The time consuming chore of recharging lithium ion batteries currently used in mobile phones, laptops and PDAs may be a thing of the past with the development of fuel cells designed to power mobile devices.

Mobile technology leaders NTT DoCoMo and Fujitsu have announced plans to develop fuel cell-powered mobile phones, according to Cellular News.

Methanol-based fuel-cell systems extract hydrogen ions from methanol over a platinum catalyst to generate electricity, providing an efficient way for users to get more out of their handset.

The fuel cell system enables users to operate mobile devices by simply replacing the methanol fuel cartridges or refilling them with methanol fuel.

A fuel cell powered system can also power devices such as mobile phones and PDAs for a much longer period than lithium ion batteries.

The two companies say they expect to complete the development of the fuel cell mobile phones by the end of March 2006, marking another advancement in the development of a mature commercial fuel cell industry