The Micro USB Type-B connector is now a standard and the most popularly used in the mobile industry, before, not only separate cables were needed for charging a device and transmitting data, but every manufacturer had proprietary cables, making it hard to share cables between devices. The Micro USB Type-C connector was recently announced and it’s expected to be used in a lot of devices this year. The new cable brings a lot of benefits, being reversible plugging the feature that most consumers will notice, but other features include faster transfer speeds and it has a much higher power output, so larger devices like laptops will be able to charge their batteries with this kind of cable and the same cable could be used to charge other ones from the laptop or even a smartphone’s battery since it supports bi-directional power.
A report mentions that Takeshi Nitta from Sony stated that the company is investigating using this new type of connector in future mobile products, but he also said that the industry needs more time to migrate to this new standard. Also, even when the new port measures 8.4 mm by 2.6 mm, this wouldn’t help in the creation of thinner and lighter devices as the components that should get thinner are displays and camera modules, so they don’t seem to be in a hurry to make use of the new benefits. Sony has developed the technology necessary to make the charging port water-resistant, as the recently announced Xperia Z3+ features this port uncovered by flaps, unlike their past flagships that are certified against water or dust damages.
Google also showed some interest in this new standard, as they have announced that their newest operating system currently known as Android M will support USB Type-C connectors. In the case of Android devices, they could be charged as much as 3.5 times faster and with devices that are getting larger batteries, some others could be charged as well. It might be safe to assume that the new Nexus device will feature this kind of connector and shortly after, other companies will follow their steps, so if Sony releases their new flagship before, they would have an excuse to use the older standard but if they announce it after, it might be perceived as outdated from the moment of the announcement.