Universal battery

A system has an adapter/charger to receive power from a power source and output a first DC power signal. A universal battery receives the first DC power signal directly from the adapter/charger and supplies a second DC power signal, whereby the universal battery includes at least one battery cell chargeable by the first DC power signal and outputs a programming signal to the adapter/charger. A power tip receives the second DC power signal and outputs a third DC power signal useable by an electronic device. The power tip includes control circuitry to output a programming signal to program a magnitude of the first DC power signal.