Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announces it will no longer allow the sale of USB cords that could potentially fry your gadgets.
The company, in its newly-updated list of banned items, now includes "any USB-C cable or adapter product that is not compliant with standard specifications."
The new USB Type-C power cord standard is smaller, universal and reversible. It's capable of supplying substantially more power to a gadget than the old micro-USB cords, which for years had been the standard cords for smartphones.
If users charge their smartphone by plugging a USB-C cord into their laptops, a faulty cord could drain far more power from that laptop than the computer is designed to supply, destroying it -- and the smartphone -- in an instant.
The USB-C standards-setting group, the USB Implementers Forum, has been issuing a seal of approval for safe USB-C cords since they first appeared on the market last year. But Amazon had allowed non-certified cords on its website. Many bricks-and-mortar stores, such as Staples and Best Buy, committed to selling only certified USB-C cords last year.
Amazon shares gained 31 cents to $599.00 U.S. in early Thursday trading, within a 52-week trading range of $368.34 to $696.44 U.S.
Tech Insider
