aquafairy
Latest
Aquafairy AF-M3000 might finally make consumer fuel cell charging a disappointing reality (video)
We've been promised portable fuel cells for ages, now. Ages! Finally one is only months away from release -- but its performance seems so limited we're not sure we care anymore. It's the Aquafairy AF-M3000 and, despite its name, it's powered not by water but by ethanol metal hydride fuel packs. Here's where the bad news comes in: a single fuel pack only provides enough current to get an iPhone up to a 50 percent charge, and it'll take 90 minutes at that. So, you'll need two cartridges and three hours of your time just to bring a dead mobile back to life, and given each pack costs around $6 (it's 2,625 yen, about $32 for a pack of five), the entire proposition is rather expensive. That doesn't even factor in the cost of the unit itself: 26,250 yen or about $320. It's set to ship in Japan in April, so get ready to finally enter the future. Nobody said it'd necessarily be a great place to be. Update: We heard from Aquafairy, who confirmed that the solution is not ethanol, but is actual a solution of water and metal hydride. Also, the price is just for what are termed "test sales" and there are discounts if you buy a bunch. Maybe the future looks better if you buy in bulk.
Just add water: NTT DoCoMo to demo new fuel cell charger
Countrywide 3G coverage: check. Plethora of gorgeous 3G phones in all shapes, sizes, and platforms: check. 4G development well underway: check. Dismal standby times: check. With battery tech having largely stagnated over the last few years, Japan's NTT DoCoMo has turned their attention to powering all that buttery, broadband goodness via more creative means, showing their direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) recharger last year. The DMFC wasn't a bad first effort, but how about shrinking it by a factor of four, doubling the output, and swapping methanol for water? That's what they've managed to do through a partnership with Aquafairy Co., pumping out a prototype polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) that rocks 800mAh at 3.6V -- enough juice to recharge your average FOMA handset in the same time as a wall wart. The new unit gets shown off this week at Wireless Japan 2006 with production plans slated for next year; availability outside Japan is (as usual) an open question, but with battery life falling to under a day on some modern smartphones, we can only hope manufacturers' hands are going to be forced on this one.[Via The Raw Feed]
