Watch 14 hours of movies with Sony's tiny fuel cell

Reuben Lee | May 05, 2008

Granted it's still in prototype stage, but Sony's latest micro-sized hybrid fuel cell nevertheless offers a sneak peek at what to expect of batteries in mobile devices in the coming years. The tiny fuel cell measures a handy 50 x 30mm, thanks to its combination of a Lithium-polymer battery, fuel cell and control circuit, with methanol as the fuel. A pump regulates the fuel supply to cater to the device's power needs.

According to the Japanese company, 10ml of methanol can provide almost 14 hours of 1seg TV viewing on mobile phones, which is pretty impressive for such a small fuel cell unit. 1seg is a digital audio-video broadcasting technology used for mobile devices such as cell phones and the PlayStation Portable in Japan.

But given how slowly fuel cell-powered devices are trickling into the market, we reckon it'll be some time before a commercial version of Sony's hybrid fuel cell is even introduced.

Via TechOn Nikkei
Photo credit: TechOn Nikkei

Filed under: Future Tech, Mobile Phones
Leave a comment | Bookmark | Share