So basically what I want to do is power my Flip Mino HD camera from my car and be able to record while it is being powered or charged. Trouble is, the camera only charges from the usb port on it and when connected, it is unable to record. I took the thing apart and got to the battery:

Rechargeable Li-ion
Model No. 1UF463450-1-T0058/NP20
P/N: 02404-0013-00
Rating: 3.7V
920mAh, 3.5Wh

Now I'm not an electronics expert, so a few things are confusing to me here.

1. Do I need to know how many amps the camera draws?
2. Can I piggy back a charge into the battery and basically supplement the power from the battery with the car's power, or would that fry the battery because there is no charging regulation.
3. Is the power from a car stable enough to do this? I assume I'll need to lower the input voltage with some resistors to get to 3.7V, but is that alright?
4. Any tips, suggestions, or comments.

Thanks! And this is my first post, so please point me to the right direction if I overlooked something.

 

Being a LiIon battery it's best left to its own charging circuit or they can turn into large explosions.

Odd that they'd disable that capability unless the charger isn't powerful enough to run the device by itslef so they make you wait until the battery comes up.