November 26, 2009
I’ll Take a Bottle of Meths, Please
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2009 While we admit to being pretty cynical about most consumer technology, the latest gadget from Toshiba will definitely change the way the world powers its expensive toys. That’s because the Dynario direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), although imperfect in itself, is the first in a new breed of […]
By Metropolis
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2009
While we admit to being pretty cynical about most consumer technology, the latest gadget from Toshiba will definitely change the way the world powers its expensive toys. That’s because the Dynario direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), although imperfect in itself, is the first in a new breed of chargers that run on liquid fuel rather than mains power or batteries.
The essence of the ¥29,800 device is that it takes a squirt of 14ml of methanol (¥3,150 for five 50ml bottles, BTW) and converts it to electricity that can be used to charge a phone, PC or anything else that juices up by USB.
In future, Toshiba says it will build the unit right into cellphones and the like, meaning they need never go near a wall socket again. That, we can see taking off, but they’ll have to do something about the price first, of course.
