Mobile Fuel Cells Soon?

Mark Leaman writes "Motorola has made a strategic investment in Vancouver based, micro fuel cell developer Tekion with a view to the inevitable rise of the fuel cell as a power source for mobile products. Tekion is creating a new "personal power source", known as the Formira Power Pack, that will fit inside mobile products and enable consumers to stay connected for as long as needed. "

Comments

Great...

[altoz]

Now there's no excuse for me to not pick up a call.

As long as needed?

[tgv]

Whoever wrote "as long as needed" probably has some interest in the company, since that's clear marketing speak. Another example of Slashvertising? Or just an attempt to raise the stock price?

Re:It's about time

[Soruk]

I have a system based on an auxiliary battery and an inverter, which lives in my car, and can charge when on the move. 240V AC, wherever I want it :)

Re:As long as needed?

[AKAImBatman]

All we need are some RTGs.

Precisely. Though I'm still holding out for SRGs and other more efficient heat engines.

What do you mean I'll get cancer?

What d'ya mean, what d'ya mean? You could shield Alpha radiation with a sheet of paper, and Beta radiation with a bit of foil. You'd get more radiation exposure from the Earth's crust than you would a hundred Plutonium-powered cell phones.

Question

[flyinwhitey]

One of the main problems with batteries in general is their tendency to become discharged without use.

Would it be possible to store one of these fuel cells for an extende period (months) without losing the "charge"? I haven't really read much about this particular property of fuel cells. In fact, I can't remember seeing it discussed.

Any ideas?

Re:As long as needed?

[Surt]

I don't think that's true. Consider that most people sleep at night, for at least 5 hours on average. Most of us sleep in a place with an electrical outlet. If your device carries a 20 hour charge and can be recharged in 4 hours or less, and a standard ac-plug is folded into the device, will consumers really care that much that they still have to remember to plug in their device before they go to sleep? And with all the attention that processor and device manufacturers are putting on power consumption now, I expect power consumption to drop in next generation devices rather than rise, in spite of better features.