As portable electronics become more accessible, prolonging battery life is the number one industry problem. Whether its cellphones, laptops or digital cameras, we’ve all been caught holding dead pieces of equipment, wishing we had some extra juice. To assuage this, Canon has announced that it will begin developing tiny fuel cells that will eventually replace conventional batteries for its printers and digital cameras. Canon’s new system would take hydrogen straight from a refillable cartridge, making it more environmentally friendly. The company is also looking into replacing LCDs with Organic Light-Emitting Diodes that it will produce in-house. Other companies diligently working on fuel cell technology include technology include Toshiba, NEC and Hitachi.
