Smart, simple and marketable. Samsung’s male adapter USB antenna for a cell phone is all of these things, yet, it is a feature not easily found. No losing a cord to charge my cell phone on the road, just a friendly USB connection to suck power from anything else in my bag with a port, and, well, power. This kind of universal access would be a major convenience.
More description and why this likely won’t happen…
From the patent:
the wireless communication device of the present invention comprises a body 31 having an input/output port 32 for data communication integrated with an antenna. The wireless communication device as shown in the drawing is a cellular phone and the input/output port 32 is a USB port that projects out of the body 31 of the wireless communication device. In an alternative embodiment, the input/output port 32 may be an IEEE 1394 port.
So there is a cool USB antenna sold on the gadgetshop that allows PCs to receive TV signals. Maybe a USB cell antenna wouldn’t destroy reception, which would be my main concern.
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OK, here’s the main reason this will likely not be on the next cell phone we buy. Cell phone accessories are very big business. Specifically, accessories = profits if interface = proprietary. USB isn’t proprietary, hence, doesn’t make most companies that sweet after-market profit stream based purely on a forgettable $20 cable left at home where it does no good.
Wishing: consumer convenience in design > need for proprietary profits.
