Toshiba will soon preview a 'direct methanol' type fuel cell as a power option for portable computers, with proposed ship date in 2004. It's not clear if it's their own implementation, or licensed or bought in from elsewhere. This particular fuel cell application makes a lot of sense. The willingness to pay for power density is much higher in this market than other applications. This will get us out the fuel cell experience curve a lot faster than hypothetical hydrogen cars.

A couple things I hope they've covered: The logical place to use this option is on those long plane rides, so the methanol cartridges are going to have to be cleared for use in an aircraft cabin. Some of the basic work on direct meth was done at Caltech and JPL, which managed between them to create a botch job of overlapping patent licenses that have been hindering progress. Hope Toshiba's worked these items through.
7:49:57 PM    

VentureWire today carries news of a $50 million plus A round investment into 'United Platform Technologies' (aka UPTech) of Beijing. Walden International incubated the company and led the round. Doll Capital, Intel Capital, NEA and Morgenthaler and others. UPTech will "base its technology for China on popular applications found in Europe, Japan, and the U.S....concentrat[ing] on fixed networks, office communications, and broadband wireless access." This is a very large first round deal in the current environment, particularly in a lower cost venue like China, and these are top-drawer funders.

In the second deal of note, 3Com disposes of its Commworks product line to UTStarcomm, for $100m cash. UTStarcomm is a 'Chinese internetworking OEM' that is nominally HQed in the US, but made its mark by introducing low-cost mobile wireless infrastructure to China. The Commworks products include things like modems, RAS servers, VoIP softswitches and CDMA infrastructure.

What's in common? China is not only the biggest potential market for new infrastructure going, but right now its regulatory and competitive landscape is apparently more stable than here in the US of A. It's potentially a wireless overbuilder's dream. Money flows toward opportunity, and here you've got cases of both FDI heading into China, and the money made there being used to pull in more assets. FCC take note, please.
4:18:48 PM