Aug 01 2008
Flood of new pocket projectors imminent: professional sales presenters quiver with anticipation
CNET reported that Mint Wireless will be releasing a version of Aiptek’s V10 pocket projector under their brand in Australia and New Zealand in September 2008, at a cost of A$649 (about US$603). The V10 will be the first commercially available pocket projector to be released into a retail market.
The V10 can display a 50 inch diagonal screen at 640×480 resolution from a distance of just over 5 feet, and it includes a 1 gigabyte internal hard drive, expandable microSD memory slot, USB and RCA video/audio connections (enabling you to hook up computers, DVD players, game systems, and digital cameras), stereo speakers (albeit tiny), and battery (but only for 60 minutes of independent power) - all in a package about the size of a typical smartphone. The V10 will support native display of a variety of different media files including MP4, AVI and ASF video files, MP3 audio, and JPEG images.
At the end of a leaked Dell internal presentation - about the soon-to-be-released, Intel Centrino 2 based, Latitude E series of new laptops - was a small mention and a photo of a new mini-projector, to be called the “Pocket Projector“. The new pico-sized projector weighs just 1.1 pounds, uses LED technology (no lamp or bulb), employs “green” technology (no mercury), and as the photo shows, it’s smaller than a coffee mug.
The tech blog Engadget speculates that the Dell device should be available before the end of 2008, based on the scope of the overall presentation. No official confirmation from Dell, so far, on the device’s existence, possible release date, or cost.
Meanwhile, Nippon Signal recently demonstrated a prototype of their new pico projector, which is about the size of a cigarette pack. This projector uses lasers to display 800×600 (SVGA) resolution images, which is higher than the V10. Release dates for this new device have not yet been set, although AboutProjectors.com reports that “Nippon Signal is looking to release this projector as soon as possible”.
Finally, check out this roundup of super-tiny projectors, compiled by OObject.com - all of which are slated for release within the next year.
