Optoma has announced that they will be bringing the first pico projector to the market, in late 2008. Planned to be displayed at InfoComm 2008, which is going on right now in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Optoma Pico Projector is a stand-alone version of the often hyped built-in mobile phone projector, but measures in smaller than most mobile phones.
Optoma apparently plans to have this punitive projector available in Europe and Asia towards the end of 2008, with a wider availablility in 2009. The whole thing weighs in at 113g (4oz)(for comparison, the Nokia N95 weighs 125g (4.4oz)) and is capable of projecting an image up to 100 times the size of the original display. There’s no word on how exactly your mobile phone will connect to the Optoma Pico Projector, though.
So, why do you care? I can see two possible killer apps for something like this:
1. Business – We can now create, edit, and store Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents on our phones. The only thing missing, really, is a way to show those documents on a larger screen. Currently, only a few Nseries handsets support TV-Out, but what if you could travel with just an E90 and the Optoma Pico Projector? I can see mobile salespeople and other professionals really jumping on this as a way to dramatically lighten their load.
2. Entertainment – Sure, my N95 has TV-Out, but that’s really only limited by the size of the TV that I have available, right? I would MUCH prefer to be limited by the amount of blank wall space that I can find. Imagine loading your N96 up with movies (16GB of internal space is PLENTY) and then going, well, anywhere, and watching those movies with a group of friends? Or gaming, with the ZeeMote bluetooth gaming controller, this projector makes it all much more exciting.
What other uses can you think of? Do you think this type of ability is better in a separate, standalone unit, or built into the phone itself? I personally think the stand alone model is preferred.
