Epoq EGP-PP01 KIRF projector phone now shipping

Sigh. We're still stoked about phones with built-in projectors, but we're not at all okay with the first commercially-available unit being the nasty Epoq EGP-PP01 iPhone clone -- yet we've got to hand it to China King for being the first out the gate with a handset that'll beam a 30-inch VGA image on the wall for two hours off the built-in battery. Of course, that doesn't mean we think anyone should actually drop $550 on this uninspired piece, but if you've absolutely got to show off your witty texting banter to the entire bar, this is your only option.

PS.- Please don't be that guy.

[Via About Projectors]

[kingofwale @ Aug 25th 2008 7:17PM]

Is creating unique icons that hard to do?

this is getting depressing.

[chris @ Aug 25th 2008 7:35PM]

i know, right?

do they have no shame?

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Aug 25th 2008 7:42PM]

They need to take lessons from the PSP crowd. We have the best icons...

[JohnnyBoy @ Aug 25th 2008 8:02PM]

This is why I laugh when I hear the solemn warnings that "In X number of years, China will be the world leaders..."

Uhhh, no they won't. Leaders take the lead and march into the undiscovered country, pushing the frontier of new science and new technology. The conformist Chinese can't even design a set of icons without slavishly copying yesterday's ideas. They're doomed to follow.

[kccboy2004 @ Aug 25th 2008 8:37PM]

@johnnyboy...

I think that you are little behind the times on this;


The Chinese already are the world leaders. In fact, pretty much everything out there was invented by the Chinese. Check it out for yourself. (I am afriad that the list is going to be a little embarrassing for you - but you are probably used to making loose unfounded statements, only to have them rebuffed effortlessly);

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_inventions

In terms of technology and innovation though, you are right it is pretty well the Germans and the Russians that have historically led the world in innovation.

It was the Germans that put the first man of the moon (paid for of course by the American Tax payer - but nevertheless...)
The Russians pretty well invented the best military technology and aviation. Again check it out for yourself. The Americans copied. There is nothing wrong with copying; copying often involves refinement and advance. Americans have nothing to be ashamed of.

It is very difficult to find an "invention" of an Americans. ("American" = Born in the USA). (A patent is not an invention, it is the application of invention. For example = Waterman patented the Fountain Pen, but he did not invent Pens !, Henry Seely invented the Electric Iron, but he did not invent irons. - 2 American inventions which were not original.

But Gunpowder - now that was an invention (Chinese).... I have not forgiven the Chinese for inventing Decimal Fractions though.

You don't have to be Einstein (German->Swiss) to work this lot out.

But going back to the Chinese, they are already there. They have been for Hundreds and Hundreds of years.

[milkfat @ Aug 25th 2008 8:48PM]

What's so depressing about it? Gadgets would be way less confusing if they all used a universal set of icons. Would it not be great to pick up an unseen piece of technology and already know which button does what?

[jaalin @ Aug 25th 2008 9:08PM]

@ johnnyboy:

what china lacks is the design, namely in software. they've got all the infrastructure in place for hardware engineering, but look to maximize short-term profits (understandable considering the business culture). looking to make a quick yuan, they don't invest the time into things like r&d, opting to copy already-successful designs. which isn't very hard, considering most of the stuff is made over there already. one element of innovation is risk, and risk is not something that most chinese companies are willing to invest in yet. give it time - time for more western ideas to permeate through the iron curtain, time for the chinese people to start thinking creation instead of emulation. as japan found a way to modernize by integrating western technology and culture with their own, i'm sure china will get there eventually as well. it'll just take time.

[Mike10010100 @ Aug 25th 2008 9:17PM]

@kccboy2004

While I do agree with some of your statements, sir, I do believe that you are forgetting the point of America. America is designed to take in people from all walks of life from any country. Einstein was in Germany, but was afraid of the German army. Therefore, he moved to America. Also, a lot of things still used today were invented right around the time when people were moving to America from other countries.

Thomas Edison is one American inventor. Read in the dark much?

Please don't dis America.

[alberto @ Aug 25th 2008 11:46PM]

kigofwales. It's about money. Why spend lot's of money designing new unique icons when you have a OEM giving away a proven UI for free.

[KM @ Aug 26th 2008 12:03AM]

I for one welcome the day when intellectual property will be as important to the Chinese as it is to the rest of the developed world.

[kccboy2004 @ Aug 26th 2008 11:35AM]

@Mike,

Whilst I understand your sentiments, firstly you presume to tell me that Edison invented light ? What did Edison invent ?

Secondly you presume to lecture us in the "Purpose of America". If you think that the purpose of America is to take in anyone from any country, then why not start with Mexicans, then try the good people of the Middle East.

Thirdly, Dis'ing America is not a sport. You cannot escape the facts that I have presented. If by "dis" you mean "Dis"agreeing. Then yes. But don't delude yourself. A country cannot take credit for an invention just because the person who invented it resided in the country. Take the USSR for instance, their culture and schooling created an environment of innovation and advancement. The facts speak for themselves. The USA tends to "buy-in" talent a bit like Apple. (Apple does not invent, it buys up ideas).

[Olive Blakhok @ Sep 2nd 2008 11:52PM]

I looked at the images from the site, and the phone doesn’t just project images on the wall… it has the ability to morph its shape and size! The page features what appears to be an exact copy of the photo in this article (with the cheesy brand name “C KING” airbrushed out). The other photos alternate between the shown “1-2-3-4” key layout with a traditional “1-2-3” key layout.

Something’s not right.

Also, to kccboy2004: the China you refer to has been dead for nearly sixty years. Any remnants of that once-great civilization are now quarantined on a small island nation called Taiwan, and the government structure that took credit for those inventions now resides in a small office in uptown Taipei.

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 25th 2008 7:19PM]

"got to show off you witty texting"
not to mention you careless typos

[pball_inuyaha @ Aug 25th 2008 7:43PM]

I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about questionable material. PORN

well those people who have porn on their phones now will like this.

[Jeremy K. @ Aug 25th 2008 7:19PM]

May I be first to say that it looks exactly like the iPhone. zomg

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 25th 2008 7:24PM]

"the first commercially-available unit being the nasty Epoq EGP-PP01 iPhone clone"
I don't think you were first.

[Jeremy K. @ Aug 25th 2008 7:55PM]

o rly?

[adam @ Aug 25th 2008 8:59PM]

did anyone notice the ridiculous keypad.1234. return 5678 return 90.... that'll be easy to adjust to

[From My Cube @ Aug 25th 2008 7:20PM]

C-King eh? I wonder what the C stands for

[Pompey @ Aug 25th 2008 7:36PM]

The C stands for errrr....China

[Zorque @ Aug 25th 2008 8:57PM]

Crap?

[Nick Ritch @ Aug 25th 2008 8:59PM]

I used to have a chinese buffet in my town call China King. I wonder if its the same company because this stinks as much as their food.

[tkatz111 @ Aug 25th 2008 7:22PM]

Is it me, or would an "F" in front of the brand logo on the phone be TOTALLY AWESOME?

[rob @ Aug 25th 2008 7:53PM]

actually, an "FU" in front of the logo would be even more awesome.

[Dean @ Aug 25th 2008 7:22PM]

f**k yeah c-king

[Karl @ Aug 25th 2008 7:36PM]

Soooo, if apple ever add a projector to the iphone, would it be a iphone c-king iphone clone?

[nzo @ Aug 25th 2008 7:43PM]

Is this a trick question?

[Karl @ Aug 25th 2008 8:02PM]

not really... i just find it funny that people hate it because it has borrowed some icons from apple. If i made icons, I would have taken it as a compliment if others chose to use my icons. And if pretty icons is an important selling point something is wrong. Where does pretty icons get you? They are just there to make finding things quicker, so if you spend time studying them, they are not really serving their purpose. E.g. If you need to use a public restroom, do you want to spend your time looking at their icon, or take a piss? Would it make you feel important if you went to a loo with a fancy icon?

arrghh... it's really fuc-king late here :S I suppose this will make sense to future-karl

[Mile @ Aug 25th 2008 7:37PM]

I'm in!

[DooM @ Aug 25th 2008 7:39PM]

Did somebody say Seaking?

[deyanimay @ Aug 25th 2008 8:38PM]

Pokemon!!!!!!!!!!!

[Paul @ Aug 25th 2008 7:51PM]

If you're going to advertise a product, at least charge it before...

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 25th 2008 7:51PM]

They will make new signs: "Use of portable projectors prohibited"
Another technology another law.

[BatteryAcid @ Aug 25th 2008 7:52PM]

This is pretty sweet, to bad the phone needs to be sideways to project

[Eric @ Aug 25th 2008 8:01PM]

If any American provider picked this (or something similar) up, I'd buy it... I'm not sure why, though.

[Chris @ Aug 25th 2008 8:01PM]

I like the origional menu design, they even included installer!

[gr689 @ Aug 25th 2008 8:07PM]

I don't care about the projector phone per say but WHERE THE HELL IS THE 2WAY VIDEO PHONE?? Remember 'Minority Report' when they had the cell phone project to the wall with the 2 way video conference???? This is what this is good for.

[aMac @ Aug 25th 2008 9:17PM]

Projecting a 2-way video call onto a wall wouldn't work because there is no camera in the wall!
You'd have to hold the phone out in front of you where you might as well look at the screen, or deal with neither of you looking at each other, which defeats the object.

[Hamidxa @ Aug 25th 2008 8:10PM]

Sweet. More phones need this type of feature.

[xValentine @ Aug 25th 2008 9:44PM]

An iPhone with keypads.

Oh wait..

[Matx @ Aug 25th 2008 10:25PM]

Wow! That display is really bright for not showing any remaining battery life. Ahhhh, I have no bars. Where are my towers?

[Lardnapkin @ Aug 25th 2008 10:27PM]

Imagine how many public toilet stalls will be showing Porn....


Just saying....

[gr689 @ Aug 26th 2008 2:45AM]

OMFG!! it's true

[Tim @ Aug 25th 2008 10:27PM]

I'll be that guy!!!

[gr689 @ Aug 25th 2008 11:46PM]

aMac, c'mon really? really.......................the phone is set in a cradle with the projector on one side and the camera facing toward the user. aMac more like aMactard

[shimmy shimmy yah @ Aug 26th 2008 2:02AM]

the ol' radiation king!

[gr689 @ Aug 26th 2008 2:48AM]

whats that supposed to mean?

[pakkman781 @ Aug 26th 2008 2:53AM]

Ok, now lets put a projector into an actual iPhone, and I think we'll have a winner.

[RobVH @ Aug 26th 2008 11:02PM]

Microvision (MVIS) is developing a far superior technology for this type of picoprojection. Rather than using an LED light source, they are using lasers. LEDs drain more power, produce more heat, and lose intensity quickly over distance. That type of technology also requires the user to focus the image.

Laser technology, on the other hand, is always in focus regardless of distance which means you can even project onto an uneven surface without losing focus. It also produces brighter images with better colour, not to mention larger images in a shorter distance. Tons of advantages. The package is already small enough to fit a larger cell phone and they're miniaturizing it further.

Expect to see a standalone projector (about the size of a deck of cards) by mid-2009 with a version embedded in cell phones, laptops, cars dashes, etc by the end of 2009, in time for Christmas.

Don't waste your money on picoprojector technology this year that will look pathetic next year! I think they plan to market with a "Microvision Inside" campaing similar to "Intel Inside".

Cheers,
Rob VH