2013 International CES (or CES 2013) got underway, Sunday, Jan. 6, with CES Unveiled, where one of the displayed honorees of Innovations Awards was SpareOne, an emergency mobile phone that runs on a single AA battery.

SpareOne, a recipient of the CES Design and Innovation 2013 award for the 'Tech for a Better World' category, is a unique handset in the sense that it can run on a single AA battery. In fact, it's the only handset in the world that can run on AA battery and there's a good reason for that - it's supposed to save human lives and is being pitched as an emergency mobile phone.

"SpareOne is the ultimate emergency, safety and communication device in the absence of power or during natural disasters," its maker XPAL Power Inc. said.

The device features a dedicated 911 dial button and can be used without a SIM card. A SIM card can also be inserted for the user to dial any of the 9 pre-set speed dial numbers. SpareOne supports dual band GSM 850/1900 MHZ or GSM 900/1800 MHZ.

SpareOne has been designed as a weather-proof device as it operates in extreme temperatures of -22F to 140F. It also comes with a talk-through re-sealable, floatable, 1 meter submersible waterproof bag with humidity-proof seal.

The emergency mobile phone has a torchlight that can provide 24 hours of continuous white LED light and boasts of 15 years of battery life (when unused) or 10 hours of talk time (while in use) or 30 days of stand by time.

XPAL Power also introduced SpareOnePlus, the successor of SpareOne, at CES Unveiled. SpareOnePlus comes with all the features of SpareOne and more - it boasts of a cell ID location-based service through a free smartphone app, which offers information such as messages/call history and geolocation, and features an audible numeric feedback that communicates more intuitively with the user.

Both SpareOne and SpareOnePlus measure (h x w x d) 4.3x2.9x0.9 inches (194x118x23mm) and weigh 2.64oz (75g). Alkaline or Lithium AA battery is recommended. The battery is replaceable.

SpareOne comes in white and red colors while SpareOnePlus is available in silver and black colors. SpareOne's officially priced at $99.99 but if you look around, you'll get it for around $50. A word of advise - better to get hold of one because you never know when you'll need it.