microUSB to Become Industry Standard Mobile Connector
News.com is reporting on the recent announcement that the members of the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) have agreed to settle on microUSB as a common, industry-standard mobile phone connector. The consortium is comprised of both operators and handset manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG. These companies have agreed to bypass the current mini-USB standard in favor of its smaller successor, microUSB. Mini USB has been employed by numerous devices on the market over the past several years but was truly popularized by Motorola’s iconic RAZR V3 handset of 2004 yet has failed to approach industry-wide adoption. In addition, manufacturers such as Apple and Motorola have employed lock-out chips designed to cripple functionality from unlicensed or unofficial accessories.
Palm's name has not been mentioned in conjunction with the announcement, as it seems to reflect more on the state of small, high-volume feature phones (primarily the global GSM format) where connector size is of the upmost importance. The pricier, larger and more specialized smartphones produced by Palm, RIM, Apple, and others have a much smaller user base that is generally less price sensitive and less likely to clamor about a unified connector method. In fact, many programmable devices such as Palm’s Treo would see a reduction in functionality with the loss of a proprietary connector. Larger PDA-style smartphones often enjoy various additional functionality (audio video input and output, serial connectivity etc) enabled via their proprietary connectors. Many of these manufacturers (think Apple) would be loathe to abandon their high-margin accessory business with a surprisingly large number of users upset at having to replace or lose legacy functionality from carryover adapters and cables from previous generations. Palm’s “Athena” connector, for example, first appeared on the Tungsten T5 in 2004 and is present on the new Centro smartphone, having appeared on ten additional in the interim.
Palm has also used mini-USB connectors across its lower-end PDA models on and off for a number of years. The trend began with 2002’s original Zire and continued with the Zire 21, Tungsten E, Zire 72, Zire 31, and the current Z22 handheld. Additionally, Palm surprisingly returned to the miniUSB connector with last month’s GSM Treo 500v.
However, Palm has returned to its conventional “Athena” multi-connector standard plug on the new Centro smartphone, announced last week for the Sprint CDMA network. Adding to the confusion is a report from the TreoCentral forums from TC member Howiecam who has supposedly spent time with the Verizon version of the Treo 800w. The user reports that the 800w employs a new proprietary Palm sync/charge port standard.
While consumer confusion is certain to be minimized by the widespread adoption of the new OMTP charger standard, the article also hints at the possibility that a new AC charger need not be included with every single mobile device, thereby reducing both manufacter cost, packaging size, and numerous environmental factors. It will be interesting to see if consumer concern for bottom line pricing and the environment trumps the convenience factor of always being assured another AC charger with each new mobile device.
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RE: Zire 71
That's what happens when you get old and try to do a news item on an empty stomach.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Zire 71
http://palmdiscovery.net
MiniUSB connector
The Palm Z22 also has a miniUSB 5 pin connector only for connecting to the PC or to the AC adapter, then the Z22 would be the first, if the 500v uses this one.
AFAIK, there's also a miniUSB which has 4 pins and another with 8 pins. I really couldn't get to know which one is on the 500v.
See ya!
RE: MiniUSB connector
The Palm Zire, Zire 21, Tungsten E, Zire 72, Zire 31, and Z22 all had the same design. An AC adapter and a miniUSB HotSync cable shipped with each of those devices in the box. Each of those Palm devices had two ports on the top or bottom panel of the handheld. One port was for syncing and the other port was for charging. Some of those units (Zire 72, Zire 31 and Z22 I know of for certain) permitted trickle charging via USB alone but it was sort of hit or miss depending on your PC's USB port voltage, chipset, OS etc.
Now, the Treo 500v still ships with separate AC adapter and miniUSB sync cables but they both interface via the SAME port on the bottom panel of the Treo. The 500v has ONE port for both charging and syncing. All earlier Palm devices that did not use MultiConnector or Universal Connector had TWO separate ports for charging & syncing.
See a pic of the bottom panel of the 500v here:
http://www.thetreoblog.com/index.php/2007/09/12/palm-treo-500v-official/
The 500v does NOT use microUSB. It uses miniUSB. I just gave a quick summary of Palm's past devices to show that they've not made the transition to microUSB on any device thus far.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: MiniUSB connector
AFAIK, there's also a miniUSB which has 4 pins and another with 8 pins.
The official USB specification for miniUSB has 5 pins: anything else doesn't conform to the official USB standard, even though it may have a similar appearance.
The microUSB defines a physically smaller miniUSB, again if it's got more than 5 pins then it's not (micro)USB.
Visit www.usb.org for info.
I'm all in favour of a standard adapter. It can be such a drag travelling with chargers for your mobile phone, laptop, camera, media player etc. I suspect the Chinese have had their influence too, didn't they recently ask mobile manufacturers to standardize on a single connector design for chargers?
RE: MiniUSB connector
All the others you mention yes have 2 connectors, a mini USB 5 pin for syncing and a separate one for plugging the charger.
In the Z22, that connector is on the top side of the device.
Peace. :-)
See ya!
RE: MiniUSB connector
Wow, I never knew that (i've not spent much time with the Z22) about the Z22 having just one port. I've only played with the Z22 a few times in the past and it was always fully charged so I never had reason to really think about its charging method.I was too busy paying attention to the screen, buttons etc.
I'll definitely correct that part of the article.
I just assumed the Z22 used the same arrangement as the older white Zires (I used to have a classic white Zire) with 2 separate ports.
Thanks for the tip!
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: We need an industry-standard POWER CHARGER
Apple does this with the iphone and it makes a lot of sense. If you separate the wall bit from the usb charger, you have two useful pieces.
USR Palm Pilot 1000 --> Palm Pilot Professional --> TRG SuperPilot --> Palm IIIc --> Palm V --> Palm M505 --> Palm M515 --> Tungsten T|2 --> Treo 600 --> LifeDrive --> iPhone
RE: We need an industry-standard POWER CHARGER
Careful Gekko, that's just what those reds in China are thinking and I know just how much reds, be they communists, socialists or liberals annoy you!
;-)
RE: We need an industry-standard POWER CHARGER
> then get a USB hub, then use your USB to *WHATEVER* cables
> for charging...
(the original: http://tinyurl.com/yhrsjs)
Giggle.
RE: Is Athena DOA
RE: Is Athena DOA
[OT: Ok, it's vacation time! Five days at the beach. I hope you all have as much fun as me this week.]
Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/
RE: Is Athena DOA
RE: Is Athena DOA
However, having the Athena connector has meant that I could easily put a microphone and vibrating alarm in my TX, so there is some "value" from my perspective. But it can also be pointed out that I really should not have ever needed to do that if Palm hadn't scrimped in the first place.
Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/
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Zire 71
Palm m125 > Palm Zire 71 > Tapwave Zodiac 1 > Palm Zire 72 > Sharp Zaurus SL-C1000 + 4gb MicroDrive + Palm Tungsten T|3 (1100mah)
My T|3 is too [i]sexy[/i] for me.