GadgetReview

Fuel cell seem to be all the rage nowadays. Whether it’s a fuel cell car or even a fuel cell clock. And why shouldn’t they be? The promise of water powering our gadgets more than any other battery technology is pretty amazing.

However, there’s certainly a lot of hurdles to overcome first. Cell phones require platinum on the electrodes (very expensive) and so far most fuel cells haven’t been able to work off water — they require the highly flammable Methanol.

However, Medis looks to have a solution to both problems with its fuel cell technology. They use an alkaline liquid and a proprietary alcohol based fuel that isn’t nearly as flammable. They also developed a cathode that does not require platinum.

What does this all mean to you? Medis has a portable fuel cell charger for your cell phone that should blow away any competition. Sorry CellBoost.

The Medis Fuel Cell can provide 30 watt hours. Translation? Your RAZR should be able to run for 85.5 hours off this charger.

Amazing potential for road warriors who won’t be guaranteed an outlet anytime soon. Just press the two halves together and you got a charger for that week on the road.

These one-use, throwaway fuel cells should only cost $20. Not bad for your week long trip. You will need an adapter for your particular phone, but Medis expects to have those for only $2.

Unfortunately, since the fuel cell measures (3.2″ x 2.2″ x 1.4″) and weights 5.25 ounces,
we probably won’t see this technology inside phones for awhile. However, as a charger — awesome.

Story via Mobile Burn

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2006 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Wacky. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.