CES is just the event for little items like these: gadgets, pure and simple. Pico-projectors (or mini, micro, pocket, or what have you projectors) are among the few gadgets I really enjoy seeing incremental improvements in, and look forward to CES every year for those improvements. This year hasn’t disappointed: we saw Optoma’s new gear last night, Microvision has a new one coming tomorrow, and 3M… → Read More
Short version: A powerful little device, significantly brighter than others of its size, with decent battery life and a good picture. Too bad it’s so damn loud, and not the most user-friendly thing of all time either. → Read More
I’ve gotten to review a few pico projectors, but haven’t had the opportunity to test one from AAXA. This new one, the P4, looks like it could stand up to my favorite so far, the 3M MP160. Like that device, AAXA’s P4 sacrifices smallness for brightness, and ends up beating the competition by some margin. → Read More
We’ve seen some cool applications of pico projectors in the last few years: the Game Gun comes to mind, and… that other game gun as well.
Disney (who, I guess unsurprisingly, maintains a whole research organization) is interested in the possible games and interactive experiences these cool little devices make possible. They’ve put together some prototypes – check out the video. → Read More
It took them a while, but PC makers are finally building notebooks with integrated pico projectors: that’s the main bullet point the LIFEBOOK S761/C that Fujitsu announced [JP] for the Japanese market has to offer. The projector replaces the space an optical drive would occupy in the notebook. → Read More
Digitimes has forecasted that pico projector shipments will triple to ten million units over the next two years. They don’t offer a lot of justification, but I’ve seen all the justification I need any time I show somebody one of these things. “Wait, that’s the projector?” “And how much does it cost?” At that point they’re a little afraid &mdash… → Read More
I’ve reviewed a few pico projectors, and one of their main limitations seems to be input type. That is to say, there are too many input types, since they’re meant to accommodate a variety of devices. This little guy, seen at an event here at MWC, goes the opposite direction: it’s strictly USB. It uses a USB display driver and sends both image and power over the cable, making presentations or… → Read More
This patent, filed by Nikon in Japan, is really baffling me right now. The idea is that the viewfinder or eyepiece would serve not only as a something to put your eye to and frame shots, but also as a pico projector. Isn’t that a little dangerous? → Read More
Short version: It’s hard to beat the ShowWX on portability and convenience, but on brightness and image quality it falls short of the competition. → Read More
‘Tis the season for pico projectors with laser-based light sources. Microvision updated its ShowWX line just the other day, and now here’s AAXA’s, traditionally a lower-cost option. And depending on your needs, it might actually be a better fit. → Read More
One of my favorites gadgets from CES this year was Microvision’s ShowWX pico projector, which they’d grafted onto a motion-sensing gun controller and plugged into an FPS. The laser-based image source means no focus is necessary, and there’s no display lag. Well, they’re updating the line with a new one that looks sleeker and certainly is brighter. → Read More
Just what do these guys think they’re trying to pull? I recognized that doodad the second I saw the picture of it. After all, I reviewed it three weeks ago. So, it looks like Viewsonic has put out the same thing and called it the DVP5. I’m going to guess it performs at about the same level. So we’ll move on. → Read More
Short version: A fun device but rather critically flawed: wherever you can shoot video, you can’t show it, and vice versa. It’s a hell of a lot to pay for a pocket cam, too. → Read More
The successor to the 3M MPro150 and MPro120 pico projectors has been released by 3M, and it’s looking chunky. The MP180 improves on the brightness of is predecessors, upping the lumens to 30. That’s not enough for watching a movie in full daylight, but it does mean you don’t have to dim the lights quite so far.
The trade-off appears to be in size. The MP180 appears to be significantly chubbier… → Read More
Short version: Although they require a little more space to create an image, these DLP-based projectors are worth your consideration — especially the PK201, which had a remarkably clear and colorful image. → Read More
Japan-based Morpho announced [JP, PDF] “Morpho Smart Select” today, a piece of software that makes it possible to pick the best shot out of a set of pictures taken with a digital camera. Morpho Smart Select makes the decision based on a number of different factors, including color contrast, position of the object or person in the image, the smile of a person and focus. → Read More
I never thought I’d see the day when pocket-sized projectors would be so thick on the ground that I can’t tell the difference between them. Well, that day is come. While the big guys (TI, HP, 3M, and others without two-character acronyms) have their own entries into the pico-projector field, there are a ton of me-toos out there that don’t really add anything to the equation. Try as I might, I… → Read More
Short version: Half PMP, half pico-projector, and unfortunately, not quite fully baked. But the next one is going to be awesome. → Read More
Ready to get your pico-projector on? The Microvision ShowWX goes on sale today at 12:00 EST. Get excited. → Read More
Pico-projectors are just so cute and cuddly. Amazon just so happens to be shipping the pico-sized MPro150 now for only $380. What do you get for that price, you ask? Great question, friend! → Read More
The only info we can find about this camcorder comes from the YouTube video and description, which states it’s a first-of-its-kind camcorder attachment using a WVGA DLP pico chipset. We can’t make out the manufacturer and really anything else about the concept. But one thing is clear. We love it. Click through for the video demo. → Read More
You remember a few months ago there was a video going around of this thing, and I called it out for being derivative of the Redneck Techie’s Game Gun? Well, that criticism still stands, but after testing this controller out, I have to say that whether it’s the only game gun on the market or not, this thing is awesome. → Read More
The pico-projector market is a new one, and the products are still evolving. It really wasn’t very long ago that this product’s predecessor, the MPro 110, hit the market. It got pretty lame reviews (before which I prematurely called it awesome), but that isn’t really indicative of the worth of this kind of device. A projector you can keep in your pocket? Genius. Now they just… → Read More
The first generation of pico projectors sort of landed with a thud; their lackluster performance and poor battery life, combined with a relatively high price, have pretty much relegated them to “experimental” status. The major releases were Optoma’s PK101, 3M’s MPro 110, Dell’s whatever-it-was. Recently 3M has updated their pico to the MPro 120, which you’ll see… → Read More
[photopress:pcio.jpg,full,center] You don’t need us to tell you how cool pico-projection is going to be in the near future. No, you need this epically cheesy video to do the work. There’s no way we could capture it this well. And the best part is there are four more scenarios being acted out with pico-projectors on the site. Don’t get my wrong, ultra-portable projection is going… → Read More
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