Anyone who has a laptop, cell phone or a digital camera probably knows what it is like to run out of juice when performing a major task on the computer, making that important call, or taking that award-winning snapshot.

I happen to have two laptop batteries and four sets of rechargables for my digital camera, but I am still paranoid about a power failure. My wife and I are constantly running out of power on our cell phone, even though we hardly use the darn thing.

When I arrive at a hotel room, the first things I unpack is my power strip, and my battery recharger. OK, I lie. The first thing I unpack is my bottle of single malt whisky, but that's another story.

The fact is, rechargables don't hold their charges and a slip of the mind could bring up the dreaded laptop beep and the warning to shut down the computer immediately before the work is lost.

Breakthroughs in battery power and utility are relatively slow. That's why the announcement by Toshiba this month that it had developed what it calls Advanced Lithium Batteries (ALB), is a hopeful sign of the future.

ALBs are similar to lithium-polymer batteries, which are made of a gel.

Lithium-polymer batteries were introduced to the market two years ago but haven't caught on as they don't hold their charge as well as manufacturers originally thought and are up to 30 percent more expensive than lithium-ion batteries.

Manufacturers claim that lithium-polymer batteries can last from eight to 12 hours. The ALB's advantage is that it can be molded to a one-millimetre, compared with standard lithium-ion batteries that are about five-millimetres thick. About 90 percent of notebooks and up to 70 percent of cellphones use lithium-ion batteries.

In other words an ALB battery that is the same size as a lithium-ion battery will let you stay booted up for longer. ALB costs about 20 percent more than lithium-ion batteries but slightly less than lithium-polymer ones.

Toshiba expects that the new battery will be available in 2002. Meanwhile companies like Motorola and Manhattan Scientifics, Inc. are working on an even more exciting technology -- portable fuel cells.

Thin sheets of the fuel cells run on a methanol-water mixture. The miniature fuel cells will operate alongside lithium-ion batteries to recharge them.

Recently a test of the technology allowed a cell phone to run continuously for 24 hours on fuel cell power.

Robert Hockaday, one of the inventors working on the new battery, promises that fuel cells will give cell phones the ability to be operated for 100 hours of talk time and 40 days on stand by. Maybe when the fuel cell gets developed I'll be less paranoid about a power failure. For now I'm packing my power strip and recharger.

I'm somewhat of a bugbear -- some might say buffoon -- on the Internet as I constantly dash off e-mails to websites that contain what I see as big obstacles to gaining customers.

One practice that never fails to amaze me is the large number of Internet sites that require you to input your credit card number before they give you a final tally of the exact amount you will be charged, including shipping costs.

An example is Fatbrain, an online subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, which should know better. After I stalled on buying a $60 book when asked to give my credit card at the Fatbrain checkout I sent them an e-mail explaining why I took my business elsewhere.

I am not going to give my credit card number to anyone without knowing the amount that's going to be charged. I want to see a total tally of all the products that I'm about to purchase and the shipping costs either immediately before I input my credit card number or on the same page.

To its credit, the company has an automated e-mail answer service, which immediately stated that my message was received and was being dealt with. Then three days later, customer service representative Kristy Hodge wrote back stating that: "Thank you for sending us your feedback. I have taken special care with your concern and have sent it to the appropriate department for consideration. This issue will be addressed. If there's anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask.'' Now I like that reply. Even if the company eventually disagrees with me, and so far nothing has changed on the site, they have acknowledged my complaint.

That's good business practice, even if I subsequently never buy a book from them.

Tech Tattle deals with topics relating to technology. Contact Ahmed at editor yoffshoreon.com or (33) 467901474.

Longer life: new batteries could enable people to speak longer on cellular phones.