The Japanese are far more interested in the potential of capitalizing on fuel cells and companies such as Nec, Toshiba and Hitachi are working on the development and commercialization of fuel-cell batteries for the next-generation of consumer electronics.
Earlier this year, NTT DoCoMo Inc and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd developed an improved methanol fuel cell enabling eight hours of continuous usage of 3G mobile phones, three times longer than the existing fuel cell prototype.

Canon, one of the most important companies at the forefront of the technology innovation business, has recently announced designing and producing tiny fuel cells that will power digital photo cameras and printers, thus replacing standard batteries.

Fuel cell generates electricity as a by-product of the oxidization of dilute methanol. DMFCs (direct methanol fuel cells) typically work by mixing methanol with air and water to produce electrical power and the main benefit is that power can be obtained instantly by inserting a fuel cartridge recharger.
This is what Canon is also experimenting, this system is being portrayed as more environmentally friendly because there is no risk of emitting carbon dioxide as a byproduct.