Hasta La Gadget!

Go ahead, you can admit it: you’re really, really into picos — the best of us are. Adapt’s update to its pocket projector, the MPJ-101 — which is nearly identical to the previous model — shouldn’t fill us with joy, but it does. This little (125 x 55 x 23 mm) monster’s got 1GB of built in memory, an SD slot, and two .5 watt speakers. It projects up to 10 lumens of brightness at a resolution of 640×480 from around 6 to 50 feet. All this excitement doesn’t come cheap, though — expect to shell out about a thousand bucks for this teeny bundle of joy. Oh boy.

Filed under: Displays

Adapt MPJ-101 pico projector: tiny, cute, available originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is 2009 finally the year of the projector phone? Eh, not likely — but there are finally a few models filtering into retail after years of talk, prototypes, and empty promises, including the Logic Bolt from independent manufacturer Logic Wireless and this puppy from Sammy. We’re told that the aptly-named Show is inbound for release in South Korea before the end of the month, it runs Samsung’s ubiquitous TouchWiz platform, and it packs DLP-based pico projector tech from TI, but that’s about all we (and Samsung’s US reps) seem to know about it. The projector can be used to view media stored in phone memory, pull up mobile TV via Korea’s T-DMB airwaves, or simply project light, a function luddites may know better as a “flashlight.” Most importantly, it actually isn’t half-bad looking — a symptom of a major manufacturer getting involved and throwing some won and industrial design staff at the thing, we bet.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

Samsung Show finally makes projector phones sexy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Samsung MBP200 has a limited 480×320 res, but has a built-in media player, LCD screen and includes a tiny stand that can turn a piece of paper into a screen. A baby screen!

The LCD is 2.2 inches across and 320×240 pixels, and the player itself is compatible with images, office docs and video codecs like DivX, Xvid, WMV9 and flavors of MPEG. It uses the Texas Instrument DLP for its projection.

Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced a new mobile phone accessory, the award-winning* MBP200 Pico Projector. The Samsung MBP200 is the ultimate wireless accessory, offering advanced features designed to enhance the mobile experience.
Compact and lightweight, the portable MBP200 can connect to mobile phones and laptops and by utilizing the DLP(R) pico chip from Texas Instruments it allows users to transform their traditional two inch screen to a 50-inch viewing screen allowing others to share in the video experience. In addition, users can easily transfer files and project content independent of an attached source via the microSD card slot. The MBP200 has a simple shape and design with touchpad controls on the right side of the device for easy navigation and a 2.2-inch QVGA LCD screen which allow users to view content privately.
Samsung’s MBP200 offers the latest entertainment features and independently supports standard Microsoft Office and PDF formats for display. With the MBP200, users can listen to music and create playlists, as well as view video, pictures or PDF, PowerPoint, Word or Excel files.
The Samsung pico projector delivers a superior picture from a mobile device and is powered by a miniaturized version of the same imaging technology found in DLP HDTVs, home theater projectors and large-scale cinema houses. The unit can accommodate a range of projected image sizes – from an 8 1/2 x 11 standard sheet of paper to a large 50-inch screen. For added convenience, the MBP200 comes with a small screen holder with a telescoping pole hidden inside, which can instantly turn a standard sheet of paper into a screen to view movies, document files or pictures. The 3.5mm standard jack allows users to enjoy their own headphones or speakers, or the built-in external speaker allows the MBP200 to play audio directly from the device.
Samsung MBP200 Pico Projector Specifications

Features File viewer, picture viewer, music player, video player
Projection Panel HVGA (480*320)
LCD 2.2″ QVGA(320*240)
Audio Output 3.5 mm Standard Stereo Earphone Jack
Storage microSD slot (up to 16 GB)
Picture Viewer JPEG, GIF, Animated GIF, MBP
Music Player MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, WAV
Video Player Video CODEC: DivX, Xvid, WMV9 Simple Profile, MPEG-2, MPEG-4; Audio
CODEC: MP3, AAC, WMA
File Viewer Adobe PDF (.pdf)
MS PowerPoint (.ppt)
MS Word (.doc)
MS Excel (.xls)
Text (.txt)
Size/Weight 107.3 x 48.8 x 19 mm / 160 g

The MBP200 will be available later this year. For more information about the MBP200 and Samsung’s entire line of mobile phone accessories, please visit www.samsung.com/newsroom.

Can you say “diversify?” WowWee can, and it’s saying it loudly and proudly here at CES 2009. While the company has surely dabbled in areas outside of straight-up robotics before, it’s never taken it upon itself to product a suite of pico projectors nor pets designed solely as sleeping companions. No need to wipe the sand from your eyes — the same company responsible for Mr. Personality is dish out a Cinemin line of micro PJs (powered by TI’s DLP technology) here in the desert. Moving on, we’re also informed of the Spyball spy-cam, a remote controller, WiFi-enabled robotic ball that strangely reminds us of American Gladiators. The company’s got plenty more in its bag of tricks too, including the Joebot and Roborover robots, FlyTech Lightstar flyer / Hoverpod racer, four new breeds of Alive Cubs and a fresh line of “pajama pals” dubbed Sleeping Cuties. Hop past the break for details on the whole crew.

Filed under: CES, Robots

WowWee mixes it up at CES: Cinemin pico PJ, new Alive Cubs and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Microvision isn’t new (per se) to the pico projector arena entirely, it certainly lacks the namesake of, say, Dell or Optoma. Of course, it’s not letting that fact damper its excitement about the PicoP-based SHOW WX. The pre-production device is being unveiled today at Macworld, and it promises to boast a 25% package-size reduction over the company’s own SHOW prototype. The diminutive beamer will eventually arrive with a WVGA native resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, a battery good for around two hours of usage and a chassis that measures just 4.6- x 2.4- x 0.6-inches. The outfit anticipates that commercial production will get going in Q2, with mass availability ready by 2H 2009; regrettably, pricing still remains a mystery.

Filed under: Displays

Microvision’s PicoP-based SHOW WX pocket PJ makes debut originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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