NTT DoCoMo and Aquafairy announced today that they agreed to jointly develop a micro fuel cell for 3G FOMA handsets. This agreement follows their successful development of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) that has proven effective in a prototype recharger.

Photo: Japanese Develop Water-Powered Cell Phones Photo 1

The fuel cell is the smallest in the world with power output of 2 watts. The recharger combines DoCoMo's recharger technology with Aquafairy's thin film power unit technology and catalyst for producing hydrogen from water. The simple hydrogen-producing mechanism and power units make the recharger less than one-fourth the size and more than twice as powerful as the methanol fuel cell prototype that DoCoMo unveiled on July 6, 2005. The easily portable recharger can charge a handset several times, and the recharging time is approximately the same as an AC adapter.

Demands for power consumption have risen with new FOMA services and features. To meet these demands, DoCoMo has worked on increasing the capacity of lithium-ion batteries, the most common battery in handsets today, and developed a direct methanol fuel cell recharger. Now, the company is also exploring the possibilities of PEFCs, which have higher power density than methanol cells and less environmental impact since they convert water into hydrogen.

DoCoMo will exhibit the recharger at its booth at Wireless Japan 2006 from July 19 to 21.

- Japanese Develop Water-Powered Cell Phones Photo 1
- Japanese Develop Water-Powered Cell Phones Photo 2

1. Posted by sexycustard	Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:23 am
Wow... water. And I thought solar power was crazy.
2. Posted by GSMDude	Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:34 am
reading the headline i thought it was a phone you dump water into to power. not as cool as i thought, but still interesting.
3. Posted by GymoW/ROKR	Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:59 am
Wouldnt hydrogen be extremely dangerous.Especially in a cell phone,which heat up rather quickly.Remember the hindenberg,just imagine dropping the phone or something,or even charging it for to long,it would burst into flames.Thats why ill never buy a hydrogen car...just so some guy can hit me and then i incenerate.Think about it people its very dangerous.
4. Posted by Bushy Turtle	Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:23 am
i know i wouldn't want to put water and electronics in my pocket.
5. Posted by elmo01	Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:31 am
Wouldnt hydrogen be extremely dangerous.Especially in a cell phone,which heat up rather quickly.Remember the hindenberg,just imagine dropping the phone or something,or even charging it for to long,it would burst into flames.Thats why ill never buy a hydrogen car...just so some guy can hit me and then i incenerate.Think about it people its very dangerous. yes... hydrogen peroxide reactors (non-nuclear....dont worry) were tried by several countries in submarines for the same purpose several decades ago... they scrapped the programs as the subs tended to blow up... the by-product is pure hydrogen... one little spark and you're doing the Michael Jackson!!... the technology most likely would have evolved and is safer, but I personally would want someone else to to the beta testing!!!!
6. Posted by stargrl357	Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:51 am
hydrogen... yikes! i think we all remember the exploding nokia batteries a while ago. these seem like it would be much worse.
7. Posted by mgoblue	Wed Jul 19, 2006 8:08 pm
i prefer urine powered batteries.

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