We have been talking about DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) for quite some time. It is finally available for consumers at a reasonable price. Toshiba has developed a consumer version called Dynario Fuel Cell and it will be available in Japan from 29th Oct 2009.
According to Straits Times, a single 50ml cartridge can charge up to two mobile phone. The cost of this Dynario Fuel Cell is 29,800 yen (S$456) each and the refill is 3,150 yen for a set of five.
I believe future handsets may have direct input of the Fuel Cell instead of a charger type. Now, it seems like you will need to add fuel to a charger and the charger in turns charge the mobile phone.
For a start, this is good. I hope that this technology will quickly mature and all mobile phone can inject methanol into itself (thus speeding up the charging process). What do you think?
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
The refill is very expensive lor. It works out to be around S$5 to charge 1 phone.