Forget charging batteries, or even whipping out a solar panel. Toshiba says its first fuel cell powered gadgets will be launched in just a few short months!

The company says its direct methanol fuel cell will hit shelves before March 31 2009. There’s no word on which gadget it’ll turn up in first, but the firm showed off a mobile phone powered by the technology in Japan last week, and we’ve seen MP3 players packing it too.

It should mean much more power, for a longer period of time, with the fuel cell giving off a small amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide as it cranks away, generating power on the go.

Re-charging fuel cell gadgets is also much faster than using gadgets, since the cell can simply be swapped for a new one.

As well as shoving fuel cells inside brand new gadgets, Toshiba’s working on re-chargers for existing kit, using a fuel cell to generate power for whatever’s plugged in.

Keep it here for news of the first products as soon as they’re available.

Out 2009 | £TBC | Toshiba (via MacWorld)