Cell Phone Industry Inteface Standards?

Is there anyone working on developing an industry standard for cell phone
accessories???

Why do we all have to go out and buy new adapters, interfaces, etc.. as the
phone manufacturers change the phones every other day!

I've seen nifty products like the cellsocket etc.. that will probably die
because they can't afford to keep up the the phone companies..

Computers have standards (USB, SCSI, PCI, AGP, need I mention more?) what
about cellular interface standard for all phones (example: CAP - Cellular
Accessory Port) that can do the following:

Interface with a computer USB
Interface with a charging station (home & car) (1 standard input voltage
say 12V, let the phone adjust if necessary)
Interface with a cellsocket type device
- allow your cell to be used on your 2 line home phones etc...
Interface between phones
- so you can copy addressbooks, calendars etc..

This way everytime we get a new phone, We're not buying $$$$ worth of
accessories all over again...

Is there a forum where the cell phone industry can get this meesage from the
consumers as a group voice?

Just an idea..

Bill

---

› See More: Cell Phone Industry Inteface Standards?

And the incentive for the manufacturers is...?
--
Chris Cowles,
Gainesville, FL

Reply is NOT cross-posted on 27 different newsgroups.


"Billy J" <mdmnews-at-n8hqg-dot-mi-dot-org> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Is there anyone working on developing an industry standard for cell phone
> accessories???
>
> [truncated]...
>
> This way everytime we get a new phone, We're not buying $$$$ worth of
> accessories all over again...

"Billy J" <mdmnews-at-n8hqg-dot-mi-dot-org> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Is there anyone working on developing an industry standard for cell phone
> accessories???

Of course not. Cellphone manufacturers, distributors and dealers make
money selling you a rash of new accessories with each new phone...

> Why do we all have to go out and buy new adapters, interfaces, etc.. as the
> phone manufacturers change the phones every other day!

See above...

> I've seen nifty products like the cellsocket etc.. that will probably die
> because they can't afford to keep up the the phone companies..

Or they need to change their methods. There's a new cellsocket-type
device that works wirelessly via bluetooth. Any bluetooth phone can
work through it.

I had a cellsocket-type device made by a competitor that used
changeable modules- if you changed phones you bought a different
dongle to connect the phone to the device. My aftermarket car
handsfree kit works the same way- the same kit has worked for me with
three different phones.

> Computers have standards (USB, SCSI, PCI, AGP, need I mention more?)

Sure, many computer Connections are standard, but not all,
particularly on portables: laptops don't have standard batteries or
AC/DC power cords, PCMCIA cards often have non-standardized dongles
converting them to standard connectors, etc.

> what
> about cellular interface standard for all phones (example: CAP - Cellular
> Accessory Port) that can do the following:
>
> Interface with a computer USB

What if I want serial? ;-)

> Interface with a charging station (home & car) (1 standard input voltage
> say 12V, let the phone adjust if necessary)

Adds bulk and complexity to the phone. We want the unit as small,
lightweight and battery-efficient as possible. Extra circuitry for
voltage conversion takes up space and generates waste heat.

> Interface with a cellsocket type device
> - allow your cell to be used on your 2 line home phones etc...

Why build features into a phone that 99% of users won't use?
"Cellsocket" interfacing really only requires a headset jack and a
method to dial the phone externally. Bluetooth accomplishes that
nicely, and it's already a standard.


> Interface between phones
> - so you can copy addressbooks, calendars etc..

IR, bluetooth, sync-to-PC and back...

> This way everytime we get a new phone, We're not buying $$$$ worth of
> accessories all over again...

Maybe you shouldn't be changing phones so often... ;-)

> Is there a forum where the cell phone industry can get this meesage from the
> consumers as a group voice?

If a single cellular manufacturer won't bother to standardize (I've
got three Nokia phones with three different headset ports!) what makes
you think a group of competitors will standardize their connectors?

PC connections became standardized because it was in the industry's
best interests to. Cellphone manufactures LIKE the way things are
now, so they won't likely change it for our convenience!

> Just an idea..

A good one for us as consumers, perhaps, but not for them!