Toshiba creates fuel cell for laptops.

... IN BRIEF: Toshiba announced in March that it has developed a fuel cell that will power laptop computers in the same way that larger fuel cells power cars. The company is hoping to work out the remaining kinks and have the fuel cell for sale by sometime next fiscal year.

The small fuel cell creates electricity by reacting with oxygen in the air and methanol methanol, methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol, CH₃OH, a colorless, flammable liquid that is miscible with water in all proportions. Methanol is a monohydric alcohol. It melts at −97. , which contains hydrogen. The biggest remaining obstacle to the fuel cell's success is the methanol, which is registered as a harmful substance in Japan, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3. Japanese media The communications media of Japan include numerous television and radio networks as well as newspapers and magazines. For the most part, television networks were established based on the capital contribution from existing radio networks at that time. reports. Methanol also can't be taken on planes. But the Toshiba fuel cell uses very little methanol, according to reports, which may allow it to squeeze in under industry safety guidelines guidelines,
n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. .

... COMMENTARY: NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98).

NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. , Hitachi and others are also devoting a lot of time and resources to developing smaller fuel cells to power a range of products. Japan controls 70 percent of the world market for lithiumion batteries, according to the Nikkei, and as this market makes its transition to next-generation technologies like fuel cells, about [yen] 300 billion in annual sales will be up for grabs.

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Title Annotation:	The pulse: the word on the street from the heart of Tokyo
Publication:	Japan Inc.
Article Type:	Brief Article
Geographic Code:	9JAPA
Date:	May 1, 2003
Words:	189
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