KDDI Cell Phone with Fuel Cell

It’s a little thicker than a regular cellphone but this prototype handset from Toshiba can last about 13 days on standby and then be recharged in seconds. It’s based on a direct methanol fuel cell which produces electricity from a reaction between methanol, water and air. The early by products are a small amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide. The prototype includes a lithium ion battery which is needed to cope with the spikes and power demands from the cellphone. That combination means the phone can run around 320 hours before a recharge which is about 3 days longer than the equivalent commercial handset. But the biggest advantage of a DMSC is that it can be refilled in seconds with a squirt of methanol rather than having to wait an hour to for the battery to be recharged. The phone is more advanced than one that was shown last year at Ceatec but there’s still no word on when it might be available. Toshiba has been promising a commercial battery charger based on the same fuel cell technology for several months but has yet to announce a commercial product for that either. The charger will be a portable device that can be used to recharge the batteries in gadgets such as cellphones, music players, and game devices instead of plugging them into an electrical socket. At Ceatec 2009, this is Martin Williams, IDG News Service.

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