The digital age has brought with it a high dependence on cell phones and connectivity, creating a whole new dichotomy for technology start-ups and corporations. Enterprises around the world are clamoring to find the Next Big Thing, and one Swedish startup may have done just that with their newest invention.
According to Bustle.com, a Swedish startup named MyFC has created a cell phone charging cable that is powered by water. The technology behind the invention is complex but involves a combination of water, salt and fuel cells.
Dubbed the JAQ, the fuel cell charger is being called the “world’s smallest pocket-sized fuel cell charger” by the company, according to The Daily Mail. This technology has great implications as far as decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels to keep our digital technology running.
Livescience.com reports that the charger “consists of a credit card-shaped ‘power card’ and a hollowed out port that’s roughly the size of a smartphone. The card contains saltwater, which fuels electricity-producing chemical reactions when you slip the card into the port. To get that electricity to your phone’s battery, you simply plug your phone into the port with a standard cable.”
By eliminating the need to plug your phone into an electrical outlet, we can significantly decrease the amount of electricity used and therefore decrease the burning a finite resource: coal.
The technology is also promising on the frontier of personal computers and tablets. While they can be used to charge a tablet, users will need to use more than one fuel cell to charge them completely.
Technology is getting faster and more efficient these days, which is gauged through the data communications prefix mega, or one million (e.g. megabits). This term describes the speed of data transfer or the bandwidth of a given system and is fairly standard for most technology these days.
While JAQ isn’t available for purchase just yet, MyFC hopes to be ready to ship the product later this year. Individual cords will be available for purchase and will cost around $1.50 each, according to a company spokesperson. The business is also planning to implement a subscription service that will allow consumers to sign up to receive a certain number of cables each month.