Filed under: Peripherals
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.
The
last Switched On discussed GreenPlug, a startup that is trying to create a new standard for universal AC adapters. The environmental benefits GreenPlug offers are enormous, like the reduction of power caused by keeping energy flowing to a fully charged device, and the great reduction in waste currently caused by the need to keep manufacturing, shipping and disposing of the billions of AC adapters produced every year (many of which are practically wed to a single product).
Even without GreenPlug, there has been significant movement over the past few years toward the acceptance of the mini-USB port as a connection standard for portable devices. Sony, for example, now offers USB charging on devices such as the PSP and Sony eReader, where others previously required proprietary adapters. The USB Implementers' Forum is working on new guidelines to ensure better compatibility for chargers and devices using the popular port that was designed first for data transfer. And there is now legislation in place in China that mandates that any phone sold there must enable USB charging.
However, USB has limits in terms of the wattage that it can deliver and can't charge, for example, notebook PCs, as well as many camcorders, digital cameras, and other products. Nonetheless, in a nod to the growing momentum around the USB connector for cell phones and other low-power gizmos, GreenPlug has designed its connector to resemble a mini-USB port. A GreenPlug adapter can charge mini-USB products that don't have its chip, even though it won't offer power-saving benefits in that circumstance.
Continue reading Switched On: Green Plug tries to replace the worry warts (Part 2)
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Switched On: Green Plug tries to replace the worry warts (Part 2) 
