About a year ago I found a report that Korea was looking to mandate standard cellphone connectors. A great idea that was long overdue as mini USB adapters, cables, car chargers are now easy to come by.

A year on and we've got the happy situation in our house that my K-Jam, Storms Dash and our 'spare' RAZR all share USB chargers.

Looks like the days of Nokia and Sony having their own chargers are even more numbered with China getting in on the act as well.

This will all be good as long as everyone can agree on which of the 3 mini-USB plugs to use, and stop messing about adding proprietary lumps to the connector (Fuji, I'm looking at you and your really annoying cameras that won't charge off a standard cable but require a dongle as well).

Mini USB to 3.5mm adaptorNext step will be to standardize headphone/headset connectors so I can find good accessories and re-use them. I'm happy to use the mini-USB jack for that as well (especially as Brando have a good mini-USB to headphone solution) that at least makes listening to music on the device a little less of a trial. Longer term I'm hoping to find a simple Bluetooth headset that operates as a mono single ear Borg attachment for phone calls when I'm walking around but when I'm at home and want to use my PC (to listen to music or for Skype) I can attach the second earphone (ideally with a frame to support the weight rather than my ear) and listen in comfort wirelessly - but still answer the phone (or Skype) without fumbling.

Ah, standards. Steps on a road to happiness I suspect. It's just sometimes it's a very long and difficult road!