VIA is well known for its ultra-compact mainboards and low power CPUs, though Intel’s Atom processors have generally cornered the market when it comes to nettops. The VIA ARTiGO A1100 is the company’s attempt to remedy that, a palm-sized barebones PC that’s smaller than a stack of DVD cases and yet, they claim, is capable of 1080p Full HD via an HDMI output. Is the ARTiGO A1100 the DIY HTPC we’ve been waiting for? Check out the full review after the cut.
Mozilla Labs has been working on a new concept smartphone, based on various tidbits and suggestions thrown into the virtual hat from the general public. They've come up with the Seabird, a so-called "open web" handset that uses pico-projector technology to create an expansive interface that varies according to how it's placed.
Video concept after the cut
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Flip Video's other notable partnership in the new Designed for Flip accessory program is iGo, who have put together a pico-projector for the company's UltraHD and MinoHD camcorders. Unlike the Mikey for Flip, which physically snaps onto the bottom of your Flip, the iGo Portable Projector uses an adapter cable; it also has regular A/V, composite video, stereo audio, mini HDMI, VGA and microUSB inputs.
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We've seen quite a few companies looking to steal Flip's crown for point-and-shoot camcorders - JVC's PICSIO models, for instance, or the HP V5020u - but Cisco aren't willing to sit back and watch that happen. A new range of Flip Video cameras has been launched, the UltraHD 8GB and 4GB, and the MinoHD 8GB and 4GB, each capable of 720p 60fps recording.
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It's been a long time since we've heard from Explay about their super-small Colibri pico-projector module, but the company has piped up again with the latest unit. The new laser pico module supports WVGA 852 x 480 resolution, 14 lumens brightness and up to 70-inch projections, and will apparently begin showing up in commercial products come February 2011.
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Ordro isn't a well-known brand for camcorders around these parts, but the company's new HDV-D350S is looking to grab some headlines by virtue of its integrated pico-projector. The D350S records up to 60fps 1440 x 1080 video or 12-megapixel stills, but also has a removable pico-projector attachment that slots onto a mount on the top of the camera; that can project up to a 60-inch WVGA picture.
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Remember the LuminAR digital desk-lamp that used a pico-projector and gesture/glyph recognition to create a digital workspace? The chances of seeing a more polished version hit stores has just climbed a little, with the news that the MIT graduate responsible for the concept, Natan Linder, has just won Audi's Tony Stark Innovation Challenge. Winning the competition - a tie-in with the Iron Man movie franchise, which features several Audi cars - nets Linder $15,000 to further develop LuminAR.
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Amazon has begun taking preorders for the Samsung SP-H03 palm-sized pico projector, though currently there's no estimated shipping date. Priced at $299, the SP-H03 runs at WVGA (854 x 480) resolution and has a 1,000:1 contrast ratio - decent for a pico - together with 30 Lumens brightness.
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We've seen combinations of pico-projectors and cameras used for new interface systems before - perhaps most memorably the wearable "Sixth Sense" computer - but MIT Media Lab researcher's Natan Linder's LuminAR is perhaps the first to include an angle-poise robot too. At its core, the "LuminAR bulb" is a pico-projector, a camera and the necessary electronics combined into a standard screw-mount, capable of projecting an interface onto your table or wall and tracking touch and motion gestures you make toward it. When screwed into a robotic arm, however, the whole thing gets even more impressive.
Video demo after the cut
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The tablet market is gradually growing, but if DigiLife have their way it'll go hand in hand with pico-projectors. Charbax over at ARMDevices has been prowling the Computex floor, and has come up with the DigiLife iOne, a 10-inch capacitive touchscreen Android tablet that also has an integrated VGA-resolution pico-projector.
Video demo after the cut
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It's 3D all round with pico-projectors these days, as the companies behind the pocketable display devices try to catch a hold of the 3D gravy-train. Sydiant have taken the easy route for their SID 2010 demonstration this week, taping two regular pico's together with a polarizing film in each; viewers wearing standard 3D glasses see the projected image in three dimensions. Meanwhile, Aiptek have confirmed that they're planning both glasses and glasses-free pico-projectors for launch over the next couple of years.
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BeamBox have announced their latest pico-projector, and while we're still waiting for the company's MiLi Evolution iPhone-case-cum-projector to arrive, the Evolution R-2 should tide us over. Based around a 40 lumen LCoS chip, making it one of the brighter picos we've seen, the R-2 has an integrated media player for photos, audio and video (like the Evolution R-1 we reviewed last year) together with both PC/Mac and A/V inputs.
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