Recharge your phone with water

Swedish PowerTrekk uses just one spoonful to energise an iPhone

Barcelona It is the nightmare of the wired world — a smartphone low on battery. Now Swedish group myFC says its water-powered charger could be the fix anywhere while battery giant Duracell is championing a push for cars and even stadiums to be built with energy ‘mats' that would power up phones.

A Californian firm, meanwhile, has launched a phone that it claims can remain charged for up to 15 years, making it the perfect spare in emergencies or disasters.

"The difference between the energy on a phone and the energy we consume is increasing. We need to charge more often but you don't want to be hooked onto a wall," said myFC chief executive Bjorn Westerholm.

His firm has therefore come up with a portable fuel cell charger which is slightly larger than a compact camera and which uses just one spoonful of water and a small metallic device called a fuel puck, to fully charge an iPhone. The PowerTrekk could appeal most to campers, aid workers or the military, said Westerholm, who is exhibiting the charger at the world's biggest mobile fair in Barcelona. "It could be sea water, fresh water. You need to carry water with you to survive anyway and the PowerTrekk needs just one spoonful," he said.

XPAL Power rolled out a phone with a battery that "lasts 15 years," said Christian Scheder, chairman of the Californian firm. The so-called Spareone, which will be commercialised in March, remains charged for up to 15 years if the phone is turned off, and for two months if it is on.

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