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Toshiba to Demo New Fuel Cell MP3 Players

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the ipod-and-a-gas-can dept.

virgil_disgr4ce tells us The Register is reporting that Toshiba recently unveiled a fuel cell based mp3 player. The pump-less fuel cell technology was first discussed about a year ago but Toshiba said not to expect the fuel cell players to hit the market any time soon. Toshiba, however, does hope that the players running off the fuel cell prototypes, and their methanol cartridges, will get their public debut at CEATEC JAPAN 2005.

3 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Why bother? by republican+gourd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why are they wasting their time on mp3 players? An mp3 player that can run for 35 hours (per the article) is not much more useful than an mp3 player that can run for 12 hours... but a laptop that could run for 12 hours instead of 4 hours (assuming a 3:1 payoff when compared to traditional batteries) would be incredibly useful.

    1. Re:Why bother? by cr_nucleus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why are they wasting their time on mp3 players?

      Easy, they're going for something simple and small to limit the potential sources of problems. When it works fine, they're ready to go for more challenging products.

      And one of the whole point of fuel cells is the time it take to recharge (actually refill). Even if it lasts just as long, being able to refill in seconds is a benefit. Problem is, you now need a reserve of whatever you fill it with :)

  2. Re:Is it just me that I don't find this appealing? by ByTor-2112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the same thing every time that I read about some silly "fuel cell powered device" replacing existing rechargeable devices. I don't want to carry fuel cells with me, and I don't want to purchase them. I can always find a free or nearly free outlet to plug in to. All of these fuel cell researchers need to realize that if we a device doesn't already physically consume fuel, no one is likely to migrate to a device that does. How dumb can these incredibly smart people be!