- Power Capacity 3 Times Greater than Original Prototype -
TOKYO, JAPAN, July 6, 2005 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the company together with Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. has developed a new and improved prototype methanol fuel cell for 3G FOMA® handsets. The new prototype enables eight hours of continuous talk time, three times the capacity of the existing prototype, while weighing the same, 190g. The new device is expected to greatly extend usage time once it goes into commercial production.
DoCoMo improved the capacity by increasing the methanol concentration from 30% to over 99% and developing a method of recycling the generated water. DoCoMo unveiled a prototype micro fuel cell using methanol as an inexpensive source of fuel last September to meet user demands for more convenient handsets with greater power capacity and reduced environmental impact.
Power consumption demands are rising as FOMA users take advantage of new services and handset features such as videophone and flat-rate monthly billing for data services such as i-motion™ and i-appli™ In addition to its work on micro fuel cells, DoCoMo is trying to increase the capacity of its lithium-ion batteries, the most commonly used battery in handsets today.
Further work on the prototype, a cradle-shaped device, is expected to be completed by the end of March 2006.
The jointly developed fuel cell prototype will be exhibited at the DoCoMo booth at Wireless Japan 2005 to be held from July 13 to 15.
Attachment
2005 Prototype Micro Fuel Cell
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company, serving more than 50 million customers. The company offers a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode®, which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 44 million subscribers as the world's most popular mobile Internet service, and FOMA®, launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit
www.docomo.ne.jp/english.
FOMA and i-mode are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service is only available to subscribers in Japan.
i-motion and i-appli are trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan.
