AFP - Thursday, May 22
PARIS (AFP) - - French researchers said on Wednesday they had
invented a hydrogen fuel cell as a backup power source for mobile
phones, thus easing dependence on an electricity supply to charge
the gadget.
The miniature fuel cell uses a hydrogen-filled cartridge about
the size of a small cigarette lighter, according to the press
presentation made by the researchers at the Atomic Energy
Commission (CEW).
The gadget, designed to be carried in a belt pouch, has been in
gestation since 2005 with a semi-conductor group,
STMicroelectronics.
The cartridges are being developed by the company Bic, which
makes pens, lighters and razors.
The product is designed to be part of a "hybrid" system in which
the phone first draws on the conventional battery for its power and
then taps into the fuel cell if needed.
Each cartridge gives the equivalent of three to five recharges
of the traditional battery.
It is due to reach the market in early 2010, according to
STMicroelectronics executive Igor Bimbaud, who declined to give its
price.