In our past news we talked about the concept of pico projectors being embedded into an iPhone. For now we have news from Telstar who has announced a pico projector that mounts on the back of an iPhone 4.
Using a DLP optical engine, this pico projector is rated at 15 Lumens with a 640×360 resolution. The main plus side of this projector is its built in battery that can take lengthen the life of the iPhone. I’d love to have a pico projector in my iPhone but I also would not want it to drain my battery to zero if I had to do a 10 minute presentation with it. So for that I give Telstar a thumbs up for its concept.

I would personally prefer a higher lumen and be plugged into the wall but this is where the pico projector business is for now.

With pico projectors getting brighter and more efficient, many Apple product lovers are beginning to wonder if a pico projector embedded in the next iphone is a possibility.

Aatma Studios has created a concept of a hologram-based technology.  This concept is far stretch from where we are now but it will be pretty cool when this becomes possible.  We can be like Tony Stark with our hologram control panels!

We may get a pico projector in the near future embedded in an iphone but don’t expect anything this far fetched yet!

Originally from http://www.idownloadblog.com/2011/08/24/holographic-display-keyboard/

The Nikon Coolpix S1200pj set to be released in September at $430.  Weighing just 6.6oz, the 1200pj has a 14.1 megapixel camera a 20 lumen DLP projector, and a 3 inch LCD.  Its estimated to have a 1 hour projection time which is pretty standard with many battery powered pico projectors right now.   To get a camera and pico projector in 1 at this price is still slightly on the expensive side, but overall there will be people who find the need to have this feature built in.  For those who rather have a separate camera and projector there is always the option of getting an aaxa p1 jr pico projector for $109.99, leaving $320 for a nice point and shoot camera.

http://gizmofusion.com/2011/08/hands-on-aaxa-technologies-p1-jr-pico-project

GizmoFusion has released their review of the P1Jr. To recap, the P1Jr is designed to be a personal entertainment device. This is evident in the cost and lack of “professional features” in the device however for many who just want a projector to have a little fun with, this micro projector fits the bill very nicely.

If you would like to see more about the AAXA P1Jr Pico projector, visit them at: http://www.aaxatech.com/products/p1jr_pico_projector.php

The MiLi power pico projector is an older but still relative device.  iPhone and iPod users alike both have loads of pictures and movies ready to be projected to an audience.

This stylish device is able to charge your apple device while plugged in but it can drain your battery if you try to run it without being plugged into a wall.   This projector also comes with built in speakers which can improve upon the apple devices speakers but it is far from a home theater replacement.

For some serious cash you can pick up this device and show it off to your friends.  There are a few alternatives in the pico projectors world that can give you the same quality picture at a cheaper price.

LG released their 300 series micro projectors.  The 2 micro projector models that have been released are the HW300T and HX350T.  Both of these micro projectors are LED and DLP based.

The HW300T features 250lumens at 1200×800 resolution.  This micro projector features broadband connection as well as DNLA.  A very interesting feature is that it has a built-in tuner so we’d imagine that you can use this to replace a TV.  It looks like LG has geared this to be a pure entertainment media projector since the only connection is HDMI.

The HX350T micro projector would be geared for those who are looking for a bit more bell and less whistles.  The lumens are bumped up to 300, but the resolution drops to 1024×768.  The 350 shares the HDMI and Tuner features of the 300.

With these 2 projectors, LG looks to be leading the charge into the 300lumen range.  Be prepared to pay near a full projector price but at 300lumens and being portable, it may just very well be worth it for some.

It has been some time since the release of the first micro projector.  The first micro projector we came across was the AAXA M1 Standard.  Back then, the M1 micro projector only had RCA input, USB data transfer and SD Card reading abilities.  As technology progresses, there should be a standard for what a micro projector has in order to keep up with competition.

The AAXA M1 Ultimate-X is a good example of what features a micro projector should provide.  The M1 Ultimate-X can be connected via RCA and VGA although having HDMI would be nice as well.  The AAXA M1 Ultimate-X micro projector can also read not only from SD cards but also from USB which is a nice improvement.

We feel 50lumens should be the minimum standard, and the M1 comes above that at 75lumens.  The resolution is at 800×600, not the highest, but still better than some who are still at 640×480.  The M1 micro projector even has keystoning which is a feature not found in all micro projectors yet.

To round out the accessory package for micro projectors, a remote and tripod should be standard as well.

To recap, micro projectors are advancing at a steady rate.  As the years go by, we do see increases in lumens, resolutions and connectivity.  All this should lead to micro projectors being capable replacements to their current not-so-portable counterparts.

Here’s what we consider an unbranded micro projector but the specs are somewhat interesting for it.  This projector features 1024×758 resolution which is high for its class.  This micro projector also features 100lumens which is also high for it’s class.  The engine type is LCoS and this offers a contrast ratio of 200:1.

This micro projector features a nice set of inputs from VGA to HDMI.  Additional sources include SD card and USB drives.  Some of the file types this micro projector can support from the manufacturer are:

Support Video Formats: RM, RMVB, MPG, WMV, AVI, MP4, 3GP…

Support Image formtas: JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG

Support Audio Formats: MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLAC, OGG

Support Document Formats: TXT, C, H, INI, LRC, SRT

If the specs are true for this micro projector, which it’s not breath taking, it’s nice to see micro projectors advancing along.