World News: Talking Tech: The way you charge your iPhone could change

Thursday, October 6

Happy Thursday. It's October, which means we've officially entered spooky season. It's Brett Molina back again. No tricks, just tech headline treats.

If you're like me, then you might have a plethora of charging cords lying around. Maybe there's one for your phone, another for a smartwatch, and even others for different devices like laptops.

If you live in Europe, that's about to change. The European Parliament approved a law requiring a single charging cord for all mobile electronic devices. One cord to rule them all, if you will (sorry, I'm rewatching the "Lord of the Rings" movies).

Great news for consumers. No more spending extra money on charging cables. Apple is likely not as thrilled. If you own an iPhone, then you're aware they require a proprietary Lightning cable to charge them (as well as AirPods).

So if you live in the U.S., why should you care? As a result of the ruling, it's possible all future iPhones shift to USB-C charging. If it happens and you upgrade, no more need for those Lightning cables. In fact, a group of U.S. senators urged the U.S. Commerce Department in June to create a universal charger for all mobile devices.

What else happened in tech?

Did Verizon just raise prices? A new administrative fee means a higher bill.

Elon Musk vs. Twitter. The billionaire said he's going to buy the social media platform after all. Now what?

Video games and fitness. As we learned forever ago with Wii Sports, you don't have to sit on the couch to play video games. Now there are mobile games to push kids outdoors.

Thursday's tech tip

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