This just has to be one of the best pieces of news ever - there is agreement for a standard for mobile phones. It's really as simple as that. Here's the story, on the BBC's junior site, would you believe.
I just can't work out why it has to be mobile phones only, though. Of course there are voltage issues but there are voltage issues between different phones. I'm convinced you could do something clever at an electronic item's end rather than at the adapter end so that my new Apple MacBook (arrived ten minutes ago) could have the same adapter as my wireless earphones - or my mobile, or my computer, or the computer speakers, or...you get the idea.
I've had a discussion today with someone at home that indicates they think my bedside table looks like a branch of a computer store because of all the cables, and I'm inclined to agree. If the IT industry could do something to sort all of this out, they'd be doing us a big favour.