Toshiba's fuel cell will fire up your MP3 player

Toshiba is gearing up to release a fuel-cell cartridge powered by methanol that could keep an iPod running for an additional two and a half days without a recharge.

The Tokyo-based company said it is currently testing prototypes of what it calls a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The cartridge contains a passive supply of the alternative fuel, in highly concentrated form, which produces electricity by causing a chemical reaction.

After three years of delays, Toshiba said commercial products based on the technology are expected to appear in shops in 2007.

Fuel cells usually use alcohol or hydrogen as fuel and can offer five to ten times the power per unit weight as lithium-ion batteries.

Toshiba is developing two versions of the fuel cell. One is formatted for flash-based digital music players such as Apple's iPod nano. The other is for digital music players based on hard disk drives, such as the standard iPod or Toshiba's Gigabeat player.

Toshiba said its 100-milliwatt version is similar in shape and size to a packet of chewing gum and can power a flash-based player for approximately 35 hours on a single 3.5-millilitre charge.

A 300-milliwatt version of the fuel cell is about the size of a deck of playing cards and has enough juice to power a hard-disk player for approximately 60 hours on a single 10-millilitre charge.

Toshiba did not say if consumers would be able to refill the fuel cells on their own or if they would purchase them as a disposable product. The International Electrotechnical Commission is reviewing a draft of safety standards based on international standardisation specifications for of micro fuel cells.

The two types of MP3 player and their methanol cartridges will be on display at the CEATEC JAPAN 2005 trade show in October.

Other technology companies also are working on similar devices to enhance the battery life of mobile devices such as laptops, MP3 players and mobile phones.

IBM and Sanyo Electric have developed a prototype of a methanol-based fuel-cell system for ThinkPad notebooks. The fuel cell can be charged by means of an auxiliary docking station, which also provides an alternative power supply.

Fuel-cell developer UltraCell has come up with a new fuel-cell power source for portable electronic devices that it says has twice the energy density of lithium batteries.

Medis makes a disposable fuel cell, called Power Pack, that provides an additional 20 hours of charge time for mobile phones, digital cameras, handheld organisers and MP3 players.

Compact Power Systems makes two battery/charger products specifically for the iPod. Cellboost connects with the 30-pin iPod and iPod nano for an additional 8 hours of playing time. The company's iRecharge product is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack that can give you an additional 12 hours of charge time for the standard iPod and as much as 40 hours of extra charge time for the iPod Shuffle.