Samsung - Samsung's Fuel-Cell Gambit : MTI MicroFuel Cells

Samsung's Fuel-Cell Gambit

Samsung may soon be tapping a new power source for its cell phones. The South Korean handset maker on May 18 is announcing plans for building prototype mobile phones powered by fuel cells. It's one of the biggest publicly disclosed commitments to the technology by a major manufacturer in years.
Samsung, the world's No. 3 maker of wireless phones, behind Finland's Nokia (NYSE:NOK - News) and U.S.-based Motorola (NYSE:MOT - News), says it has signed an exclusive deal to use technology from MTI MicroFuel Cells of Albany, N.Y., a unit of Mechanical Technology (NasdaqNM:MKTY - News). The joint development deal will last about 18 months, and neither company will work with any other to develop fuel cells for use in wireless phones. Samsung is committing $1 million to the effort.
That may be small potatoes in terms of Samsung's research and development budget, but it marks a big step forward for a fledging fuel-cell industry that aims to supplant the batteries typically used in notebook PCs, wireless phones, PDAs, and digital cameras.