New fuel cells promise days of power for gadgets

Are you one of those people who forget to charge your cell phone, music player or laptop? Gadgets have a way of running out of juice just when we need them most. But power drains may no longer be an issue for consumers in the next year.

A new generation of fuel cells that promise days and days of power are being readied for the marketplace. A charger the size of a cigarette pack will use butane to power a fuel cell that can, for example, plug into the USB slot on your laptop. Just a teaspoon of butane gives the fuel cell 20 times the life of a traditional battery.

One Massachusetts company founded by former MIT researchers hopes to have a fuel cell on the market in some 12 or 15 months.