The European Commission is urging mobile phone manufacturers to start using standard connectors for chargers, headsets and other accessories. If the manufacturers refuse to take action, the European Commission is considering issuing a law that will force them to. That sounds a bit like shooting a cannon at a mosquito (Dutch proverb), but I think they're right. This is one annoyance that the market is not going to fix, because cell phone companies have everything to gain from the current lock-in they have on consumers. If you have a Nokia hands-free set built into your car, three Nokia chargers (one at home, one at work, one at your girlfriend's), and a Nokia headset, then you will be seriously hesitant to switch to SonyEricsson, even if the phone itself is more appealing. Buying the phone won't cost you that much, but replacing all your accessories will. Somehow, the computer industry managed setting a shared standard with USB, but I don't see the mobile phone industry doing the same, so maybe shooting the cannon of the European Commission at the mosquito of annoying proprietary connectors is the only way to fix this.

[Picture from wirelessmaster.net]

UPDATE
Apparently I was wrong in my assessment that the market wouldn't fix this issue. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the industry announced that by 2012 the majority of the models should use a new, universal micro-usb charger [via Bright].