Copy And Paste, And A New Green Charger

Yesterday I wrote about Microsoft's decision to leave clipboard functionality out of Windows Phone 7. That isn't the end of the story though. AT&T also announced a new green charger that uses no electricity when your phone is not plugged into it. Let's hit the news about Microsoft first.Microsoft stated in no uncertain terms that Windows Phone 7 Series would lack the ability to copy and paste data. The reason given? That "most users, including Office users, don't really need clipboard functionality."

Fortunately it turns out that isn't the reason. That was just misguided PR spin. According to the I Started Something blog, WinPho 7 will get a clipboard. A lot of thought has gone into how it would work and there are plans to bring it release it soon after the initial release of the platform. That's great news. Now, why didn't they just say that at Mix10 instead of telling users what they don't need? It only makes them look simultaneously arrogant and stupid.

For something a bit less controversial, AT&T has announced a new charging adapter for phones called the ZERO. You probably know that your phone charger is burning energy even with no phone attached. That is why it is always just a bit warm to the touch. I have a friend that religiously unplugs all chargers when not in use. I'm a bit too lazy for that. I have two chargers for my phone, one upstairs and one down, that are always plugged in, as well as two different laptop chargers. I'm really not sure how much energy I am wasting by doing this, but I rationalize it is far less than the amount of energy I'd burn crawling behind furniture daily to unplug and plug these things in.

According to AT&T, normal chargers, when plugged in but not charging anything, may consume anywhere from 5 to 20 times the amount of power that is stored in the intended device's battery . That's a lot of power. Their new ZERO charger has some intelligence to it and when nothing is plugged in, it draws absolutely zero energy. The nice thing is they aren't specific to any phone but are USB based, so they should work with just about any phone that can be charged by your computer's USB port.

There is no pricing yet, nor an availability date, but you can enter your email address at AT&T's site to get a notice when it is ready for sale.