Sanko branded Miseal mini projector has a unique cube structure that fits in the palm of your hand, rather than the typical handheld size and shape pico projectors we’ve seen to date. What is intriguing is a snap-in matching docking with extra juice to supply additional 2 watts of power for bigger sound.
Texas Instruments may have wowed at CES last month with their pico-projector modules, but they certainly won’t have the whole market to themselves. At Mobile World Congress next week, Explay will launch their Colibri mobile-projection module, a compact projector capable of creating a 70-inch image at VGA, WVGA or SVGA resolutions.
A group of MIT students have developed a wearable computer that projects its display onto any nearby surface, and is controlled by hand gestures and voice-recognition. A prototype was demonstrated at TED this week, capable of projecting a watch face onto the user’s wrist after they trace a circle over it, capturing images framed by their fingers, and pulling up information about an individual and projecting it onto them during conversation.
Video demos after the cut
The ultra compact Optoma Pico projector PK101 with TI-DLP technology has been available from amazon online (listed as EP-PK-101) for quite some time now. The package bundled with an iPod/iPhone/iTouch enabled docking to enable video and audio to the Optoma, the manufacturer has today announced a new breed of much dedicated A/V cable with similar function for the use of Apple products.
While visiting CES 2009, the folks from Luminus gave me a short 5 minutes walk-though on their PT-39 LED Chipset that used to power all those ultra bright and color accurate mobile-size projectors. I was more impressed with water-cooled Chi Lin and Vivitek full-feature projectors; but after a second look on the mini-projectors’ throwing images, I have to say the composes of three individual LED chips were not joke when it came to brightness and color reproduction. It can throw 100 of lumen and claim 20k hours of lamp life, the light source is about 10 times more usable than my home projector. If you want to give it spin, BenQ has recently announced the availability of GP1 Pocket Projector, which incorporated Luminous PhlatLight’s PT-39 chipset and Texas Instruments DLP technology to produce the on-the-go mobile beamer at its best.
Samsung’s AnyCall Show pico-projector phone was one of the surprise hits at CES earlier this month, blowing us away with the image quality possible from a TI projector hidden inside a touchscreen 3G smartphone. Back then, we knew it would be going to South Korea before the rest of us would get a sniff at it, but PopSci have cranked up the envy factor with a hands-on video demo of the AnyCall Show in action.
Check out the video demo of the pico-projector smartphone after the cut
The Fraunhofer IPMS, responsible for OLED development since 2000 and the team behind the Center for Organic Materials and Electronics Devices Dresden (COMEDD), are planning to demonstrate the first roll-to-roll OLED lighting panels this year, as well as developing pico-projectors using OLED panels and touch-controllers using the technology. Speaking in an interview with OLED-Info, institute director Dr Karl Leo described the group’s intent to not only push OLED design but production methods as well.
WowWee have announced a new range of pico-projectors, based on Texas Instruments’ DLP chipset. The three new products range from straightforward projector handsets, as already on-sale, to a combination pico-projection boom box. The WowWee Cinemin Swivel, shown here, will hit the market first, offering 480 x 360 resolution, three hour battery life, a poseable neck for projecting on walls, ceilings or anything in-between, and a standard video input suitable for iPods, laptops and other devices.
Pico-projection looks to be a burgeoning niche, and inside many of the compact devices lurks Texas Instruments‘ chipset. SlashGear caught up with the company at CES this week, and took a look at two of the new devices from Samsung using the DLP technology. Unlike existing pico-projectors on the market, Samsung have taken the TI chipset and integrated it into standalone products that don’t necessarily require an external video source. In fact their MBP200 PMP and Anycall Show both offer the portable mini-cinema experience all on their own.
Casemods follow a pretty simple equation: take a non-standard, preferably unusual container, add PC components, and voilà. Of course, then the interest comes from fitting a PC where previously it simply wouldn’t fit. Enter modder Unravelled, and his Sinclair ZX81 casemod: a VIA EPIA Pico-ITX based computer stuffed inside this compact chunk of 80s memorabilia.
SlashGear Japan
