Re: Mobile phone fuel cells coming in 2007
- From: Carolyn <momarch27959@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2006 03:33:35 GMT
Im sticking with unleaded regular in my cell phone.
lkgeo1 wrote:
Mobile phone fuel cells coming in 2007A 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. 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.
NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp., Japan's number one and number two
mobile communications carriers, plan to have fuel cell rechargers for
mobile phones in shops the year after next, officials from both
companies said.
Japan's mobile phone vendors spent years trying to get the battery
life of 3G (third-generation) mobile phones to match that of the
country's 2G digital phones. Next year a new problem will hit
vendors as they put power-hungry digital TV receivers into phones as
the country's digital TV network goes nationwide. The antennas
will knock usage time back down and that's where DMFCs will help,
vendors and carriers say.
In DoCoMo's case, the company has a prototype charger on display
at Wireless Japan. It is developing the charger with Fujitsu
Laboratories Ltd., and the device is near to making the cut for those
of the carrier's nearly 50 million subscribers looking for a quick
power fix, said Kazuhiko Takeno, a manager at the company's
Technical Support Group.
The recharger, which is a cradle design, is still a bit bulky at 15
centimeters by 5.6 cm by 2.5 cm, and weighs 190 grams. But it has
basically got enough juice to do the job. The carrier's customers
can look forward to buying a commercial version around mid-2007, Takeno
said.
The version on display at the Expo is a big improvement on an earlier
model the company showed last September, he said.
That's because while it's about the same size and volume as
the older model (the older version being marginally thinner), the new
prototype has enough power to recharge a mobile phone battery three
times, which is much nearer to being worthwhile for customers, he said.
The latest version uses an 18 milliliter shot of fuel, the same amount
as the old model used; the prior model could only recharge a battery
once, Takeno said.
Fuel-cell technology is also looking viable for KDDI's customers,
according to Youichi Iriuchijima, an assistant manager at the
company's IT Development Division.
At last October's Ceatec Japan 2004 exhibition, Iriuchijima showed
prototype rechargers from Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp., saying
improved versions would be in the shops in 2006. That schedule has
slipped to January 2007, mainly because it's not until that year
when regulations will be changed that will allow passengers to carry
methanol on planes, he said.
Both Hitachi and Toshiba have improved their technology over the last
nine months, he said.
For a start, the designs shown last October were only mock-ups and
displayed under glass. This year's versions both actually produce
electricity. To prove the point, he took a vial of diluted methanol and
plugged it into the side of the Hitachi recharger, and the mobile phone
it was supposed to power immediately sprang into electronic life.
The two working prototypes take a different approach to Fujitsu's
models, however, being boxes that use cords to feed power to the mobile
phones.
The Hitachi version is 12.2 cm by 7.6 cm by 2.2 cm, weighs 175 grams
and offers two recharging options. A 2 ml vial of fuel, which snaps
into the side of the device, can power a mobile phone for about an
hour, while a 15 ml vial gives about 5 hours of power, Iriuchijima
said.
The Toshiba version is bigger, at 11.7 cm by 11.3 cm by 2.5 cm, and the
prototype weighs 250 grams, about twice the weight of a typical
Japanese-model 3G mobile phone. But size brings power in Toshiba's
case, with a 20 ml vial of fuel capable of delivering 20 hours of
power, he said.
These specifications, which weren't available last year, will
change for the commercial models, Iriuchijima said. He did not reveal
pricing or other details.
And beyond that, KDDI was also showing even smaller versions of DMFCs
that are integrated into mobile phones. These, however, were mock-ups
and they were not producing electricity.
Shrinking DMFCs into sizes that can be fitted into mobile phones and
having them good enough to sell will take about three years,
Iriuchijima said.
"Replacing lithium ion batteries with same-size fuel cells is very
difficult technology," he said.
For DoCoMo, such fuel cells may not be available until the end of the
decade, Takeno said.
Wireless Japan runs until Friday at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition
center.
.
- References:
- Mobile phone fuel cells coming in 2007
- From: lkgeo1
- Mobile phone fuel cells coming in 2007
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