Almost now, you probably don't have to  lose any sleep worrying about inserting batteries the wrong way round but we're willing to guess that each and everyone of you has experienced putting a battery in upside down.

And now, Microsoft has signalled the end for the polarity issue by announcing its InstaLoad technology.

InstaLoad is a mechanical solution meaning that positive and negative connections become irrelevant when inserting traditional batteries including the popular AA and AAA sizes.

Because it's a mechanical innovation rather than an electrical one (of which, some solutions are already available) InstaLoad has no impact on battery life - it simply makes everyone's lives a little bit easier.

“Microsoft is pleased to offer a royalty-free license program to suppliers and manufacturers for this class of accessibility devices”, said Rusty Jeffress, corporate vice president, specialized devices and applications at Microsoft.

“We believe the InstaLoad feature can make a difference in the lives of those people who need and use these products on a daily basis”.

Duracell is already on board stating that the device delivers a "better experience for consumers" and other companies including ClearSounds and Black Diamond are also backing it.

There's no confirmation as to when we'll actually be seeing InstaLoad in devices yet, but if you're really interested (and why the heck wouldn't you be?) you can read all about it via a dedicated site.