In olden days, people could start cars with dead batteries by pushing them. You can't do that with cellphones and iPods, although some of us have been tempted to throw them.

The Soldius1 (Soldius, $89.99, $99.99 with iPod adapters) attempts to solve the problem for people who find themselves miles from an electrical outlet.

That isn't to blame the device; cellphone manufacturers put a wide variety of charger inputs on their devices, and it would take dozens of adapters to fit all the models over the past five years.

Our Soldius1 came with tips labeled for phones from Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson and Siemens, plus one labeled specifically for Motorola's V60 phone.

It also includes a cable with mini-USB plugs on both ends: one to go into the Soldius1 and the other to go into the adapters or directly into mini-USB ports on the devices.

Although those Motorola phones didn't work with the Soldius1, a companion phone to the SLVR, the Motorola ROKR, is listed on the Soldius Web site as compatible.

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