Medis Technologies unveils portable fuel cell power pack

Yeah, we won't even need fuel cells as soon as EEStor's miracle-working ultracapacitor-based battery system starts powering the world at large, but until then, we're still fielding applications for alternative sources of juice. Medis Technologies has introduced a fuel cell for your pocket, which provides auxiliary power for cellphones, DAPs / PMPs, PDAs, digicams, and pretty much anything else that relies on an internal, rechargeable battery. Touted as being "years ahead of its time," this self-proclaimed must-have gadget works off a Direct Liquid Fuel Cell (DLFC), and can supposedly provide up to 30 hours of talk time to any mobile, and between 60 and 80 hours of playback time for your iPod. Of course, there are no hard details promising us when we'll see this portable power unit, nor any indication of how expensive it'll be when it finally lands, but if lofty life claims turn out to be true, it might not be too shabby.

[Via PocketPCThoughts]

[T-Bone @ Feb 3rd 2007 1:12PM]

Only a few years ago I wrote a paper on fuel cells. Several major companies, including NEC and Toshiba, were claiming to be powering laptops with fuel cells by 2007. I'm still waiting.

[Tilyou @ Mar 24th 2007 7:35PM]

"Several major companies, including NEC and Toshiba, were claiming to be powering laptops with fuel cells by 2007. I'm still waiting"

Hey, 2007 is still young -- and anyway you look at it, Medis is a pretend competitor with the world's biggest billion buck corporations. As soon as they start to sell fuel cells -- and they will -- the Medis fantasy will be dead even to those who don't "get" now it never was alive.

And think of this: if Medis had anything, why would it even pretend to enter the market with a low margin mass produced item? Which is the most difficult place to succeed. Medis would have come to market with a high priced, high-margin product, which is what the Japanese fuel cells are likely to be; because they can capitalize on their superior qualities by getting a higher price.

For now, Medis gets what it deserves: ZERO. No products, no revenue, nothing to sell since 1992. They should make a jingle out of it.

Til

[2Perfect @ Feb 3rd 2007 11:00PM]

Lets just hope it comes soon :P and stop arguing.

If it's not that heavy and if they can make it smaller, I would buy one. If it's an extra few hours for my laptop or an extra week for my iPod, it would be good for vacations :)

[Tilyou @ Feb 4th 2007 12:04AM]

--- If it's an extra few hours for my laptop or an extra week
--- for my iPod, it would be good for vacations :)

Medis is clear it's invisible fantasy whizbang will not -- even if it ever exists -- power laptops; it's very low power, for tiny devices only.

Medis has promised to make it smaller for two years, and failed, so good luck with your wait. Meanwhile if you really need batteries for your iPod (and many do, especially out in the woods, or as the battery wears from many recharges) there are MANY existing products already out there -- some based on lithium-ion, some based on AAA batteries, some based on AA batteries, all iPod specific. And they're tiny, and they're rechargable -- already WAYyyyyyyyyyyyy better than what Medis promises.

So you're either in luck, or don't need Medis junk as much as you imagine.

Til

[sergio betancourt @ Feb 4th 2007 9:10PM]

"There are better alternatives on the market."

Name one.

[dispatcher @ Feb 6th 2007 10:21AM]

Man, this is just what we need for our reps. I am sick of dealing with all the batteries on a daily basis. It would be worth a premium to simplify their power needs with such a device every 2 or 3 days.

[Tilyou @ Mar 24th 2007 7:36PM]

"There are better alternatives on the market."

First off, comparisons are impossible because Medis has made them impossible -- it has promised many products "next year" since 1992, and even for years claimed to have sales of its medical cystometer cellscan, and specifically promised a fuel cell next year since 2001 when it was refillable and supposedly "on track" in a deal with French phone manufacturer Sagem. In 2004 a disposable version was supposed to be "in distribution" in 2004, and in 2005 and 2006 units were supposed to be in retail outlets by the end of the year.

REALITY: Medis has never sold ANYTHING -- any product of any type -- to do real work, and there are NOT EVEN SPECIFICATIONS for its fantasy disposable fuel cell. After nearly a year during which Medis claimed to be promoting it, NO ONE INDEPENDENT HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO TEST IT, which was a key reason why former fan Merriman Curran (that once had Medis set at "Buy") this past Fall 2006 demoted Medis to "Sell." HINT: they don't believe it's real either, not as a finished product worth showing publicly.

To the extent Medis has publicly claimed characteristics, they are are embarrassing beyond conception: it's air breathing (so unlike batteries it's not going to charge in a snug pocket or attache case). It is BIG (approximately the width of two cig packs) so it won't fit into a pocket anyway. And it has a 3 month window after activation whether you use it or not -- compare that to AA batteries who's degradation is 5 or more YEARS. Even for its unactivated state, Medis has said contradictory things about its power packs, but for most of its history promising only a one year shelf-life: so do you seriously believe that the reason Medis is not distributing them is (as it recently claimed) because it is building a stockpile of them, to prevent disappointment in the event of high demand? Every month they become less -- or would, if they exist in manufacturing ready form. They don't.

Against that there are MANY battery solutions out there -- AA packs, AAA packs, li-ion packs, and interesting solutoins like one in which you plug in an AC wall socket plug: LITERALLY the "socket in your pocket" that Medis once promised. Some of these are device specific (mostly iPods) but some are multi-device capable and use interchangeable tips just like Medis. Some are tiny just like the devices they serve (especially the ones for iPods) and some are large and can even power laptops. I have two: a very low tech AA solution (4 batteries) for an Mp3 player from Cowon, and I also have the AC socket in your pocket thing (power on board by pocketpower). And what's that company that makes that 2 AA-battery solution for cell phones? Do your own research.

All the existing solutions arguably aren't so great, but they are NOT air breathing, and they ARE rechargable most of them, and they ARE here which is more than Medis can say or will ever be able to say. The fact you don't know about the alternatives is consistent with the ignorance of most Medis shareholders, who have been mesmerized into thinking there is some giant market that Medis can uniquely serve, not realizing the market has already emerged and is puny and what Medis even promises is way lousier than anyone today would sneeze at. Never mind that the price of UL approval for Medis is a scary warning label, specifically:

"Contents are Corrosive and Toxic. Do Not Disassemble. Avoid Contact with Contents. Do Not Expose to Flame or Heat Above 50[ordm ]C (122[ordm ]F). Do Not Expose to Acids, Oxidizers, Alcohol or Household Cleaning Products. Follow Usage Instructions. In the Case of Contact with Contents, Seek Medical Attention."

NOTE: those heat specs means you can't leave one in a car on a hot summer day without worrying it will explode and drano-destroy your face with caustic liquids if you happen to enter the car at the wrong moment. Pretty funny after of Lifton's boasts about it being "non-toxic!" And the punchline: that UL approval won't even apply to whatever Medis claims it will sell from its (still nonexistent) automated production line. Medis will have to apply again (Medis says so -- check the SEC reports).

Medis isn't an emerging technology, it is an old joke -- since 1992 old -- with its scam operations run in Israel with the formerly Soviet scientists Medis likes to talk about, and its twin 80 year old managers in New York: not even on the same continent. Eventually people are going to figure out it ain't so funny. I figured it out in 2002. Shame on the rest of you; but isn't it about time you wised up?

Til