a cable terminated with a USB Mini plug you take a risk, granted the one for printers is easily identified but the other two unless you have enlarged images they look the same.
Yes we need a proper standard.