CES 2013: The First Practical Personal Fuel Cell

Why is it so ugly?

SlimJeffy,
It is made in USA I believe, not Japan.

If it was made in Japan, it would be aerodynamic and have the ability to transform into to 15 other products, lol.

That is the coolest shit. when can i use one to charge my car. I would imagine they went with a basic look to keep the cost down a couple bucks, it's also the first of a kind if i'm not mistaken first gen's aren't always the best looking and i agree with Robot as well. The second gen might have an LCD screen to display % of the fuel cell left or hours of use left.

Dan, in the article you say the pods are not recyclable, yet in the video he says they are.

perhaps what he meant to say was the cartridges are not reusable, if you sold refillable cartridges i'm guessing the profit margin would be so low no manufacturer would consider buying it

So instead of recharging your phone for pennies you pay more then $10.00. The only practical use would be for mobile situations where you can't find a outlet. Its a battery pack with 1/10 the power that means it will take 10 times as long to charge your phone. No thanks.

They should make one for the home which could run on natural gas. Then we could tell the hydro companies to take a hike.

@Jellybelly: "They" already have natural-gas powered fuel cells for the home. They're popular in Japan.

This product is an alternative to a battery pack. Do you want to lug around a fuel cell designed to power your home, just to charge your cell phone? Two very different applications; two very different products -- get it?

hollycow: Either you need to improve your reading comprehension skills, or Dan needs to write more clearly (or both). This product has ten times the power of a battery pack of comparable size. You were off by a factor of 100. Two orders of magnitude.

SlimJeffy: It's an alternative battery pack. It looks just fine. It's a great exemplar of form following function.

This looks like a very useful device.

Keep one with you at all times, just in case.
Phone about to die so you can't finish a call, or send a text, or check e-mail, or whatever you need to do? Never again!

Going on a business trip to a foreign country but forgot your AC outlet converter? No worries! Keep your phone charged for the entire 2-week trip without ever having to buy a converter (which can be a real hassle in a foreign country)!

Lost in the wilderness with only your cell phone for guidance? Even without cell service or WiFi, 2 weeks of GPS should be enough for you to find your way home!

just a question why do all these power companys back all the things that cost the custommer money when in this future world of ours we could use the plans most of our governments have locked away so as most of their voters dont know we have had free energy which they have had for over one hundred years . We also have the know how to have lots of other things they could not charge for. If it dose not make money lock it away untill they can find a way to charge for it .I think its about time we all moved forward and used all the things that would improve our world for all mankind .Our biggest problem in the world is money we dont need money all money does is hold us back it stops us moving forward as we should. We could have free power in all our homes real clean air no more burning oil and so many other things .Just think we are so much stronger if we act together.

@scihal: Time for a new tin-foil hat -- the one you're wearing seems to have collected a few holes.