Sanyo will release next month its first USB charger specially made for their Eneloop "ready to use" upon purchase rechargeable batteries.

The charging time is approximately 280 minutes for two AA size and 120 minutes for two AAA size batteries. The charging speed is doubled when users charge only one battery at a time.

 
The cable of the USB charger can be rolled up and stored within after use.
Dimensions : 93mm x 47mm x 17.5mm for 48g.

Eneloop are Ni-MH rechargeable batteries that can be used like a dry cell battery - ‘immediately after purchase" and later recharged up to 1000 times.

Sources : Ubergizmo, Sanyo

Will Sanyo revolutionize the way we use batteries on electronic devices ? Today, by chance I found a place selling Eneloop batteries and bought few packs. 

Eneloop are Ni-MH rechargeable batteries… nothing very new till here.

The difference ? They are sold fully charged so you can buy and use them immediately.

Then once the power is gone, instead of throwing them away returning them to your preferred shop for recycling, you can simply recharge them as any Ni-MH or Cad-Ni rechargeable batteries.

En Resumé : eneloop is a combination of a rechargeable and a disposable battery.

• Ready for immediate use
• Low self-discharge
• environment friendly
• universal applications (actually available in AA & AAA size)
• higher performances (up to 4 times more powerful than Alkaline batteries)
• Recyclable package

Technical specs :

AA   : 2000 mAh (min. 1900 mAh)
AAA : 800 mAh (min. 750 mAh) 
Charging cycles : 1000
Price : 500 THB (14.25 USD for 4)
Storage Energy loss : after 6 month 10%, after a year 15%
Charging time : depending on the charger. Sanyo says 250 mins for 2 AA batteries

So now it's testing time, but I already like the idea of having batteries that offer advantages of both disposable and rechargeable ones.

Source : Sanyo