"Universal" phone adapters: Who's not on the list?

The GSMA, an organization promoting the interests of the mobile communications industry, announced Tuesday a commitment to implement "a cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones" by 2012. 

While this announcement may imply that we might get a universal power adapter to replace all the wall warts and power bricks that clog our closets and landfills, its not as all-encompassing as we'd like. There is an impressive list of 17 manufacturers who have joined the initiative, but also notable exceptions.

The initiative lists big names such as LG, Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung. However, key industry players -- including Apple and Research in Motion -- are conspicuously absent.

According to Brian X. Chen in a Wired blog post, many Apple gadgets use unique charging technologies "that third-party accessory manufacturers cannot reproduce." The post quotes iFixIt's Luke Soules, assuming that "Apple is trying to, if not make money off the AC adapters, at least prevent anybody from making money off AC adapters."

Of course, accessory sales can be extremely profitable for consumer electronics manufacturers. In that sense, it's amazing that so many companies were willing to jump on this bandwagon. With its convenience and promised environmental advantages, a universal charger would benefit everyone except gadget manufacturers -- the very companies who must accept a standard for it to become universal. If one adapter fit everything, these companies couldn't sell replacement wall warts at outrageously inflated prices.

While this initiative may seem new, another company, Green Plug, has been trying to create a truly universal charger standard (for any device, not just phones). So far, the effort has failed to gain widespread support from manufacturers.

Image: "Freecycling cables, ipod stuff," unimatrixZxero (Flick'r/cc)