Amazon(AMZN) has banned merchants on its platform from selling non-standardized USB-C cables and adapters, following concerns over the safety of substandard products.
USB-C connections are found in some of the latest laptops and cellphones, such as Google’s(GOOG) second-generation Pixel laptop and Apple’s(AAPL) MacBook, and Google’s newest Nexus handsets. They are used for both charging and transferring data.
The “future-proof” standard improves on its predecessors by being reversible — like Apple’s Lightning connectors, it doesn’t matter which way up you plug the thing in.
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However, as Google engineer Benson Leung found out, the quality of some off-brand USB-C connectors and adapters was pretty bad. He tested many that he found on Amazon and discovered some did not work with the devices they were supposed to — indeed, one fried his Pixel.
Now Amazon has added to its list of prohibited electronics a reference to “any USB-C (or USB Type-C) cable or adapter product that is not compliant with standard specifications issued by ‘USB Implementers Forum Inc.'”
For more on the MacBook, watch:
Leung spotted the change, writing on his Google+ page:
“Really great news, but we all have to continue to be vigilant and call out any bad products we find on Amazon and other stores (both online and brick and mortar) as we find them.”