InstaLoad is a patented technology developed by Microsoft which allows cylindrical batteries to function in a battery holder regardless of the batteries' polarity.
The device is designed to save time when swapping out batteries and reduce confusion from hard to read battery diagrams. [1] [2] [3]
Initially battery cell sizes CR123, AA, AAA, C and D were to be catered for. [4]
InstaLoad was designed to address the large number of phone calls to the Microsoft customer help desk in which consumers were improperly placing batteries in Microsoft wireless devices (such as the keyboard and mouse). [2] In 2012 Memory Protection Devices began manufacturing and selling battery carriers that use InstaLoad. Their products are used by EMTS on ambulances and by patients who use life saving devices that are unable to physically change the batteries on their device. [5]
The InstaLoad technology can be licensed from the Microsoft hardware Intellectual Property Licensing program. [6] Microsoft provides royalty-free licensing for manufacturers of accessibility devices. [6] InstaLoad is purely mechanical.
There were concerns that while "cheap gadgets" could benefit from the technology the licensing terms might prove an obstacle to uptake. [7]
The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification and technical standard originally developed by Microsoft and standardized by ISO/IEC and Ecma International that describes executable code and a runtime environment that allows multiple high-level languages to be used on different computer platforms without being rewritten for specific architectures. This implies it is platform agnostic. The .NET Framework, .NET and Mono are implementations of the CLI. The metadata format is also used to specify the API definitions exposed by the Windows Runtime.
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area, but the company's actual roots are in the Tampere region of Pirkanmaa. In 2020, Nokia employed approximately 92,000 people across over 100 countries, did business in more than 130 countries, and reported annual revenues of around €23 billion. Nokia is a public limited company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. It was the world's 415th-largest company measured by 2016 revenues, according to the Fortune Global 500, having peaked at 85th place in 2009. It is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.
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A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others are contactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing. Applications include identification, financial, public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations.
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A battery holder is one or more compartments or chambers for holding a battery. For dry cells, the holder must also make electrical contact with the battery terminals. For wet cells, cables are often connected to the battery terminals, as is found in automobiles or emergency lighting equipment.
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Proprietary software is software that, according to the free and open-source software community, grants its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner a legal monopoly by modern copyright and intellectual property law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing the software or modifying it, and—in some cases, as is the case with some patent-encumbered and EULA-bound software—from making use of the software on their own, thereby restricting their freedoms.
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