Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/11/ces_toshiba_fuel_cell_umpc/
CES Toshiba didn't make much of a fuss about its UMPC, claiming the smooth-cornered handheld PC was intended to demo technologies the company develops to potential manufacturer customers. One such technology: fuel cells.
Toshiba's fuel cell-fitted UMPC
Toshiba didn't want to say what the unit's specification was, but we can say it's capable of running Windows Vista. Its shiny-faced casing contains a multi-way navigator to control the cursor and a couple of keys in place of mouse buttons. Presumably there's a tiny Tosh hard drive in there too.
The consumer electronics giant wouldn't let us handle the UMPC, so we couldn't take a crafty peek at Vista Device Manager and System Properties.
How much power will it provide?
All the UMPCs on show were tightly sealed within perspex case but we did spot the words 'Direct Methanol Fuel Cell' on one of them:
Closer inspection revealed the UMPC is not itself equipped with a fuel cell. Rather, Toshiba's built a fuel cell unit into which the UMPC docks, just as it might sit in a desktop sync cradle. The fuel cell sleeve neatly matched the width of the handheld, adding just a few millimetres to the unit's thickness and almost three centimetres to the height.
Think of it as the handheld equivalent of an extended battery pack you might use with a laptop.
Toshiba wouldn't say what capacity the fuel cell has - there's a theme developing here, no? - either in terms of its physical fuel storage space or its operational run time.
Sharp claims record mobile fuel cell power density (16 May 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/16/sharp_fuel_cell_record/
Toshiba to mass-produce mobile-friendly fuel cells in 2009 (12 May 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/12/toshiba_mass_prodice_dmfc/
Toshiba to ship laptops with Cell-based GPUs this year (9 May 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/09/toshiba_cell_strategy/
Sony demos 'commercial design' fuel cell for mobiles (6 May 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/06/sony_demos_handheld_fuel_cell/
US Army hands out $3.5m for portable fuel-cell powerpack (29 April 2008)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/29/us_army_fuel_cell_cash/
Panasonic touts 'world's most efficient' domestic fuel cell (15 April 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/15/panasonic_punts_fuel_cell/
Boeing's Honda-FCX-style fuel cell glider 'success' (3 April 2008)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/03/boeing_fuel_cell_plane_success/
Panasonic preps rugged Atomic UMPC (5 March 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/05/panasonic_preps_toughbook_umpc/
Toshiba premieres Portégé G810 (12 February 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/12/toshiba_portege_g810/
Toshiba touts oddball handset that's also a modem (22 January 2008)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/22/toshiba_g450/
Samsung powers ahead with fuel cell tech (13 August 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/08/13/samsung_sens_q35/
Nokia shows off Aeon 'wearable' concept phone (10 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/10/nokia_aeon_concept_phone/
Boffins build fuel cell to power iPod (3 July 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/03/voller_fuel_cell_abc/
Casio preps 'highest' power density portable fuel cell (15 May 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/15/casio_portable_fuel_cell/
Samsung preps four-hour fuel cell for portable video players (31 January 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/01/31/samsung_four_hour_fuel_cell/
Toshiba touts fuel cell-equipped MP3 players (16 September 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/16/toshiba_fuel_cell_mp3_players/