Mains sockets with USB charger

[Nick]

A simple plug-in supply has so much more in favour of it than an integrated solution like this. Too much technology in the household is a bad thing.

Indeed - everything goes out of date very quickly - the BS socket will be around for a while, but USB "A" connector based charging is already on its way out.

New USB C-based phones, e.g. the Google Nexus and newer Apples, use much higher current charging and over the next couple of years the USB socket in phones will disappear completely as manufacturers eliminate holes in the cases to make them more robust & watertight (and cheaper and simpler to manufacture).

Apple have already done this by removing the 3.5mm phono socket for headphones - everyone is moving to Bluetooth or NFC for that - and the only remaining socket is then the power USB connector and that is being replaced by contactless charging.

The bottom line is that USB composite mains sockets already don't handle USB C correctly and the whole portable electronics world is moving away from wired charging anyway.

When we built our "eco house" 10 years ago, I deliberately kept the infrastructure as low-tech as possible (though we do have heat pumps etc.). There is no complex wired infrastructure besides that used for mains power - my logic was the CAT5e/CAT6/whatever was already evolving so fast that it was pointless to add expense and complexity by building a specific carrier in. 

We use mains-borne wireless internet which works fabulously with a QoS channel being used for audio distribution. Its very simple and easy to upgrade without impacting the house in any way...