What Is a Mini USB Cable?

USB, also known as "Universal Serial Bus," is a form of data transferring protocol used on PCs and other mobile devices. USB is found in several formats, including cables known as "Mini USB" which were used primarily on mobile devices in the past.

Mini USB Size

Mini USB adapters are approximately 3mm by 7mm in size. Although the size can vary slightly.

Mini USB History

Mini USB cables were largely used in mobile devices as a smaller standard when compared to full sized USB cables. However they were deprecated on January 4th 2007 when micro-USB cables were introduced as the industry standard.

Mini USB Cable Uses

Mini USB cables can be used to transfer data from one device to another, while also providing "charging" capabilities for the batteries of various devices. USB 2.0 is the top supported file transfer type found on Mini USB cables.

Types Of Devices That Support Mini USB

Devices that support mini usb cables include: digital cameras, personal navigation devices (GPS), and cell phones. These devices when introduced as USB OTG devices, which stands for USB On-The-Go devices.

Diffrentiating Between Mini A and Mini B Type Connectors

There are three form factors for Mini USB cables (A, B and AB) which are easily identifiable by their colors. Mini A adapters are white inside their receptacles, while Mini B adapters are black. Mini AB adapters are gray in coloring.

References

• DSLReports - Minu USB Standard sizing questions
• AccessComms - USB Cable Info