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New USB standard; no more hassle with 'upside down' plugs

NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The next USB plugs -- ubiquitous on smartphones, computers and other devices -- will finally be reversible, a group creating the next USB standard says.

The new connector, called Type-C, will be around the size of a current Micro USB plug but, like Apple's Lightning connector, will finally be reversible, The Verge reported Wednesday.

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No more fumbling to figure out right side up from upside down when charging a phone or laptop.

The Type-C will "meet evolving design trends in terms of size and usability," USB 3.0 Promoter Group chairman Brad Saunders said in a statement. ""Users will no longer need to be concerned with plug orientation/cable direction."

Different USB connectors in use today make it difficult to always have the right cable for a camera, external hard drive, phone, printer or thumb drive, but the Type-C is designed to bring those all together win a single, all-purpose connector and USB port.

"This new industry standards-based thin connector, delivering data, power and video, is the only connector one will need across all devices," Alex Peleg, vice president of Intel's Platform Engineering Group, said in a statement.

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The Type-C connector would make its debut in mid-2014, the industry group said.

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