Toshiba Announces World's Smallest Direct Methanol Fuel Cell with Energy Output of 1 Watt to be used for Portable Devices

Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 03, 2003 - (JCN Newswire) - Toshiba Corporation
, the world leader in bringing fuel-cell technology to portable
products, today announced a prototype of highly compact, direct methanol
fuel cell (DMFC) that opens the way to the use of DMFC as an alternative
power source to recharge batteries for personal devices as small as cell
phones, digital still cameras, PDAs and mobile TVs. The new DMFC will
provide a greater freedom for users of those handheld equipments to
easily recharge the batteries in a mobile environment, whether they are
away from home on business travel or out on a beach. The new DMFC is
small enough to fit in a carry-on bag or even in a jeans pocket as a
portable power source.

Toshiba led the industry in announcing the first DMFC for portable PCs
in March this year. The latest announcement confirms that the company
remains a step ahead of its competitors in developing the potential of
fuel cells. Toshiba expects to commercialize DMFC for both portable PCs
and handheld products within 2005.

Toshiba's new DMFC for portable devices realizes an average output of 1
watt per hour for approximately twenty hours of operation as total on a
single 25cc fuel cartridge of high concentration methanol.

Drawing on know-how gained in its work on DMFC for portable PCs, Toshiba
achieved the miniaturization necessary for a fuel cell for use with
handheld products by minimizing the size of auxiliary parts, such as the
fuel tank, the liquid and air transmission pumps, the interface and
electric circuits and the DC-DC converter. The methanol fuel is also
stored at a high concentration, allowing the fuel cartridge to be
reduced to a volume of only 25cc. The fruit of these development efforts
is a DMFC with a volume off only 140cc; a DMFC that fits snugly into
the palm of the hand.

Toshiba will present the DMFC for portable devices at CEATEC JAPAN 2003
in Makuhari Messe to be held in Chiba prefecture, Japan from October 7
to 11.

Some key technologies

Methanol in a fuel cell delivers power most efficiently when mixed with
water in a 3 to 6% methanol concentration-a concentration requiring a
fuel tank that is much too large for use with portable equipment.
Toshiba overcame this by developing a system that allows a higher
concentration of methanol to be diluted by the water produced as a
by-product of the power generation process. This technology allows
methanol to be stored at a much higher concentration, and achieves a
fuel tank less than 1/10 the size of that required for storing the same
volume of methanol in a 3 to 6% concentration. The current prototype can
operate for approximately twenty hours on 25cc of high concentration
methanol.

Toshiba will continue development of DFMC technology, with the aim of
product commercialization for portable PCs and cellular phones within
2005.

Main Specifications

Product: Methanol fuel cell directly connected to portable devices
Output: Average 1 watt
Size: 100 x 60 x 30mm (140cc)
Total Weight: 130 g (with fuel cartridge)
Operating hours: Approximately twenty hours with 25cc of high
concentration methanol fuel
Cartridge weight: 30 g (with 25cc of methanol fuel)
Cartridge size: 30 x 60 x 20mm
Fuel: Methanol


About Toshiba Corporation

Toshiba Corporation (US: TOSBF) (FTSE: TOS) is a leader in
information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer
products, and power systems. The company's integration of these
wide-ranging capabilities assures its position as a leading company in
semiconductors, LCDs and other electronic devices. Toshiba has 176,000
employees worldwide and annual sales of over US$40 billion.For further
information, please visit the Toshiba Corporation home page at:
www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm <http://www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm>