Toshiba powers cell phone with methanol fuel cell -- no, you can't have one

Toshiba continues to tease us with its prototype liquid fuel cell-powered gadgets: last year it was a Gigabeat media player, and at this year's CEATEC you can check out a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) that's been crammed inside a cell phone, lending it a robust six hours of talk time (compared to the paltry three or four hours of a traditional battery). Toshiba won't reveal the capacity of the DMFC, but they have said that a 50ml cartridge is good for about 15 refills. No release date yet, but the phone "might" be available "as early as next year." In the meantime, enjoy this picture of a woman holding a flip phone with "DMFC" clearly visible on the display.

[helloUser @ Oct 1st 2008 5:04AM]

Wouldnt want one of these blowing up during use.....

[jjh @ Oct 1st 2008 5:20AM]

i'm confused...aren't we meant to be going from fuel to electric? or is that just for cars??

[Patriks7 @ Oct 1st 2008 5:27AM]

Yeah I find that quite funny.
Cars going to electric from fuel, while consumer electronics are going to fuel from electric.
Its a really interesting world we live in :P

[Jagannath A @ Oct 1st 2008 6:56AM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell

[linuxamp @ Oct 1st 2008 5:20AM]

At first I read "...powers cell phone with methane..."
I'd never have a low battery if that were true.

[kuade @ Oct 1st 2008 5:22AM]

Nice concept, I am still skeptic. Is charging a LiPo really that difficult?

[)law( @ Oct 1st 2008 5:27AM]

The model looks so creepy. Also I call dibs on first ciggeret

[G @ Oct 1st 2008 9:29AM]

better than DoCoMo's 2 part phone model, I thought she was going to chain the parts together and beat me to death. Come on Japan! We can do better than this, the amount of cute girls in Japan is ridiculous.

[JWatson @ Oct 1st 2008 6:02AM]

I get the feeling that model is going to take our souls...

[gad get @ Oct 1st 2008 6:20AM]

She's in the uncanny valley... which is uncanny considering she's real.

[Holger @ Oct 1st 2008 8:06AM]

hehe yeah, she is kinda "wierd" looking... not bad... but just doesn't look that "real"... maybe she's been under the knife a bit... or a bad combination of light & makeup gives her a strange "glow"... but I think she's gotten her nose and maybe eyes done...

[Precurse @ Oct 1st 2008 10:42AM]

@law
I get the same feeling about her ...

[konshuss @ Oct 1st 2008 11:54AM]

hm yeah i see what you guys are saying but uh...

i'd hit it.

[Hellaphunt @ Oct 1st 2008 12:11PM]

That's because she's an extra-terrestrial.

[vo5 @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:46PM]

Yeah, compared to Samsung and LG models, they could catch up quite a bit.

[Artie Lange @ Oct 1st 2008 6:27AM]

Look into my phone...look into my phone...you think HD-DVD was a better format...you think Sony sucks...

[franzbonus @ Oct 1st 2008 6:57AM]

It seems it's entirely made out of plastic, I don't really like.
Now about the phone, it's alright I guess.

[zebiddydoodaa @ Oct 1st 2008 10:35AM]

Does it start like a lawnmower? No thanks. I'll have one of those plastic Japnanese Lady though.

[Diesel @ Oct 1st 2008 10:47AM]

Keep the phone, I get the girl, we call it even.

[mrpoo @ Oct 1st 2008 11:38AM]

When others like Sony have shown fuel cells for mobiles, they have also included a small battery since fuel cells don't deliver lots of power and don't typically start immediately. I wonder if this thing also has a battery inside?

[boriquajake @ Oct 1st 2008 11:51AM]

I guess I don't understand something here. While I love the idea of double the talk time, the nice thing about a battery is that I can plug it in anywhere and just rock and roll for what amounts to a few pennies of electricity, but with this how in the freak do I recharge? Is it going to cost like $5 or $10 every time I want to power up?

[TwhiT @ Oct 1st 2008 12:43PM]

JUNO?????