The manufacturer claims the USBCell take about 5 hours to charge to 90% capacity, and that “Charging for just a few minutes provides extra hours of instant use for most input devices.” The batteries are standard 1.2v 1300mah NiMH rechargeables and can even be charged using common AA NiMH battery chargers if you can’t spare any USB ports or happen to have an NB-Mate. The batteries sell in packs of 2 for £12.99 (approx. $27.50 CDN) and are currently only available to ship to the UK, but the company provides a form where you can leave your contact details so they can let you know when they are available to ship to your country.

For road warriors who rely on AA battery powered devices, like cordless mice, these babies could mean one less device to pack on those long trips, and will even allow you to charge your batteries when you don’t have access to an AC outlet, provided you have a notebook which has some charge left in it’s battery. It would be a tough call though, having to choose between squeezing every last minute out of your untethered notebook and being able to charge your AA battery.