Mobile phone fuel cells coming in 2007

[Renew Deal]

Japanese mobile carriers ready fuel cell rechargers

By Paul Kallender, IDG News Service
July 13, 2005

A fuel cell technology that will offer a quick fix for dead or dying mobile phone batteries looks as if its going to be available for millions of people for the first time in the world in Japan in 2007, Japan's two biggest mobile communications carriers said Wednesday at the Wireless Japan 2005 Expo.

DMFCs (Direct Methanol Fuel Cells), which typically work by mixing methanol with air and water to produce electrical power, have for years been promoted as an alternative to lithium ion batteries used in notebook PCs and other portable electronics gear. DMFCs are useful because power can be instantly provided by inserting a fuel cartridge recharger, developers say.

A number of Japan's biggest consumer electronics companies have been developing DMFCs, but prototypes shown to date have been too big and bulky or not capable of producing enough power to be commercialized.

That seems to be changing though.
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http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/07/13/HNmobilefuelcells_1.html?source=NLC-TB2005-07-13