For many web workers, dependence on the battery-driven vagaries of cameras, phones, laptops and iPods can crimp your mobility.

So, hot on the heels of our recent item on the Myth Of All Day Computing, comes Energizer’s announcement of four new easy-to-use chargers to complement their rechargeable battery line… a family charger, compact charger, ‘easy’ charger and intriguingly a ‘15-minute’ charger.

Sadly, with the lack of standards in battery form factors, these products are only useful for those driven on AA and AAA batteries. I live for the day when I can pop 452 rechargeable AA batteries into my MacBook!

Back in 2004, Intel set itself the goal of achieving eight-hour battery life by 2010, using a combination of battery innovation, software optimisation and power management technologies.

Though Intel has succeeded in continual innovation of its chipsets, and users have become accustomed to carry multiple or more powerful batteries amongst other power management strategies, it doesn’t seem as though we’re any closer to the goal of all-day computing…and Intel only has a little over a year to get there!

Each of the six or seven notebooks I’ve purchased over the last year have all purported to doubling or tripling battery time, but in reality I seem to only get two or three hours of typical use; as battery and power management have improved, we’ve demanded more and more from our computers.

However, in recent weeks we’ve seen the launch of HP’s EliteBook 6930p, which the iconic company claim breaks the twenty-four hour barrier (HP Breaks the 24-hour Battery Life Barrier, HP EliteBook 6930p Lasts All Day, Literally, Laptop delivers all-day computing). The EliteBook uses a combination of solid-state hard drives, LED screens and an optional high-capacity battery to achieve its power profile. I’m curious to hear from users of the EliteBook to understand whether HP’s claim of a full day’s charge is genuine or simply the best case scenario.

Regardless, it’s worth exploring whether the need for all-day computing is indeed necessary, or diminishing in the face of altering and fragmented usage patterns. As mobile workers use devices like the iPhone and lower-powered netbooks, perhaps Intel’s 2010 goal will simply be moot.

Beyond 2010, perhaps innovations in blood and sugar powered devices will mean we simply need to feed our computers when they’re hungry…or maybe by then we’ll all have a Mr. Fusion ;)

The latest place where the devices have surfaced is the Japanese Ceatac exhibition, where Toshiba is showing off a fuel cell-powered cell phone. While the device on display is only a prototype, they expect to release working models by March of next year. This tallies with a report in Fuel Cell Today passing on the news that Toshiba has been investing in a commercial production plant for the devices.

What does this mean for web workers? The obvious is increased device lifetime: Toshiba is talking in terms of a 50% increase in talk time, which would be nice (especially if the technology moves into power-hungry devices like the iPhone). But there’s another consequence that bears thinking about: carrying the supplies for your phone around.

You see, the work that Toshiba (and other manufacturers) are doing right now is primarily centered on direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). To charge one of these fuel cells up, you squirt in 99% pure methanol; apparently Toshiba is planning to sell this in little plastic bottles. So, your traveling kit may expand to contain little bottles of toxic, flammable liquid, along with chargers and batteries.

One interesting thing to contemplate is taking your fuel cell-powered phone on the plane with you. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued rules allowing these devices and up to 2 spare cartridges in carry-on luggage. So you’re covered there – but I personally would allow plenty of extra check-in time. Particularly if you’re an early adopter, the chance is that the TSA screeners might be a bit fuzzy on this rule.

It’s also easy to foresee a whole new group of office accidents. 100ml isn’t a whole lot – a bit less than half a cup – but I’m sure we all know klutzy coworkers who will manage to squirt the bulk of that on their desks, their papers, or themselves. With methanol being a flammable liquid, that has the potential to be no laughing matter. Hopefully the product packaging experts at Toshiba will work out some reasonably safe injection system, but you probably shouldn’t count on tossing the cartridges around with the same abandon that you do with batteries today.

All in all, though, I expect web workers to welcome these devices when they become available in quantity. We already put up with a lot of things to be mobile; having to learn new tricks to deal with a bottle of methanol in our bags should be no big deal.