Tech Shout!

Taking fuel cell miniaturization to a whole new level, SAIT and Samsung SDI demonstrated the world’s smallest fuel cell mobile devices charger. The unit comprises of an output level of 2W and has charging times that are just 1/5 that of its closest competitors. The mobile charging unit has already completed 200 successful continuous charges and is near-ready for commercialization.

The fuel cell mobile charger is an unbelievable 5mm thick and weighs a mere 5.3 ounces. It includes user-replaceable methanol cartridges to recharge the battery system in your PDA, cell phone, digital camera or PMP.

SAIT has filed over 20 international patents for its hybrid charging method through which users can operate their mobile phone or PDA while charging. Overall, the company has acquired over 120 patents for the fuel cell charger.

There’s no exact word on when these things will hit retail shelves, but Samsung expects chargers like this, along with fuel cell-based laptop batteries to be commonplace in 2-3 years.

Dr. Hyuk Chang, VP of SAIT said, “Though we still need to solve ‘going smaller and sturdier’ issues, I think that we have made a technical quantum leap in commercialization. Within 2~3 years, the fuel cells including those for laptops currently in development with Samsung SDI will be widely used as it is forecasted to acquire a stable market with lower price lines.”