New PlayStation whith Micro USB

Sony loves its proprietary standards, and while they occasionally make sense, every time we run out of space on a Sony-exclusive memory card or lose our Sony-exclusive charging cable we curse them to high heaven. Thankfully, it looks like the company has finally seen the light with the new PlayStation Vita. According to PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida, the second-generation PS Vita will charge over micro-USB, such that you can use most any smartphone charger to fill up the handheld video game system's battery. That's particularly good news given that the Vita's battery life is still rated at only six hours on a charge.

Though Sony had actually been moving towards more standardized ports since last year, adding micro-USB charging to a number of its cameras, its latest SmartWatch, and the Sony Xperia Tablet Z, it's a fairly recent move. Even the PlayStation 3, which was lauded for using a standard hard drive and mini-USB ports for its gamepads, wouldn't allow you to charge those controllers without a signal from the PlayStation 3 or another host computer.