CES 2010: Laser pico projector offers glimpse of the future

07 Jan 10 09:04 by Jared Newman in category Industry To news archive

You’d have to be filthy rich or a little crazy to drop $500 on a handheld laser projector, but Microvision hopes that eventually the technology behind its ShowWX projector will become ubiquitous.

Microvision’s ShowWX was on display at a CES media event last night, blasting the Austin Powers movie Goldmember onto a white board. Video was coming from an iPhone, which was about the same size as the device, and the ShowWX can be connected to any device with TV out or VGA functionality.

SHOWWX-iPodTouch-Pub2

The image looked great — Microvision says laser projectors have better colors and saturation than competing DLP and LCoS projectors, and they needn’t be focused depending on the projection distance. The ShowWX projects an image of up to 200 inches diagonally in a dimly-lit room. One big downside: The ShowWX lasts 90 minutes on a user-replaceable battery, which could make movie-watching inconvenient.

But the real bad news is the aforementioned price point, which is tentative but unlikely to drop when the ShowWX is released stateside in a few months. Microvision understands that the ShowWX isn’t likely to be a hit. The real attraction is the PicoP engine inside.

From behind Microvision’s booth, spokesman Matt Nichols pulled out a case containing the engine. It’s about the size of two pennies lined up next to each other. Nichols said the long-term goal is to get that engine inside mobile phones and other handheld devices. But he realizes that the price needs to be less than $100, or even $50. That could take two to five years, he said.

Still, there’s the larger question of whether people want these tiny projectors in their handheld devices. It’s still a relatively new concept, with LG launching the first projector phone in the United States last month, and Nikon releasing a projector-equipped digital camera earlier last year. These devices, the former of which runs on Texas Instruments’ DLP technology (the tech in Nikon’s camera isn’t disclosed), will either set the stage for handheld laser projection, or they’ll prove to be a cool concept that doesn’t take off.

2 Comments

Blu-rayFreak
Posts: 679
Posted on: 08 Jan 10 16:47
Who wouldn't want a micro, portable projector? It all comes down to cost though. If they can bring the price down on these things, I think many people would scoop em up.
Zathros
Posts: 1370
Posted on: 08 Jan 10 19:02
You can get a regular LCD Projector at a much better price than many many large LCD,s (42" +). The options for viewing are much greater , you can go from 36" to 200" diagonally very easily on most models. I really like the Sanyo line. Mine is 8 years old and going strong. I have used it for about 8 hrs. a week for the last 8 years and it works flawlessly, and at 100"' inches it is still a better experience than a 60" Plasma or LCD.

Post a comment

Hello guest,
default
To benefit from all extra features you need to log in or sign up.

About this category

Industry

  • Industry news informs you on the latest reports on different consumer electronics markets. What is currently happening or is expected to happen by trend watchers, research firms and analysts.More about this

Most popular headlines

Microsoft releases Windows 7 SP1 Beta (5)

Microsoft has officially launched the public beta test for Windows 7 Service Pack 1, an update package for the Windows 7 operating system that includes an array of updates and fixes for issues that have been discovered since the software began shipping.

Seagate: Hybrid SSD-HDDs will rule the future (5)

  • Tue 27 Jul 02:29 by wconeybeer
  • Hard Disk Drives, Industry

The future of hard disk drives will be flash hybrids, according to a high ranking Seagate executive. The statement regarding the predicted popularity of the hybrid drives coincides with the release of the company’s new Momentus XT drive, which is being billed as the world’s fastest 2.5” hard drive.

CD era one step closer to retirement? (19)

The music industry continues to struggle as it looks for ways to close the technological gap that has seen CD sales continue to slide.

Foremay ships world's largest 2TB SSD (11)

  • Mon 26 Jul 20:30 by Randomus
  • Solid State (ssd)

Foremay has introduced a 1TB 2.5" SATA solid-state drive alongside the industry-leading 2TB 3.5" SATA SSD, as the company expects to see an increased demand in SSD products for the enterprise.

See all headlines

Active Commenters