Finally no more one way on batteries.. via Microsoft?

[naisho]

Microsoft Instaload: New battery is impossible to put in the 'wrong' way round | Mail Online

Poles apart: Microsoft makes it impossible to put batteries in the wrong way round

Read more: Microsoft Instaload: New battery is impossible to put in the 'wrong' way round | Mail Online

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 12:15 PM on 7th July 2010

Anyone who has fiddled around trying to fit batteries the right way round will welcome Microsoft's latest gadget.

The software behemoth has come up with a piece of hardware which will allow you to put batteries into electronic devices any old way - and the firm is offering it royalty-free.

Its 'Instaload' system features + and - terminals at each end of the battery slots in cameras, toys and remote controls.

In a range of sizes, the Instaload will be compatible with batteries bought off the shelf, and Microsoft hopes to put it into production soon.

Microsoft's new design means that batteries can be loaded in any configuration

It has already won the backing of Duracell which says the technology will ‘change the lives’ of those who rely on battery-powered devices.

Since the 1830s, when batteries were first made available commercially, those who use them have had to squint at tiny diagrams on the back of their torch or camera to figure out which way they should go in.

All circuits have a positive and negative charge and batteries are no different: the + and - ends are needed to start a chemical reaction inside the battery and make it work.

InstaLoad works so simply many will be left asking why nobody thought of it before - by using battery contacts that have both a - and the + charge at both ends, thereby dismissing the need to worry about the plus and negative polarity on the power cell.

Microsoft says it is compatible with off-the-shelf batteries in sizes CR123, AA, AAA, C or D.

The design's unique contacts mean that there is no longer a 'wrong' way to put in batteries

The company is now already licensing the technology to third party device suppliers and offering a royalty-free license for suppliers and manufacturers of related products.

Microsoft said: ‘'Users can typically figure out that batteries are
installed incorrectly after two or more attempts.

'The more batteries a device requires, the more opportunity for incorrect installation.

'Removing the issue of incorrect battery installation is one way to
help deliver a better user experience.’

Batteries were created by Alessandro Volta in 1800 with his voltaic pile, a primitive form of what we understand today as a battery, although there is some speculation there could have been earlier versions in ancient times.

Worldwide, around £30billion is spent on batteries each year.

£30 billion = ~45 billion US dollars.

 

[AndyE9503]

Thats one of those things that make me ask "why didnt I think of that?".

 

[Dixie]

Bill Gates strikes gold again, dammit.

 

[Phi4Sius]

Anyone who is so lazy that they can't take less than a millisecond to look at the diagram of how to put a battery in a specific device should be shot.