Toshiba re-states commercial fuel-cell deadline

Mass-production by March 2009

Toshiba has re-iterated that it will commercially introduce fuel cells for portable devices by the end of March 2009.

The Japanese giant hasn't said what form the fuel cell will take - whether it'll be integrated into a device or offered as a back-up power source for traditional rechargeable batteries, for instance - though the IDG newswire notes the Toshiba demo'd a mobile phone with a built-in fuel cell at the CEATEC show this week.

Toshiba first imposed the March 2009 deadline back in May this year, when it committed itself to the mass-production of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) by that time.

Back then, it claimed its fuel cells, which generate electricity by reacting methanol with water and air, have ten times the energy density of comparably sized lithium-ion batteries.

In January, Toshiba showed off a UMPC fitted with a fuel-cell power source.