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DoCoMo Will Launch Fuel-Cell Mobile Phones By 2005
prostoalex writes "Japan's major telecom provider NTT DoCoMo plans to use fuel cells for its 3G phones. 'Users of cellphones with a fuel-cell battery would carry a cigarette lighter-type fuel container to refuel the battery', says Reuters."
Hmmmm. I am kinda of taken back at the thought of carrying a can of flammable (I assume) stuff to recharge my phone?
How may days / hours do I get on a "can"?
Jackson
Good luck taking your new phone on a plane trip...
I had an accident with my bicycle the other day : I landed on my trusted Alcatel cell phone and it splintered into a million pieces. I hate to think what would have happened if the phone contained flamable liquid or gas under pressure.
...
Then again, I also landed on $.50 my gas lighter, which was in the same pocket as my busted phone : *it* decided against breaking apart and cracked one of my ribs instead. So I guess the fuel cell phone has a chance to be safe, but still
Also, doesn't such a device emit CO2 and/or water in the process of generating electricity ? where do the exausts go ?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
The article here did not give very much technical information. What type of fuel cell is being used? Hydrogen? If so, what do they plan to do with the water created? Batteries in cell phones are nice because they don't create any waste products when used. I don't see how a cell phone would be able to use a fuel cell without it being very bulky - it would have to have space for the water, and space for the hydrogen. Furthermore, the user would have to remember to empty it.
I think some people think the idea of refueling is a bit arcane sounding, but the point of fuel cells is the higher energy density and the somewhat increased flexibility we have in creating new technologies to exploit the form of the energy. Batteries haven't improved by much in many many years of research.
According to FuelCellWorks, the DoCoMo phone will have up to 300 hrs functioning time. This is an improvement on my current cell phone, which lasts about a week. Furthermore, the use of little canisters for refueling is pretty much like carrying around a spare battery. It gets around the recharge problem. If I'm in a rush, I don't want to have to stick my phone into the power socket for half an hour.
At some point, I think we won't need to refuel. DoCoMo or someone else can make a device that will use electricity to regenerate from the fuel cell waste products back into fuel. Highly inefficient, but convenient when you run out of your little canisters
On a related note (gee-wizz tech that has drawbacks), those new PDA's and cell phones with builtin cameras: you can't take those into secure or otherwise classified facilities. Something to think about if your travels take you thither.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
Instead of carrying around an ultra-expensive fuel cell outfit, try this instead:
1) Get a small AA or AAA battery pack with the same voltage rating and power connector as your phone
2) Fill it with Titanium-Alkaline or Lithium photo cells (very high-capacity compared to recharables)
3) Keep this on hand for backup power just like you would the tech-fetishist hydrogen tank. If after 6-36 months you run low on backup power, just buy more batteries at any nearby store that sells cameras, etc. If you noramlly keep your internal battery charged, then the external cells could last you for years!
Savvy people have done this with camcorders, phones , PDAs and even laptops for years. You can even get AA/AAA packs shaped like the mfg.'s rechargable units that fit right onto your device.
Now that we've moved to rechargeable batteries for everything, they're not making as much money selling us disposable ones. I guess getting us hooked on disposable fuel cell cartridges is a way to make up the deficit.
Of course, there's no technical reason we couldn't refill our own cartridges with methanol, but like wiht inkjet cartridges, they'll probably put chips in them or something to keep us from doing that. Flammability? Safety? Bah... it's about money, the old razor blade business model.
wheres the exhaust go?
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