Now
this is a turn up for the books. Fuel cells have long been prompted by
big fish like Sanyo and Toshiba, but it appears relative unknown Antig
has beaten them to the punch.
Announced today in conjunction with
partner AVC Corporation (Asia Vital Components), the company revealed the
first commercially finalised fuel cell battery on the market.
Described as 'CD-ROM size', the methanol
powered battery is designed to slide into a compatible notebook's media
bay slot. Frustratingly, the company did not go into details regarding
what operation time it expected to see from the design. Primarily this
looks to be because the companies hope to sell the format worldwide, leaving
third parties to vary the quantity of methanol injected therefore creating
a price range.
Antig was more forthcoming about
its second project, however, a 45W producing methanol fuelled portable
power system. Like a power lead, it would plug into the port on the back
of a laptop and promises to keep it operational for up to eight hours.
At 1.7Kg it is a little hefty for a device purely designed to make your
life more mobile, but we await more developments with interest.
As for the finalised fuel cell format
Antig and AVC said ODM projects are already on their way to unnamed system
makers and commercial availability is expected later in the year. The world
just got a little bit more interesting, and a lot more flammable.

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