Duracell Direct Blog

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas………

Merry X’Mas   Frohe Weihnachten    Buon Natale    Joyeux Noël    Feliz Navidad    Feliz Natal    Glædelig Jul    メリークリスマス    God Jul    Hyvää Joulua   Wesolych Swiat    חג מולד שמח    Veselé Vánoce    圣诞快乐    Boldog Karácsonyt    Nadolig Llawen    Καλά Χριστούγεννα    Geseënde Kersfees    Mutlu Noeller    Nollaig Shona    क्रिसमस की शुभकामनाएँ    Merry Crimbo    Krisimasi Njema    Vrolijk Kerstfeest    С Рождеством

Another commercial from the “Trusted Everywhere” campaign, from Duracell.

Duracell batteries are trusted everywhere, whether you what to power a remote controlled helicopter or ….  Well the real one is not powered by batteries, maybe in the future.

The paramedic is using a Duracell Daylite torch powered by standard alkaline batteries.

Watch more videos like this on DuracellDirect’s YouTube Channel.

Is that even possible, batteries from ordinary office paper?  Well, scientists at Stanford University, California have done just that.

They coated a sheet of paper with special ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires.  Making this coated paper a highly conductive storage device.

Similar to batteries, the coated sheet of paper actually behaves like a super capacitor.  Storing and discharging electricity very rapidly.

Video of this technology in action:

Watch more videos like this on DuracellDirect’s YouTube Channel.

Apart from low-cost, the paper battery worked even when folded, crumpled and soaked in acidic or basic solutions.  What happens if it is set alight?  Apparently, this is yet to be tested.

According to the scientists, this paper battery/supercapacitor may be used in applications like electric or hybrid cars and large-scale storage of electricity on the distribution grid.

With this advancement in technology, you have to wonder how the old reliable AA and AAA batteries will evolve in years to come.  Even digital camera or camcorder batteries.

New York’s at it again or should it be Duracell.  In the earlier post, “Duracell and People Power in New York“, we were wondering what Duracell and New York had planned for New Year’s Eve 2009.

Well, pedal power is back.  The stationary bikes are in the Duracell Smart Power Lab in New York for you to generate power to light up the “2010″ sign.  This time around the sign is made up of 9W LED bulbs instead of the 40W Halogen bulbs.  Yes, New York is going Green with these LED bulbs made by Philips.  According to the article on ny1.com, the new sign is saving about 36 trees with the use of LED bulbs.

So, the question remains, How many people would it take to light up the Big Ben or the London Eye on New Year’s eve in London?

Last minute Christmas shopping, have you got all the batteries for the toys and gadgets?

Check out our hot deals on batteries and other accessories on at the moment.

Duracell Mini Charger

It seems the Mini Charger Black was left out in the earlier blog post, Battery Charging Made Colourful.  In case you are wondering why, this is because that the Mini Charger Black is such a cool product it deserves it’s own post.

This battery charger is supplied with 2 AA size NiMH rechargeable batteries and can charge both AA and AAA size rechargeable batteries.  Only the Mini Colour Chargers are supplied with ActiveCharge rechargeable batteries.

Unlike the Mini Colour Chargers, the Mini Charger Black does look like a wireless mouse.  Makes an ideal gift and perfect for the office prankster.

Remember the earlier blog post about the “Maltese Mountain Climbers and the Duracell Bunny”, well they will be at it again next year when they attempt to climb Mount Everest.  According to the Malta Independent, Duracell will be committing itself to donate 10 cents with the purchase of any pack of Duracell batteries.  Obviously, this only applies to purchases made in Malta.

So, if you are reading this post from Malta or planning a short trip to Malta between now and March next year, don’t forget to buy your Duracell batteries.

The Challenge 8000 team made it successfully back from Mount Cho Oyu this October and will attempt Mount Everest, next year.  They just keep on climbing like the Duracell Bunny powered by Duracell Batteries.  You can read more about their exploits on the Challenge 8000 website.

We require the following competition winners to contact us as soon as possible:

Zoe Corbin

Suzzee Langton

Jonathan Forbes

Sophie Louise Tamblyn

Kate Banks

Lucy Brooksbank

Esther Potter

Amelia Mccarthy

Charlotte Marie

Fiona Edwards

Katie R Stanton

pink_lady123

blueeyesplotter

ginjim70

We are pleased to announce the winners of our Blog Launch Competition and we will be contacting you personally.

If you haven’t been lucky enough to win, look out for more competitions on our blog soon.

Check out Bon Jovi in the Duracell commercial.  This video is from Duracell’s latest “Trusted Everywhere” campaign.

It goes to show whether you are aspiring singer or an accomplished rock star you are going to need batteries.  Especially those wireless microphones which are very power hungry.

Use Duracell batteries, sing your heart out and put on a great show.

Watch more videos like this on DuracellDirect YouTube Channel.

Duracell Santa Bunny

Thinking of ordering something as a Christmas gift, but worried whether you will receive it in time?

At DuracellDirect, all UK orders placed before 4pm on the 21st December will be guaranteed delivery before Christmas.

All EU orders over  €60.00 will be upgraded FREE to a 2 day delivery service.  Orders placed on the before 4.00pm on the 21st December  will be guaranteed delivery before Christmas.

The blog launch competition has now closed and more importantly, we will be announcing the lucky winners in the next few days.

A little reminder of the prizes, not that you would have forgotten, are:

Remote Controlled Helicopters, Duracell Durabeam Torches, Duracell Bunny Torches, Packs of 4 AA Duracell Rechargeable Batteries and Duracell USB Car Chargers.

Thank you for your participation and good luck.

Bulk Pack of Duracell Plus AA Batteries

Well, would you believe it, Christmas is upon us and that means toys, gadgets, electronics and a woolly jumper two sizes too large.

The last thing you need on Christmas day is to spend valuable play time looking for batteries.  Especially, when you read the message, “Batteries Not Included” printed so small it is barely legible.  It is particularly frustrating when the manufacturer does include some cheap batteries.  The type where it stops working just as you start playing and your excitement plummets to depths that you weren’t aware of.

Bundle of AA & AAA Duracell Rechargeable Supreme Batteries

Duracell understands all of these concerns and manufacture longer lasting batteries and they even do bulk packs.  At 18 AAA size batteries or 24 AA batteries per pack, these will definitely keep all those toys and gadgets powered, throughout the festive period and longer.

At DuracellDirect we have gone one step further and have bundled the popular sizes together.  You can now purchase AA and AAA Duracell Plus batteries or even AA and AAA Duracell Rechargeable Supreme batteries.

Keep everyone happy this Christmas, power a variety of toys and gadgets.  Don’t get stuck with the wrong size of batteries.

Checkout our Hot Deals Newsletter for more great offers on bulk packs and bundles of Duracell batteries.

Duracell Bunny

Register your competition entries quickly, if you haven’t already done so.  The closing date is tomorrow, 1st December 2009.

It’s not too late to win loads of Duracell goodies.  Simply, Add a link on your website or blog, Become a fan on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter and many more.  Check our Blog Launch Big Giveaway page for more details.

A little reminder of what you can win, Remote Controlled Helicopters, Duracell Bunny Torches, Duracell Durabeam Torches, Packs of 4 Duracell Rechargeable AA Batteries and Duracell USB Car Chargers.

Register your entries and Good Luck!

Pentax K-x Digital SLR Camera

The latest offering from Pentax, the K-x is a fully featured Digital SLR camera with a 12.4 megapixel sensor.  It has a 2.7 inch LCD screen with Live View and even Face Detection autofocus.  The Pentax K-x even boasts HD video capture.  It can capture widescreen HD video in full 720p resolution at 24 frames per second.  You don’t need any special lens to do this, apparently any Pentax 35mm lens would be suitable.

Duracell ActiveCharge Batteries

All these and more features in a especially compact body for a digital SLR camera, allowing for one handed operation.  Normally, digital SLR cameras are powered by proprietary Lithium-Ion batteries.  The Pentax K-x, can instead be powered by 4 AA size batteries.  That’s right, you read it correctly, 4 AA size batteries.  The camera is supplied with 4 AA size Lithium batteries and can accept AA size Lithium, Alkaline and rechargeable NiMH batteries.

A custom Lithium-Ion battery would be able to last longer and enable you to take more shots, but you cannot beat the convenience of using a AA size battery.  Available at almost every supermarket and convenience store across the planet.  If you forget to charge the Lithium -Ion battery or forget the charger, you have no other choice except to put the camera away.

You can use Duracell Plus, Ultra, PowerPix, Rechargeable Supreme or Active Charge batteries with this digital SLR camera.  The supplied AA size Lithium batteries can take about 1900 shots, or 1100 shots with flash according to Pentax.

Use Duracell rechargeable Supreme batteries for regular use of the camera or get the most out of your device with Duracell ActiveCharge batteries.  ActiveCharge batteries allow you to stay charged longer.

Duracell SDHC Flash Memory Card

This camera can accept both SD and SDHC flash memory cards.

Don’t forget about the DuracellDirect blog launch competition and the free prize giveaway.  With just over a week to go, get your competition entries by Tuesday, 1st December, for your chance to win loads of Duracell goodies.

Register your entry, if you haven’t already done so, by visiting the DuracellDirect blog launch competition page.

A little reminder of what you can win, Remote Controlled Helicopters, Duracell Durabeam and Bunny Torches, Packs of Duracell Rechargeable Batteries and Duracell USB In-Car Chargers.

So, don’t delay and good luck!

Samsung ST550 Digital Camera

Finally, a manufacturer has come to the rescue of countless millions of shutterbugs.  The self-portrait artists who have had faces cropped off, zoomed in too much, missed completely and peering up nostrils.

The small LCD screen at the front, with the smiley face pictured on the left, displays a smaller version of the image.  Letting you position with a minimum of fuss, whilst straining to hold that pose with your friends.

That’s not all, the Samsung digital camera, packs a whopping 12.2 Megapixel sensor, wide anglse zoom lens and a touch screen LCD display at the back.  Not a lot of buttons really.

Duracell 8GB Micro SDHC Flash Memory Card

Both the Samsung ST500 and the ST550 digital cameras take Micro SD or Micro SDHC flash memory cards.  It’s a shame they don’t accept SD memory.  They are guaranteed to work with up to 4GB Micro SD memory cards and up to 8GB Micro SDHC memory cards.

Snap happy with Samsung digital cameras and Duracell Flash memory cards.

Duracell Mini Colour Battery Charger

Duracell has made the world of battery charging more colourful with the launch of these neat little battery chargers.  The Mini Colour Charger is available in Blue, Green and Pink.

These colourful Mini Chargers are supplied with 2 AA size rechargeable ActiveCharge batteries.  As featured in a previous post the ActiveCharge batteries are supplied pre-charged ready to use.

In fact these  Mini Chargers are suitable for any AA size NiMH rechargeable batteries not just the ActiveCharge batteries supplied.

The Duracell Mini Colour Charger makes an ideal gift or stocking filler.  Take the charger out of the packaging and leave it someone’s desk and they could easily mistake it for a shiny new wireless desktop mouse!

Duracell Bunny

The Duracell Bunny Fusion Ad has been creating quite a stir.  The ad has been very popular, featuring the tag line, “ Duracell Ultra, The Power To Do More”.

This is the TV advert where millions of Duracell Bunnies morph into various things including a Twister and a Sumo Wrestler with a catchy tune.

Music for this ad was created especially for Duracell by Apollo Studios based in Montreal.

Duracell Power Lodge New York

It took 137,228 tourists in New York to light up the “2009″ sign on New Year’s eve 2008 according to The New York Times.

Duracell setup a “power lodge” where six stationary bicycles, something like a cross between a snow mobile and a pedalo, were connected to electric generators which charged four large Duracell batteries.  These batteries were then used to light up the sign.

For those who like numbers:

The 2009 sign was made up of 608 halogen light bulbs.

The bulbs require 7.25 kilowatt hours of electricity to light up for 15 minutes.

It took 137,228 people to pedal the required power.

The original goal was 230 pedal hours (surpassed by more than 20%).

So, after a green new year in 2009 with people power, what does Duracell have planned for 2010? and what about London?

How many people would it take to light up the Big Ben or the London Eye on New Year’s eve in London?

Mr Squiggles

Go Go Hamsters are all the rage and are flying off the shelves according to recent press articles.  Toy shops cannot get enough stock to cope with the surge in demand.   Go Go Pets or Go Go Hamsters are the must have toys for this Christmas.  These are also known as Zhu Zhu Pets in the US.

Num Nums

There are four different cute and furry battery powered hamsters to collect, Mr Squiggles and Num Nums pictured, the other two being Pipsqueak and Chunk.  They also have loads of accessories to keep them active.

Yes, they do run around powered by two AAA sized alkaline batteries.  You can use Duracell Plus or Duracell Ultra batteries for longer lasting power.

These are ideal pets as they don’t make any mess, don’t smell, no cages to be cleaned out and no trips to the vet!

Duracell Ultra Advanced Battery

Duracell has announced the launch of a new range of batteries called the Ultra Advanced as part of it’s Smart Power initiative.  You may be wondering that the Duracell Ultra batteries already exist and that they have been in existence for some time.

You are correct, Duracell Ultra, Duracell Ultra M3 and Duracell Ultra Digital already exist.  Duracell Ultra is Duracell’s most powerful battery with longer lasting power and includes a powercheck tester to show you how much power is left in each cell.  The new Duracell Ultra Advanced is more powerful than the Ultra.  Ultra Advanced lasts up to 30% longer than the current Ultra Digital batteries, especially when used in toys.

These batteries also feature the POWERCHECK tester.  Press the two white dots on the battery together to show the power level in that particular battery.  Using the powercheck tester you don’t have to throw away the battery when it runs low.  Simply transfer the battery into a low-drain device like a remote control and get the full use of the battery.

Duracell Ultra Batteries

There is no word yet on the release of Duracell Ultra Advanced in the UK, but these batteries will be available in the US from December.

Don’t forget our blog launch competition.  Add a link, Become  a Fan, Follow Us and then register your competition entry by the 1st December 2009.

Just a few more weeks to go and you could be a lucky recipient of a remote controlled helicopter or one of many Duracell goodies.

Visit the blog launch competition page for more information.

When you need to get to the airport on time and in one piece then make sure you get the taxi which is powered by Duracell Batteries.

That’s right, you can’t top the Coppertop, they are much better than all the other ordinary batteries.

Watch more videos like this on DuracellDirect YouTube Channel.

DuracellDirect Sweden

DuracellDirect Sweden is now live.

DuracellDirect are pleased to announce the launch of our Swedish consumer website.

Visit DuracellDirect EU to see the other European websites.

Efter mycket hårt arbete så har vi äntligen gjort det.  DuracellDirect.se er äntligen klar och uppe och går på nätet.  Du er det bara till att handla och titta inom sidan efter jätte goda tillbud.  Nu är det dags för kalas.  Gott jobbat till alla som utvecklade sidan.

Toshiba Dynario Fuel Cell

Toshiba Dynario Fuel Cell

Electronic giant Toshiba has made mobile fuel cells called Dynario.  This fuel cell falls under the category of Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC), where methanol is used as the fuel.  The small handheld unit contains a lithium ion battery, which is charged by the fuel cell to store electricity.

Methanol, comes into contact with air inside the unit.  The chemical reaction between Methanol and Oxygen produces electricity.  Toshiba says that on a single refill, the Dynario can generate enough power to charge two mobile phones.  The power from the Dynario is supplied via a USB cable and is able to charge a variety of products like Mobile Phones, Smart Phones, MP3 players and PDAs.

Unfortunately, Toshiba is only producing a limited number to gauge consumer reaction to the product and it is going to be available only in Japan.

Duracell Pocket Charger

Not sure if Toshiba is planning to release this fuel cell in the UK  at all, probably depends on the success in Japan.

If you are worried about handling Methanol, dropping the Dynario, or carrying it aboard a plane on a long haul flight then look no further.  Duracell has lots of options for recharging your mobile phones, MP3 players and PDAs like the Instant Power Charger, the Pocket Charger and the Powersource Mini.

These external battery chargers are extremely easy to use and are ideal when you are on the go.  The Instant Power Charger and the Powersource Mini are in fact an external lithium ion battery packs which charge and deliver power via USB.  The Pocket Charger can take 2 AA size batteries either Alakaline or Rechargeable and also delivers the power via USB.

So, until fuel cells become easy to use, readily available at your local store and no fears of unwanted chemical reactions or even explosions you can count on Duracell for safe, effective power even in a long haul flight.