We've seen quite a few prototype fuel-cell powered mobile devices, but Samsung's upping the ante by predicting that we'll all be running our phones on water by 2010. The company says it's developed a method to generate hydrogen by exposing water to metal, but the details are a little shaky -- we're guessing it's similar to the system used in the HydroPak generator, but it's hard to tell. Still, we've got no reason to doubt Samsung's engineers, who say the system currently provides about 10 hours of use, or about five days of average cell usage, and will eventually allow users to simply top off and go. That's every traveler's dream -- let's get this to market, Sammy.

Right around a month ago, we heard that Angstrom Power had managed to stuff some of its sophisticated hydrogen fuel cells into a MOTOSLVR L7. That prototype, friends, is what you see about. Unfortunately, we're no closer to realizing when this stuff will actually escape the proverbial beta stage, and for whatever it's worth, we're also no closer to feeling absolutely safe with one of these next to our melon (though existing alternatives don't have the greatest track record either).

Okay, we suppose cellphone companies trumpeting some sort of fuel cell technology isn't that weird, but nevertheless, Moto sure seems proud of its most recent advancements. Showcased at this year's Mobile World Congress are a number of "alternative power solutions including fuel cell and reflow batteries," which can be deployed in most every wireless / mobile environment out there. More specifically, the outfit is demonstrating a fuel cell-powered WiMAX base station, and it's also suggesting that said technology could "further guarantee [the] availability of uninterrupted power" in TETRA radio networks that are used in public safety environments. Fascinating, no?

There's a big difference between "smallest" and "small enough," but SAIT and Samsung SDI might've just crossed the gap with their new joint-developed fuel cell mobile charger. The device, which the companies claim is the world's smallest fuel cell charger yet, can pump 2W of juice, and supposedly charges mobile devices in 1/5 the time of competing offerings. At 5.3 ounces, and measuring a mere 5mm thick, it shouldn't be much of a problem at all to slip this into your bag, letting you extend the life of your PDA, phone, camera or PMP. In tests the charger has completed 200 continuous charges, and is nearly ready for market -- with over 120 patents involved in making this thing tick. The unit is based on small user-replaceable methanol cartridges, providing "limitless" power if you're willing to spring for enough fuel cartridges. 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.

[Thanks, Mike]

Countrywide 3G coverage: check. Plethora of gorgeous 3G phones in all shapes, sizes, and platforms: check. 4G development well underway: check. Dismal standby times: check. With battery tech having largely stagnated over the last few years, Japan's NTT DoCoMo has turned their attention to powering all that buttery, broadband goodness via more creative means, showing their direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) recharger last year. The DMFC wasn't a bad first effort, but how about shrinking it by a factor of four, doubling the output, and swapping methanol for water? That's what they've managed to do through a partnership with Aquafairy Co., pumping out a prototype polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) that rocks 800mAh at 3.6V -- enough juice to recharge your average FOMA handset in the same time as a wall wart. The new unit gets shown off this week at Wireless Japan 2006 with production plans slated for next year; availability outside Japan is (as usual) an open question, but with battery life falling to under a day on some modern smartphones, we can only hope manufacturers' hands are going to be forced on this one.

[Via The Raw Feed]