Cell Phone Projectors & Other Cool Innovations

Mobile phone projectors "will launch this year" according to 3M, which gave PC Pro a demonstration recently at The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held each January in Las Vegas.

The tiny LED illuminated projector is a miniscule handheld device, that displays photos or films stored on the unit's SD or Mini-SD card. The projector has a brightness of around 8-10 lumens, and is capable of displaying an image of up to 50 to 60 inches—an impressive size for a projector that’s only about an inch across.

PC Pro reviewer says, “The projector's VGA resolution image is certainly impressive. Text PowerPoint presentations is rendered sharply, photos are reproduced with lifelike skintones and colors, and little detail is sacrificed.”

The projector can run for two hours continuously using a standard mobile phone battery. That’s long enough to watch a full feature film, but 3M envisions it mostly being used for impromptu business presentations, and for quick photo or video clip sharing.

3M's spokesperson Greg Roberts says 3M is currently in talks with "several leading phone and camera manufacturers" and says the products could arrive on the market before year’s end.

Texas Instruments also has a DLP mobile projector in its labs, which debuted at the IFA 2007 Show last August.

Apparently tiny projectors are all the rage. Another impressive gadget revealed at this year’s CES was Sanyo’s self described "world's shortest throw distance projector".

Sanyo's PLC-XL50 offers an astounding 80 inch projection from a distance of just 3-inches. This 3LCD projector features "true XGA" resolution and is rated at 2000-lumens. The device would be practical for places like billboards, shopping malls, amusement parks, or basically anywhere a conventional projector wouldn’t work due to space constrictions. Better yet, we’ll be able to watch a widescreen episode of Spenny Vs Kenny in the closet or bathroom when we need to hide out from super annoying roommates.

Posted by Rebecca Sato

Links:
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/ces-2008-sanyo-unveils-world-s-shortest-throw-distance-projector-video-

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/153237/mobile-phone-projectors-will-launch-this-year.html

http://www.cesweb.org