DISQUS

Mobile Industry Review: ‘And a 3.5mm jack’ - Why isn’t this a standard?

  • imaginator · 11 months ago
    or an old-school 6.35mm jack? Agreed. 3.5mm should be everywhere. While we are having a go at the G1, the USB connector they chose isn't even proper mini-USB. It's some wierd USB with a corner notch cut out so you have to buy an extra expensive replacement.

    And while in rant-mode, when will nokia let you charge off USB without selling you a different, although looks identical USB cable to do that?
  • Mike42 · 11 months ago
    er...the G1 HEADSET connector has a square corner, so it will only fit into a G1. The phone's port is a normal USB, with extra space to allow the proprietary headset connector.

    Any mini USB headset will work with the G1, but you can't use a G1 headset with any other USB device.

    We were trying to work out why....maybe HTC have seen a spate of box-breaking where people nick the headset? Maybe there's proprietary wiring inside? Who knows.
  • @geekyouup · 11 months ago
    are you sure? in my experience not even every HTC mini USB headset will work on the G1. I've tried Motorola USB headsets, samsung USB headsets, HTC Touch Diamond USB headsets, none of them worked. Honestly, if it doesn't say G1 on the pack then I'd advise not going there.
  • squawkBOX · 11 months ago
    I currently use both a Nokia N95 8GB and a Nokia E71. I love the E71 and I find I'm using it more and more (due to the keyboard) - however the one thing that I dislike is the use of a 2.5mm port. Even though the phone is newer than the N95 8GB, I feel it is going back a step by including these old school connectors!

    I know I can get an adaptor, however I feel that at the planning stage it should have been changed to a 3.5mm connector.
  • Abul · 11 months ago
    Nokia's E Series have always had 2.5mm as standard, only recently has this trend started to disperse (thanks to bloggers around the world!) :D
  • Mike42 · 11 months ago
    ...Is there a 3.5mm standard for microphone / button implementation?

    AFAIK even Apple haven't standardised this...I can't use my iPhone buds to pause/start iTunes tracks when connected to my MacBook.
  • Abul · 11 months ago
    Well said Ewan, Nokia has the picture now, they've had enough nagging from bloggers about the 3.5mm being a standard. I'm not so sure other manufacturers will get the message, or perhaps they are being "dick-tated" by the bigger players who provide the OS and require certain specs.
  • Martyn Davies · 11 months ago
    Agree entirely. There are many things I like about my E61i, but the headphone interface isn't one of them. I had to buy a stupid dongle for the feature connector at the bottom of the phone. Of course, you can never find it when you want it, so it's easier to carry around a separate mp3 player as well.
  • meraj · 11 months ago
    Were you like this when not very long ago they used to say "and it has a camera!"
  • Ewan · 11 months ago
    They still do say 'it has a camera'!
  • widehead · 10 months ago
    What's with the new microUSB port too?
  • Adam · 10 months ago
    The G1 uses HTC's standard ExtUSB connection. All of HTC's phones support this jack and it has many advantages, such as charging, data I/O, Audio I/O, Video I/O all at the same time. See: http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&...