A New York-based company developing fuel cells for consumer electronics
devices says it has started commercial production of a fuel cell-based
recharger for Microsoft.
Medis Technologies produced the first Microsoft-branded rechargers on Friday, according to its chief executive, Robert Lifton.
"It's the first commercial sale for our company and we believe the first commercial sale in quantity for the industry," he said.
Fuel cells produce electricity through a chemical reaction, typically
involving methanol, although Medis says its devices use a proprietary
alkaline fuel. One day researchers hope to fit fuel cells inside
products like mobile phones and music players, enabling the devices to
be recharged in much the same way a lighter is replenished with a
squirt of fuel.
Fuel cells aren't yet small enough to be integrated inside
products, however, so their first use is coming as rechargers offering
the ability to replenish a dead battery when the user is away from an
electrical socket. The product Medis is supplying to Microsoft is just
such a device.
Production began on Friday on a semi-automated line that has
a capacity, when fully operational, of between 20,000 and 30,000
devices per month, said Lifton. By the end of June a fully-automated
line with a capacity of 1 million devices per month should be up and
running at a plant in Ireland run by contract electronics manufacturer
Celestica.
Lifton declined to say how many fuel cells Microsoft had
purchased or its plans for the product. Microsoft could not be reached
over the weekend for comment.
Perhaps the most likely use is as a recharger for Microsoft's
recently-launched Zune digital music player. It's one of the few
portable electronics devices made by Microsoft that falls within the
product target range for fuel cells. However it might also find use as
a recharger for Windows-based PDAs or smartphones or for an as-yet-unannounced product.
Potentially the fuel cells, which Medis calls the "24/7 Power Pack”,
could be compatible with a number of devices. Medis envisages the
disposable power pack hooking up to products through an adapter lead so
a single fuel cell could be used to charge several different products.
Straight from PCA.
