Is Jakks Eyeclops the Worst Toy this year?

The ‘Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood’ has released their list for the worst toys of the year. Among them is the Jakks Eyeclops mini projector which can be bought at toysRus. We agree this might be a good nomination, though for completely different reasons than they believe. Pico projectors can be great toys as long as they are used in moderation. As with everything, it comes down to good parenting. If you are going to get a mini projector we would recommend one with a little more power and quality than that the Jakks though.

You can go place your vote from among the toys nominated at democracyinaction.org

We are now waiting on our Archos dock to run our Archos demo with. We found that the Archos does not come standard with the appropriate outputs we need. After searching the forums we found that the battery dock is the best option for Archos users since it extends the battery life and provides the needed outputs. We look forward to sharing our demo with you soon!

As every company under the sun continues to come out with their latest version of pico projector we had been hunting for a live demo to show us the real quality differences. Let’s face it, most of the models put out in the last couple years haven’t been up to par with expectations. That trend is beginning to change. The new line’s from companies like Aaxa Tech, 3M, and Optoma seem to work well as long as you aren’t in a super bright environment. Check out this video to get a real look at how fast the quality of these projectors is moving.

MiLi iPhone Projector

Blogs everywhere have been announcing that the new MiLi iPhone projector recently started being distributed. This little guy first caught people’s attention back at CES as one of the most visually attractive pico projectors as of yet. The case design is a masterpiece that is sure to impress. The MiLI flips open and becomes a dock for your iPhone or iPod and projects images and video.

At first glimpse you would expect the MiLi to be a game changer with its futuristic design. After taking a look under the hood and turning it on your expectations hit the floor. The MiLi, while looking futuristic, is a thing of the past. It boasts only 10 lumens and 640×480 resolution. In short, it’s an expensive ($400!) fancy looking toy. Most users won’t be able to get any practical use out of it. Even in dark rooms the MiLi can’t put out the type of quality that most people would expect.

If you are in the market for a fancy looking toy for your kids and have the money the MiLi might be a good choice. Just hope that nobody ever turns it on.

Mili IPhone Projector video from CES on picoprojector-info.com

Sapphire 101 Pico Projector

We just finished reading a review from over at Crunchgear.com on the new Sapphire 101 LCoS based pico projector and thought we would share it with you.

The Sapphire 101 boasts 15 lumens and a 640 x 480 native resolution. Crunchgear has quite the sense of humor when it comes to pico’s and didn’t have very nice things to say about this one in particular. The largest complaint was the over $500 price tag while having less features than most other models. But like they say, “competition is good.”

Check out the full CrunchGear review here

Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10

Today we feature a summary review from associatedcontent.com, written by Blair Mathis, on the Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10 pico projector. Blair describes the V10 mostly in terms of its ability to play movies citing the 1gb internal memory and 60-70 minute battery life as not enough to store and play a full length film. He does mention that the memory can be expanded via a microSD card reader and that the V10 can be charged and powered via the USB port or wall charger. He rates the V10 image quality as poor and 10 lumens as very low, especially when considering the $300 price tag.

Click here for the full review of the Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10 pico projector on associatedcontent.com

Our friends at Pico Projector Info have found the first review video on the Aaxa L1 Laser projector. If you recall, these items started shipping out very recently and are starting to make their real-life appearances. Here is a user breaking the L1 down with features and capabilities.

The L1 laser projector features a focus-free laser-driven operation with a built-in media player – as can be seen in the video. Also new is the ability to detect different office document formats including Power Point, Word, Excell, and more.

They are now shipping for $599

Aside from being a pico projector with laser capabilities, the coolest thing about this unit is the ability to always stay in focus. Due to the lasers being used as opposed to LED projectors, images on the Aaxa L1 Laser Projector will stay clear from one wall to the next without having to mess around with the focus wheel. Further, it can generate an image on two surfaces at varying distances at the same time.

The Aaxa L1 Laser Projector also has an incredible color range. The colors look exponentially more vivid and clear than projectors of the past. We are definitely interested in seeing more to come from these laser projectors.

Check out the pictures we’ve found!

$599 at http://www.aaxatech.com/products/l1_laser_pico_projector.htm

The way Slashgear describes the new OMAP4 based device, the three different displays and pico projector look as if they are going on to a sort of smartphone or tablet-based reader.

The significant bump in processing speed on the OMAP4 will be due to the dual 1GHz ARM A9 cores. Even though processing speed is increased, the chip set should also be more efficient giving users roughly 145 hours on a 1,000 mAh battery.

The video displays on the OMAP4 will allow for two onboard screens and an external display which can be used in place of the onboard pico projector. For example, if you want to watch a movie while keeping your browser and email open, you can plug your video out in to an external monitor. If an external monitor is not on hand, you can play your movie directly on to a flat surface via the built-in projector.

Read the rest at Slashgear.