Motorola signs on with Microvision's PicoP laser projection

After months of eyelash batting and heavy petting, Microvision and Motorola have officially exchanged vows. In a deal inked yesterday, Motorola has agreed to help Microvision bring their PicoP laser projection technology to market. Not a surprise really what with Microvision's penchant for using Moto handsets in their marketing collateral. Unfortunately, the agreement looks to amount to the production of a functional prototype only for the time being. While the prospect of an 854 x 480 resolution projection is certainly titillating, we doubt our gadget vanity can withstand the extra chub and battery drain the tech would introduce on our slim, sexy handsets. Then again, the geek cred gained could offset the lack of swank. No worries, we've got several months (if not a couple of years) to grow up before product is ready for consumers.

[Via Pocket-lint]

[Matt Brundage @ Jul 25th 2007 8:55AM]

Help me PicoP, you’re my only hope!

[Travis (stupid blog free) @ Jul 25th 2007 9:10AM]

This is one development I've been waiting for. I travel a lot, and I can't wait until I can lay my phone on the night stand and project stuff from my slingbox onto the hotel room wall.

[Chester @ Jul 25th 2007 11:20AM]

or even better; project pRon onto teh public restRoom walls from the phone!

LOVE THAT IDEA!

seriously though, can you imagine what the movie theater will be like once these things are commercially available? Thought laser pointers were bad? There will be a whole new world of coming attractions when people bring their own & project them on the screen pre-movie.
Can't wait for this to take hold!

[Cakid @ Jul 25th 2007 9:35AM]

I remember the time where I broke my cellphone's screen on a table corner. Then I had 5 minutes to fix it so I could call my friend to tell him not to order the box of pickle from Bill. I was scared for my life so I decided to hook a small Heliodisplay™ in it.

[Cakid @ Jul 25th 2007 9:38AM]

The time where, haha, sorry, space, time, what's the diff anyway, lol.

[Constable Odo @ Jul 25th 2007 9:36AM]

Cellphone projector running off batteries? You people complain about battery life and then say you want something like this in a cellphone. I guess it would be alright if you could plug it in or something, but I honestly don't think the average person needs a cellphone with a projector built into it. I can just hear the complaints about image quality. Why doesn't my cellphone produce a HD image like my Sony Bravia does? Until some major breakthrough in battery technology takes place, they should pass on this idea.

[Radoius III @ Jul 25th 2007 9:39AM]

Well, it's not like it can run on an handcrank or something.

[Tracy in Cary @ Jul 25th 2007 10:08AM]

Can you tell me who "you people" is in your comment? I don't think we've seen anybody here actually say they want this feature.

[venk @ Jul 25th 2007 9:57AM]

I'd bet the the initial releases will only work when the phone is plugged into a wall outlet. It will be that way until we can get fuel cells into our cell phones. ;)

[Todd @ Jul 25th 2007 10:30AM]

I look forward to projecting pr0n onto the walls and ceilings of public places.

[Peter @ Jul 25th 2007 10:40AM]

I'd love to have this feature. Imagine that management drops by and wants an update on a certain project, and you need to run them through some docs you've been working on. Instead of lugging your laptop & a projector or printing off 50 pages of various handouts that they're going to throw away as soon as you leave, you send your files (spreadsheets, example PDF's, etc) to your smartphone via bluetooth, and then take nothing but your phone to the meeting. You plug your phone into a power jack, set it on your boss' desk, and project the files onto the wall. It'd save a lot of time, paper, etc.

[Ollie @ Jul 25th 2007 10:55AM]

I think some people commenting here are missing the point. Don't you realize the benefits of this gadget? Now we don't need projectors when we travel to give business pitches, we don't need mac to pc compatibility, powerpoint to keynote.
If all I have to do is carry my phone charger so that I can brief my team - that is so money! I definitely see this product becoming popular within my industry (advertising) and all other industries that deal with visual communication solutions.

Sign me up!

[Ollie @ Jul 25th 2007 10:56AM]

Ah, Peter, you beat me to it.. Like minds, eh?

[Elliott @ Jul 25th 2007 12:52PM]

If it costs $3,500 per phone, of course we'll all pass it up to have as our personal phone, but I bet many of us work for companies that have spent more on less used devices.

Also the term, "heavy petting", is still one of my all time favorites.

[Yami @ Jul 25th 2007 1:20PM]

I can see this being abused by giddy teenagers.

[mike mitchell @ Jul 25th 2007 1:48PM]

oh thats simple, battery wont be a problem when you jam some orbo tech in there!

[Mike Street @ Jul 25th 2007 3:01PM]

This will probably be totally annoying at the movies. I could see some kid project pics from his MySpace page on the screen.

[db @ Jul 25th 2007 4:47PM]

Of course there are a lot of things that we don't need in a cell phone, but that doesn't neccessarily mean that they wouldn't be cool and/or useful. Stuff like having a projector built into your phone is a plus and I definitely wouldn't complain if I had one. Maybe not so much for the average user, but I can definitely see this working more for the business crowd.

Although like someone mentioned, we may have to worry about battery life but I'm always one who carries a charger around anyway and I'm pretty sure that you would have the ability to power it through an outlet. I already have tv-out on my phone, but I can't always use it since there isn't always a tv around. This would be very convenient, especially when traveling!

[Edward @ Jul 25th 2007 5:23PM]

If it plays porn, it'll sell.

[3rdsun @ Jul 25th 2007 5:38PM]

I'd recommend it for a UMPC or laptop. What better way to save your eyes the strain of a small screen than a small projector. Maybe they'll roll out some PMPs with this feature. I'm loving it

[Scott Trepanier @ Jul 25th 2007 8:13PM]

What perfect timing! This technology will likely hit the market just in time to take advantage of the Steorn perpetual energy technology ;)

[Mike @ Jul 25th 2007 9:14PM]

A laser projector is probably going to be quite energy efficient, a la laser pen. what would be cool is a small PC with one of these in one end, and a IR laser keyboard in the other. plonk it down on a flat surface near a wall, up pops your desktop, and a keyboard appears on your desk. When youv'e finished working, pick it up, and stick it in your pocket. Makes more sense to me than a UMPC.