You can’t tell me that once these come on the market some modding geek with a bit too much pocket money won’t go out and buy one of these and hack it apart just to use the power supply on another device? Sounds like a perfect way to power an iPod Shuffle or whatever is going to be around in 2007, that’s when they are expected to hit the market.
he company developed fuel cell units with 100mW and 300mW output, intended to be used with portable audio players that have internal flash memory or internal hard drives. The company announced fuel cells for portable audio products back in 2004, and at that time stated that they intended for implementation of the technology some time during 2005.
The 100mW unit measures 75 x 23 x 10mm (H x W x T) and is about the size of a few sticks of gum. 3.5ml of pure methanol (99.5% pure) is injected into its tank, and it can provide life for roughly 35 hours. The 300mW unit measures 75 x 60 x 10mm (same) and provides around 60 hours of playback time from 10ml of fuel.
These fuel cells that were developed are a passive type that is suited for smaller products. Unlike conventional fuel cells that require the methanol to be diluted to under 30% concentration, these units can use methanol with no need to dilute it. The company is looking for basic adoption of the technology during or after 2007, and is accelerating development on all fronts, including manufacturing technology
