Samsung fuel cell can power a laptop for 1 month

This might sound like super-advanced technology from the far-off future but--believe it or not--it isn't. Samsung is showing off a DMFC (direct-methanol fuel cell) laptop "dock" it hopes to ship by the end of the year. While we've seen fuel cell-based laptop battery prototypes before, they've always been a bit on the clunky side (close to 4 pounds) and haven't offered nearly enough juice (8 hours or less). Samsung's prototype, however, impresses in both respects: small, svelte and downright attractive, the portable dock can power a notebook for up to one month, using a single fuel cell cartridge, according to Samsung. While the device's pricing, safety features and launch window are all unknown at this point, the last we heard, it was supposed to be out by the end of this year. Even if the dock is prohibitively expensive (which is it guaranteed to be) and ships late (which seems more than likely), it's still encouraging to see technology like this so far along in development, as the implications for mobile users are pretty exciting, to say the least.

For more on the fuel-cell dock:
- see this Endadget story