Hydrogen-powered phones on the horizon

AFP, May, 2008

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...