Slashdot Mirror
Motorola Makes Gasoline Powered Cell Phones
Wister285 writes "Well, now that PDAs are integrated with cell phones, you'll need some extra juice to power that thing. Motorola seems to think that the next generation of cell phones needs to be powered by gas (fuel cells). Supposedly these cell phones can last for a whole month without needing to be recharged. Batteries are not being eliminated since the "power plant" of the phone is located on the user's belt. Seems interesting. Gives a whole new meaning to "Fill 'er up!""
..which is powered by my own hot-air.
When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.
The first paragraph of the article (which is all I bothered to read, but that's still more than CmdrTaco) clearly says "methane gas-powered", not "gasoline powered".
Slashdot is jumping the shark. I'm just driving the boat.
I'm sure most humans would be capable of providing their own fuel for a methane powered cell phone.
now my phone will smell as bad as my car!
Leaping to the conclusion of 'gasoline powered' was certainly a leap.
Bioootch
Will it interfere with my conversations? (I lay this karma upon the alter for sacrifice...)
Why bother.
Great. As if it wasn't bad enough to share the road with people trying to hold on to a cigarette and a cell phone more than they are hanging on to their 3+ ton SUV. Now they are going to be catching on fire too.
Great I can't keep my lawnmower working more than half a season. I hate small gasoline motors. It's also wonderful how you can't get the smell off your hands when you spill some.
I used to wonder what was so holy about a silent night, now I have a child.
Could this be the "Killer App" for fuel cells?
They won't get cheaper untill there's a mass market, cell phones could be the answer.
Get the EULA T-shirt
such as solar, or kinetic, when you can just use cheaper, greenhouse causing sources?
Carbon monoxide & radiation...how would you like to die today?
Methinks it stinks.
Best Slashdot Co
...and should the user ever finds him or herself amidst rioting - viola! Molotov phone!
Not only does God definitely play dice, but He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. -Hawking
Is this an auto-poster program? Because if it is, it's suprisingly good at stripping the relevant material out of an article and post.
Are you doing some sort of computer reading research at a graduate school somewhere?
Slashdot is jumping the shark. I'm just driving the boat.
Hrrm. Does it use a pull-cord to start the phone? Does that mean I can wander around asking people to yank my cord to start me up? Heh. "Yank it, baby! Yank it! W000t!".
Fuel cells are fine and dandy, but shouldn't we be coming up with things like better batteries or kinetic chargers to charge batteries while we move? They've just given us another way to expedite the depletion of our natural resources.
"The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley..." - ROBERT BURNS
Although others have already mentioned it, I thought I'd rail on CT for making the mistake of calling gas powered phones "gasoline powered". Talk about confusing, until I read the article I was trying to figure out how you'd fit a gasoline pump nozzle into anything I'd want to attach to my belt. Maybe that whole "liberal education" thing isn't such a bad idea after all?
So the phone is powered by methane? That sure brings new use to going out for Mexican food during lunch. Now instead of rednecks cowtipping you'll have techies running around the pastures trying to capture some of that "natural" gas!
(humor)
~ now you know
Maybe the next version can run off your "hot air". After all, it is methane powered, but I don't think I would like to get that intimate with my cell phone just to make a call. But maybe they could run them off pig farts like they cook meals on woks in some remote parts of China. (I saw it on the Discovery channel.)
"Sorry Dave, my phone's running low! But I've got some beans in my pocket ... I'll call you back in an hour!"
If the power cells start containing gasses... then phones will become much lighter.
The only problem is with public perception...
... images of exploding phones next to my head does not conjure up great feelings of trust.
Plus they may not be allowed on airplanes.
(There was this crash not so long ago... so there's a lot of FUD)
Dom.
"OK, who just farted in here?"
"Oh, that's just Joe using his methane powered cell phone."
I can't wait to be riding in a car/bus/subway full of these things.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
The way i understand it, it works as follows:
1. You buy the fuel cell powerplant which is slightly smaller than a standard battery
2. You keep using you phone as usual - recharging the normal battery when it goes flat.
3. If you are out in the fields with no electricity or in a hotel without your charger, you hook up the phone with the flat battery to the fuelcell to recharge the normal battery
4. After charging the devices are disconnected from each other and you keep using your phone like you are used to...
I kinda like the idea, but hope for flexibility in the fuelcell device. It sure would kick ass if i not only could "refuel" my cell but also my PDA, MP2 player or whatever gizmo is currently hungry.
+++ath0
im going to put dual exhaust on that bad boy.
DUH... I don't think I'd enjoy lugging around anything that smelled like that noxious gasoline.
Atlanta's "Varsity" restaurants will start having charging stations next to the bathrooms...
"The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley..." - ROBERT BURNS
I just want my phone to work if I drop it, or at least work under normal circumstances for at least a year. Is introducing MORE moving parts going to make phones more reliable? Charging isn't really a problem now. Most batteries can last for days at a time. At works, you go home every night and drop your phone in the charger. How tough is that? What's the point of adding incredible complexity and expense to phones? So that I can put my phone on my desk instead of in it's charger every night? This is absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, just what I need. A more complicated phone.
(nt)
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
I think we can all agree that the standby time on a modern digital cell phone has gotten to the point where most of us are more then satisfied with it. I can go for three or four days without charging my phone if I only use it a few minutes a day. And how many people go three or four days without being able to recharge their phone.
Where this will really come into play is the power cell users. The people that for one reason or another spend most of the day on a cell phone. A college student for example that spends all day on campus but in the course of his day talks to his girlfriend for an hour between classes, his work for an hour, his buddies to figure out what bar to go to that night etc.
One thing that article really didn't get into that I would want answered before I put one of thse on my belt is saftey. If I slip and fall and land on my cell phone I don't want it to erupt into flames. Other then that I can see these doing well even if they aren't needed, for no other reason then the "my cellphone is better then yours" discussion we all get into from time to time.
"You can't fight in here! This is the war room" --Dr. Stra
If they would sell a simple add-on device for it, you could power your cell phone bye eating beans...
the radiation of my cell phone and a cell full of methane in the same piece of hardware. I'd start looking at yesterday's story on body powered batteries before I started walking around with methane on my belt. So what kind of emissions do these things put out?
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
Imagine you are sitting in the board room of the chief shareholders of your company. You stand to make a presentation...
:-P
Your methane fuel cell leaks.
Now all the shareholders accuse you of nasty farts when they smell you, and you are fired.
I'll stick to my normal cell batteries, thank you very much!!!
Note to moderators: This was a vain attempt at some humor. Gimmie a break
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
prrrt!
hang on i gotta take this call...
oops anyone got any paper?
I think I'm revieving a FAX.
But don't get all riled up. This is as it should be. Lessons aren't worth squat if you don't give people the time and space to learn them properly.
Conversely, those terrorist bombings while spectacular and emotionally shocking, were just blips in the big picture for anybody who didn't directly lose friends or family, (i.e., almost everybody). Job losses and changes of the economic picture happen all the time. Just because these ones stemmed from violence shouldn't serve to incapacitate you.
Obsession is a force in the negative. You might want to watch that.
-Fantastic Lad
So when i run out of methane. Not that i personally will ever run out. But when my phone runs out, where do i go? I cant plug it into a car adapter or a wall outlet and recharge it. Are there refills at the grocery store, filling station, or radio shack? The article says they are about the size of a ballpoint pen ink cartrige so I gues could cary a few around. It just sounds crapy to me tho. Especially cuz my phone uptime is almost 6 months now and if i have to take the empty tank out and put a new one in ill have downtime.
I was at the Sprint PCS store the other day looking at the Kyocera and Samsung Palm phones. Pretty cool. I have a Palm VIIx with Palm net, but to have a PIM, a network appliance, AND a phone would just be cool. Anyhow, Palm.net charges not by TIME, but by BIT...and this makes sense, as the data services are low-bandwidth and bursty. Just as it should be for a handheld device. Well, just to prove that they JUST DON'T GET IT Sprint PCS charges by the minute. You check your email and there is none: 16 seconds, 110 bytes, $0.39. I can go a whole month on Palm.net for $12, checking my email several times per day. I figured I'd rack up close to $50 on Sprint--and that's not allowing for actually GETTING any mail. I checked in with AT&T, they charge the same.
Apparently, the Kyocera and Samsung phones actually use a digital modem and connect to an ISP, rather than simply talking to the "network" like Palm.net. So you are physically setting up a PPP session with an ISP and running an IP stack. What a bunch of idiots. Wireless data network my ass.
So does anyone know of any providers that actually have a cool phone/Palm/data network worth needing extra battery life--that don't charge by the minute?
Scott
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
you are one of the 20 that have survived the fall of the towers. you are buried under the rubble. you have been trying to call out on you cell fone for days but it has been busy from other ppl using theirs. after a few days your batteries run out. HAD YOU HAD A METHANE POWERED CELL FONE BY MOTOROLA YOU COULDA TRIED FOR SEVERAL DAYS, BUT NOOOO YOU WERE TOO BUSY COMPLAINING AND WORRYING ABOUT OTHER PPLS PRIORITIES SO YOU DIDNT BUY ONE AND NOW YOU HAVE JUST HAVE TO GIVE IN TO FATHER TIME AND DEATH AS YOU RUN OUT OF OXYGEN IN YOUR POCKET OF AIR THAT IS LEFT.
i am convinced that "/.ers" are homosexuals and imma make that my "sig"
Not necessary to run around any fields. Every well equipped and resource techie will have the option to purchase a personal refueling system.
They are going to package the thing with a retractable three foot hose equipped with a nozzle, regulator and check valve and a year's supply of discount coupons to Taco Bell.
You can guess what you are expected to do with it.
Methane doesn't stink. It's basically odorless.
Natural gas doesn't smell by itself. Distributors add methyl mercaptan to it in order to make it smell, so that leaks can be found. (Walk up and down the street in front of my house any day of the year and you'll smell it coming from the rather porous old Boston Gas/Keyspan pipes. They make repairs when their leak detector shows the concentration getting scary.) Mercaptan was chosen because it, well, has a strong and distinctive smell. Acetylene smell similar but is itself explosive.
This practice began after a very unfortunate incident in the 1930s. The public school in London, Texas had been heated by gas that was being, uh, skimmed off of a pipeline passing from a nearby well. The connection wasn't exactly professional. A leak sprang, and gas accumulated in the basement, reaching serious concentrations without being noticed. It blew the school sky-high, killing about 200 people, including most of the children, largely wiping the town off the map. (The town, near Tyler, was renamed New London; it now has about 900 inhabitants.)
People nowadays appreciate methane's properties a bit better. A little cartridge to power a fuel cell should not be a problem.
The Scene:
A busy interstate highway cluttered with burning wreckage.
Local News Reporter:
Oh the Humanity!
uh..but why are you posting and surfing to slashdot? What did you expect to see here, in this thread? I can understand a person in mourning, but your emotion-fascism is offtopic and hypocritical.
When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.
Now I can have a battery to power ringzilla. Happy Happy Joy Joy.
Hammer of Truth
Where does the article say the battery emits exhaust? For a fuel cell that size, excessive exhaust could be a huge problem and suggest it was burning pretty hot. A quick search on direct conversion of methane into electricity reveals the preferred technique uses chemical reactions to create free electrons, which suggest it doesn't require combustion of gas. Further, the by product would be water and hydrogen, which doesn't smell. Perhaps some one with more knowledge of fuel cel technology can post more details and clear up the air.
9310 Fart Fone
Will you be allowed to bring these on planes?
Personally the sooner we get off the dependancy of heavy batteries, the happier I'll be. Even RC cars for my kids would be cool again. (and maybe last longer then 15 minutes).
R U paying too much Insurance? Compare here (no sales involved)
Finally, a compelling reason to become a vegetarian - I will never have to charge my phone again...
Yeah, it's lame, but hey.
What are the added moving parts to which you are referring? Fuel cells do not use moving parts. Searching on Google took me about 15 seconds to find this page:
http://216.51.18.233/whatis.html
It shows a simple diagram of a fuel cell. It has the same number of moving parts as a conventional battery.
Can someone please change the headline so it doesn't say "gasoline-powered?"
end of line
end of line
How exactly do you smoke a cock?
This technology appears to be some I've read about previously (as far back as 98). You can see the Los Alamos press release or an ABC News article (with a pic). Both give a little more background and tech info on the cells.
Life is short: void the warranty.
http://www.fuelcells.org/
Good introduction.
Strangely enough, I do recall the proposal to use gasoline for fuel cells, say in cars, for pollution control, etc. The idea is that you need to have a cheap source of hydrogen and oxegen. And you do not what to use tap water because of the impurities. (never mind that producing a system that could handle impurities would cut the legs from under the Oil Companies)
Any number of complex hydrocarbons could be used as a fuel for such a system. Methane is just one.
And the one that some people like is to derive the hydrogen and carbon from ordinary gasoline. Although this is a wild mix of things, it has the advantadge of that it continues to feed the Oil Companies, and it takes advantadge of the distribution system already in place.
Technology is partly based on the profit center, after all.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
"I didn't fart....it was my cell phone battery"
"Get them before they get....
Note that the automotive industry has struggled to make batteries and fuel cells crash-safe. When airlines panic about nail clippers, they're likely to reject anyone boarding a plane with a gas-powered device.
All about me
These fuel cells would be great for all those battery hungry digital cameras that have to be fed batteries a few times a day when in constant use.
I was wondering how you would fill it up--
would there be a great big fitting on the side of the phone complete with gas-cap
or would you have to drive around untill you found a gas station with the little teeny-tiny nozzles?
Your mind is squeezed by a blast of pain!
Methane gas, not gasoline!
Read the article first!
This is not actually the primary battery of the phone. Instead, it is a (semi)independant power source for recharging the primary cell.
;-)
Sure, it may be illegal (or impractical) to use it in certain situations, but then you can just disconnect it, and carry on on the standard rechargable cell.
Think of it as the nifty little portable power pack Luke Skywalker used to recharge R2D2 on Degoba (spelling?), just smaller, and (hopefully) without the disconcerting glow.
...and all you got was this lousy t-shirt.
...how many of these propane fuel cells would be needed to power an electric car. Think about it, decent range, fast speeds, and the low end
torque of an electric.
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
What happens when oil prices go up again? This doesn't seem to smart in lue of how the oil industry has been latly, we need to get away from use of oil, not find new uses... 10 bucks says this project was funded by Shell.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
1-900 numbers. Aside from "fill me up, oh YEAH, I want YOU in my BODY", you'd be filling up the phone, too.
One, this could allow a cell phone battery to last months, not days. Two, it's a clean independent fuel source. Three, how many moving parts do you think there are? Plug it in, you push down a lever that releases an amount of methane into a chamber. Know how long a Bic lighter can last? Certainly longer than most folks keep their phones. Cell phone makers ALREADY consider their devices disposable. Motorola's Timeport with OLED will burn out with regular use in about 3 years.
Finally, this has more application than just phones. Laptops, PDA units, GPS units, tools, toys could all use this technology. This allows people not to be tethered to power lines to use these devices.
Fuel cells offer a great alternative to conventional energy sources. They promise a cheap portable and realistic power source. Its not a stupid idea. Its a forward thinking idea that has a lot of potential.
The article never mentions how many times you could charge you phone with this thing. Obviously, if its just once, you could just carry another charged battery. Does anyone have an idea on how much electricity could be produced with "an area the size of a ballpoint pen's ink holder" of methane?
there are 2 kinds of people. those who divide people into 2 kinds, and those who don't.
Ohh no my battery is getting low. Good thing I ate those baked beans last night!!
Fuel cells generate power (and heat) by combining hydrogen and oxygen into water. The hydrogen would be made from methane, using a catalyst developed by NASA. The heat, I guess, would lend new meaning to the term "a hot call". And the water? If you keep you cell phone in your pants pocket for a while, it may look like you have a bladder problem.
BTW, an article in today's Wall Street Journal (available only to paid subscribers) described how auto manufacturers are getting heavily into fuel-cell manufacturing. They expect that fuel-cell powered vehicles will be common by the end of the decade.
Masta Blasta run bartah town!
I think it wouldn't be an all too bad idea to produce methane by farming pigs underground. Satisfy the need for pork & energy & ummm, farming needs. (:
Since when does methane = gasoline?
So I guess my Mitsubishi will run nicely on that nasty fart I just let go, right?
Someone please tell me when slashdot is going to start actually reading the articles they post....
fsckin c'mon people, it was in the first paragraph of the article...
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
i agree... battery life in a notebook and many other devices is pathetic. they weigh an awful lot, some of them need to be fully drained for optimum battery longevity, the list goes on. nobody's done anything "revolutionary" in the world of power sources for decades. Li-ion is nice in that you can top it off whenever, but its still heavy and they still do die in about a year with normal to heavy use.
Secondly, this was only a matter of time. I hope we switch from methane to hydrogen soon though. Anywho, Scientific American has a pretty informative article on fuel cells in mobile devices. It's a bit old (1998) but still relevant. A quick Google search turned up some more:
CNN: NEC develops fuel cell for handhelds
ABCNEWS: Fuel Cell Batteries Could Power Next Wave of Technology
I think I will wait for the next version of this cell phone wich will be nuclear powered.
My personal nuclear power plant in my belt... enough power to supply my cellphone, laptop, car, house, everything.
Once every ten years I'll have to stop at a gas station and refuel with some grams of uranium.
Wow! What if you combined this with a Transmeta PDA! You could run for a year on one "charge" (or 6 hours with color :). Cool!
KangarooBox - We make IT simple!
Soon, there'll be a run on water balloons ...
... carry around fart balloons in case your cell phone dies on you.
Fill a couple up with your own gas
How would you go about recharging a methane fuel cell? Would you plug it in to the wall? Carry a container of methane gas? How long is the cell life with recharge? Or would you just throw it out and buy a new one?
Gone but not... ummm
Folks,
While using these tiny fuel cells may be great to extend battery life of cellphones, you can forget about bringing such a thing onto an airplane (for obvious security reasons).
Even the equivalent of the volume of ink in most ballpoint pens of methane is enough to cause quite a lot of damage inside the plane, especially inside a pressurized fuselage at altitude.
If you are wondering why they chose methyl mercaptan: butyl mercaptan is the primary ingredient in skunk musk.
:o)
-Jeff Baitis
Learn from your parents' mistakes: use birth control.
Don't forget the most important propertis.
-Most of the waste in a standard battery is highly toxic, regardless of which battery technology you choose, with the only differentiating factor being how deadly. The only waste from one of these fuel cells will be a little platic canister that may take eons to degrade, but environmentally will resemble a rock.
-Buy a pack of batteries and let them sit 6 months before you put them to use. How often do you use that flashlight? Do you check to batteries regularly to make sure that it will work when needed? Assuming a reliable enclosure system, methane cells will easily have a shelf life of something bordering on FOREVER!
-Batteries are damned inneficient. AC power is produced from burning fossil fuels, travels over miles of cables, gets stepped down through several transformers, converted to a DC and then very innefficiently charges the battery. Even when your not using you device, the charge slowly drains from the battery due to internal currents. Methane cells will deliver all the energy straight to the device, and energy isn't lost during storage.
There are advantages to miniature feul cells that go far beyond convience.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Back in college, I had an idea for a great intiminidation devices during tests. Most people had calculators, and some had graphing calculators. And two of us had that great machine-language-programmable HP48SX calculator. But I wanted something more... (and remember, no one had a laptop nor cellphone when I was in college) Sure the 48sx was huge, but it still didn't properly convey how serious I was... so here's my idea:
A gasoline powered calculator. Imagine the surprise as I start on the test, and then pull this huge calculator out of my bag. I pull the ripcord to start up the little model-airplane motor connected to a generator... it makes a high whiney sound, and you can hear the RPMs go down as the calculator sucks more power down each time I press a key. I pity the poor guy who's downwind of my calculator, exhaust fumes wafting...
Anyway, the device never got built. But I did try to build a gasoline-powered bike light (why carry batteries when gasoline has a much higher energy density!)... I imagined this to be a helmet-mounted device, whineing away just inches from someone's ear. I gave up when I burned up the electric motor trying to start the engine.
So, (pant) I've got (pant) this great fart joke...
Oh. Too late.
"Slashdot is about legos and staplers." -Cmdr. Taco
New power sources have the potential to revolutionise the world of electronics. Some interesting things are happenning with Wind Up, Fuel Cells, ultra low poer consumption circuits etc... that could soon mean we hardly think about charging at all.
Personally I'd rather crank up my notebook for 2 minutes every half hour than have it burning methane!!! Environmentally sound AND I get to excercise one of my arms more than the other legitimateley!
Great.. does this mean I'm gonna have to bring my cell in for pollution testing every year too?
- Jimbob
Is it me, or do laptops seem a better application? Of course you do have extra current draw, heat to dissipate, etc, but you also have a little more room to work with. It would be very cool to have a laptop batter that lasted a week before it needed recharging.
Not even now, after everything, are cigarette lighters being confiscated at the gate..
Methane, butane, whatever..
They use Menthal Mercaptian on Propane. Natural gas distributors use Sulfur Dioxide. They use this particular chemical because humans are most sensivite to it than almost any other chemical. In high concentrations, it's deadly, and in the concentration they use in natural gas, it's harmless. It's also the same chem that gives ritting eggs and carcasses their lovely odour.
Sure beats my idea of attaching a lawnmower engine and generator to a cell phone!
Given the current events out there, I find it doubtful this technology will succeed. Not only is this technology inherently dangerous, but you will not be allowed to travel on a plane with these devices, not be allowed to ship these devices, and not be allowed to even stow them in your luggage when you travel.
They're simply too easy to be altered/overheated for destructive purposes.
"The consumer-electronics industry has been hunting for a way to replace nickel cadmium batteries that power most portable electronic devices in the world today. "
NiCad? What decade is he from? NimH and Lithium Ion batteries have been out for like 10 years. I haven't touched a NiCad battery since the 80s.
Time to go recharge my lead-acid powered laptop.
imagine getting a cell phone in your taco bell kids meal or family pack?
:D
Insert mind here.
Otherwise you may have accidents while you are on the phone.
Just to pick a really obscure nit, I was under the impression that plastic was too porous to hold gasses long term, so if you want a battery you can leave on the shelf for a long time, it would have to be metal or glass. Still, the environmental impact of an aluminum battery would be just as minor as plastic.
Imagine a Beowolf Cluster of THESE!! All your gas powered phone are beong to us, ha ha ha!!!
potential difference between feet and ear. or mhd . what about isotope powered phones ( sure lead covering will be bit heavy ). why not improve solar cell tech in the first place.
This sounds like an unfortunate 'service' vs 'product' market migration. Why would I pay $xx / month for either disposable batteries or fuel for the cell when I can essentially charge the phone for free using an existing infrastructure? If it's to replace a forgotten charger, who's to say I wouldn't forget the fuel cell? If it's to power the phone where there is no infrastructure, I wonder where I would be for days with cell phone access, but no electricity?
Now the nagging chemistry question:
What happens to all the carbon atoms? I have read many hyped up press releases expounding the virtues of fuel cells: They only produce water, heat and electricity. That may be true if you have a pure hydrogen source, however, using a carbon based fuel like methane leaves me wondering - after I've stripped off the hydrogen to make the heat, water and electricity, what happens to the carbon atoms (and any hydrogen or oxygen atoms)? Surely these are being vented as carbon-dioxide, or worse being fused into some catalyst which will require proper disposal / cleanup.
I'm in my right mind and I have the answer to everything!
Not always true. I've smelled gas coming right out of a methane well, and it does have a gas odor, although not as strong as the treated gas.
This tech could really kick some Duracell ass. I am so fucking sick of buying batteries every few weeks.
Long term, I need the power density that methanol would provide. Hook this baby up to an ultracapacitor from here and burst-power needs are taken care of.
And looking laterally, what about plates of these suckers, laid down in stacks a dozen at a time? PowerBrick.
I read someone along this thread was spewing noise about terrorist applications. Hah. Like they'd need this technology. There are literally hundreds of things out there right now that are potentially far deadlier.
But enough of that. This tech looks wonderfully promising and, I think, should be promoted.
"Avast! Prepare for the rodgering!" THWACK! "Arrr.. me nards.."
Check out this page on zzn.com.ru. It was January 2000, and Motorola said they had these fuel-powered cells ready. I wonder how much longer they'll keep hyping it before they're made widely available?
Don't fuel cells give off water? What do they plan to do with that?
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
... and whoever said they do is a moron.
How Fuel Cells Work
For God's sake, post a correction to this story. You've got hundreds of people reading that headline and rolling their eyes at how stupid Motorola is to come up with a phone that runs on gasoline, when the real idiocy here belongs to those who didn't bother reading the article before creating the headline for it.
Two things:
1. Why are they running these off of methane? Methane isn't exactly everywhere, you can't just go to the store to refill it. Thus, you are left with either buying new "fuel cell" units for the phone, or building up a new infrastructure to sell methane in small cans for refill - both which equate to more money (for the corps - yay corps!) out of pocket, and more waste for the environment (if the units aren't recycled, etc). Why not use the obvious - compressed butane? Found in every Walgreens on the planet, cheap, hundreds of refills (and probably at the size they are talking about for the fuel cell tank, thousands of refills), delivery system well established, the units would be refillible eliminating waste - the only downside would be that the corps wouldn't have a steady revenue stream in batteries (wah!!).
2. Size - 2"x4"x.5" - why does that have to hang off a belt? The thing could easily go on the back of a phone - sure the phone might be a bit thicker, but IMO, I think cell phones NEED to be bigger, as well as more rugged - I have a friend/brother-in-law who is a truck driver, and his fingers on his hand are easily big enough to cover two buttons on his cell phone, making it difficult for him to dial it or pick up calls. This has caused him a lot of problems, not to mention that the phone lasts about 2 weeks in the dirty conditions he works in (his truck is a 10 wheel dump truck - he hauls dirt, rock, whatever pays). He used to have an old Motorola 9000 classic brick phone - rugged, big buttons - had it for years - hell, I have it now, and it still works fine! Today's phones suck for that kind of environment - make them a little bigger, less screen, larger numbers (its a phukin phone, for cryin' out loud!) - and drop this battery on - perfect.
When are these manufacurer's going to learn that cute != practical?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Cell fuels have the potential to truly make PDA and portable computers these semi-magical thingies that SF authors keep raving about. Add an SVGA microscreen in goggles, a yet-to-be invented data entry method to replace keyboards, and wearable computers are suddenly not a mad dream anymore.
Chemical energy has an energy density (in terms of Watt.hour per kilogram) easily 10-100 times higer than even lithium batteries. And methane is not a neurotoxic, contrary to lithium, cadmium and other nastiums that are used in regular rechargeable batteries.
Of course, I tend to favor alcohol-based fuel cells. Not only do they present less explosion risks than methane cartridges or tanks, you could also refuel your laptop with a squirt of vodka... :-)
Now, before long, some journalists will misread that press release and start ranting about revolution in transportation. As a slashdotter, your sacred duty is to thwap them with a physics manual. Or even better, write to their editors and remind them that fuel cells are not a generating but a storage technology.
In order to produce methane or alcohol, you need either petroleum byproducts (and hence oil) or a lot of energy. And do I mean a lot. Of course, you can produce methanol artisanally, but a sustained production cannot rely on cottage industry methods that, BTW, generate huge quantities of waste. Have you ever been downwind of a still when it's dumped after a batch of fermented molasses has been boiled? Not a pretty smell, believe me.
So next time you hear a tree-hugger^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H environmentally conscious fluffhead raving about nature-friendly, fuel-cell powered busses, heartily approve and remind them to support the construction of that nuclear power plant we'll need to generate said nature-friendly fuel. That generally does the trick.
#insert<cynicalsmirk.h>
--
Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
What do you expect from redneck blowhards? (Thank you for the new president - can we please start World War III now!)
this was posted ages ago, back when I bought stock in them (MOT). so over a year ago.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
Don't give CmdrTaco too hard of a time, even ZDNet got it wrong. The Motorola cell phone uses Methanol (a liquid), not methane (a gas).
see:
http://www.cellular.co.za/battery_technology.htm
and
here
a month would be great.........right now my motorola talkabout last around 8-12 hours on a charge.........geez arent there better batteries than this?
The Arkie Libertarian
>>don't discoutn the power usage of the antenna on your cell.
>>The downside of having the smaller batteries is the decrease in talk time due to the power consumed by the antenna.
Whoa... You need a quick lesson in radio my friend.
Antennas radiate RF (radio frequency) power, but never consume power.
The physical size of the antenna has no direct effect on battery life at all.
Just thought you might want to know.
- 73
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
That's right kiddies Methane is a "greenhouse" gas that is 10 times more effective than carbon dioxide in causing climate warming. This could pose a problem when the fuel cell is mass produced .
i tle.html
Go to the USGS site to read more the attributes of Methane -- http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/gas-hydrates/t
oh, shove it up yo.... oops. yah.
Fucking pacifist. As if killing SIX THOUSAND PEOPLE wasn't enough reason to retaliate.
No, natural gas does NOT have added Sulfur Dioxide. That's one of the primary pollutants that expensive scrubbers are used to remove from coal exhausts and such, why would they ADD it? It is also a significant allergen in very small concentrations (I can't eat most dried apricots or golden raisins because they are treated with SO2; it is also used in making some wines, but is usually low enough concentration that it doesn't bother me). If there was SO2 in natural gas, you'd end up with it in your house from a gas stove. You need a substance that will break down when burned. Sulfur Dioxide is also not the substance that gives rotten eggs their wonderful odor; you're thinking of Hydrogen Sulfide.
If I recall correctly, Mercaptan is used because it also decomposes into odourless products on incineration. One of the products is SO2. So it isnt added, but is produced due to an addition to the gas annyhow.
Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
Do the same thing that they're starting to do for candy and pastry wrappings. Apply a thin layer of aluminum. It only takes a few microns. Check out the wrapping the next time you eat a PopTart.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba