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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."
Will that fuel also be compatible with the user? For internal use that is... ;-)
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
Users of cellphones with a fuel-cell battery would carry a cigarette lighter-type fuel container to refuel the battery.
A propane tank with a shoulder strap and you're good to go for 10 years.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
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
...people holding up their cell phones at rock concerts?
Everyone who's asking about the potential battery life/ polution from/ etc the fuel cells might like to read this article in scientific american. It's pretty old but gives a fair idea of what the technology involves. And heres a couple more.
:)
Basically they have the potential for much longer battery life (magnitudes greater than lithium) and produce water and C02 as waste products. and cheap vodka could potentially be used for the fuel
Give a hand, not a hand-out.
which is probably what you would go in for, too :)
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...
Isn't it far easier and cheaper to just to plug the phone in occasionally and carry a spare battery if you have to?
In a word, no. Have you ever looked at the prices for cel phone batteries? They're generally only slightly less than the cost of the phone itself. For my $99 phone, a spare battery is $80. Some batteries are even more expensive than that.
And having to plug the phone in occasionally? Do you understand the concept of a mobile phone? How are you going to plug in a phone on your average train, plane, or automobile? (If you can do it, you generally need yet another special attachment, such as a cigarette lighter adapter. This basically defeats your point, which is that it's simpler just to plug in once in a while. It isn't.)
Energy storage in fuel cells is actually quite expensive, especially compared to electricity. The main advantage is far longer battery life. But for phones, which last for days anyway, why?
I suppose it's pointless to tell a Slashdot reader to RTFA. Battery life on 3G phones is not very long - this is their main drawback and the reason why adoption rates have been low. Lots of people have been saying it's going to take a major breakthrough in battery technology to really improve the situation for small, high-tech devices like 3G phones and even current laptop computers - fuel cell technology is that breakthrough. Eventually, we'll all be using fuel cells for our portable devices. May take 20 years for the switchover to be complete, but it'll happen. It has to, given how power-hungry we've become.
_nfotxn
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.