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Upp hydrogen fuel cell available in Apple Stores in United Kingdom
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MacNN Staff
Join Date: Jul 2012
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A hydrogen fuel cell has gone on sale in the United Kingdom via Apple Stores. The Upp from Intelligent Energy, a company previously said to be in discussions with Apple over fuel cell technology, is a portable unit for providing extra power to mobile devices, and though it has a battery to store energy for future use, additional cartridges which provide extra power can be attached, ones which can be replaced once exhausted.
Connecting over USB, the Upp is said to provide up to a week of power to devices, which the company equates to more than 900 additional hours of standby, 32 hours of call time, 26 hours of video, or 40 hours of web browsing. Though the battery portion provides the main bulk of power to the device, it also receives the trickle charge from the cartridge, maximizing its effectiveness. A companion app for iOS and Android provides details of how much power the fuel cell hours the cartridge is providing, energy usage statistics, and a map showing where another cartridge for the system can be purchased.
The Upp charger is being sold online and in store for £149 ($233) for the starter kit, consisting of the main fuel cell and one cartridge. The cartridges can be exchanged through participating retailers for £6 ($9.50) when empty, but spare cartridges cost £50 ($78) separately.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jul 2006
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If this is the same technology where alcohol is the fuel and water is a byproduct, it would seem people would figure out pretty quickly how to refill the cartridges themselves.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2008
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I'm sorry, but I like my alcohol in my stomach, not in my phone!
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Turns out, instead of producing hydrogen from alcohol, they are packaging 3+ grams of hydrogen in the cartridge. They will probably be banned on planes for that whole 3 grams of highly explosive gas.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Apr 2007
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If 3 grams of explosive gas is enough to remove someone from a plane, perhaps the rule applies to methane too. Useful to remove anyone who commits a social indiscretion.
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Ham Sandwich
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Are they out of their friggin mind?!
There is no way I will use some combustable hydrogen cell (a.k.a. hydrogen BOMB) to charge up my phone!!
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: OR, USA
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$233 for the starter kit
cartridges can be exchanged through participating retailers for £6 ($9.50) when empty
spare cartridges cost £50 ($78) separately.
Wow, expensive way to charge you smart phone...
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Michael
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: South Wales, UK
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While costly, it does have a practical purpose: providing charge when there is no nearby power source. This would be ideal for people going camping for a week or more, though if I were going into the wilderness for a holiday, I'd rather borrow or rent the unit instead of buying it outright...
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