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Seiko Ocean Theater alarm clock brings the life aquatic to your bedroom

by Laura June posted Nov 12th 2009 at 4:59AM

If you're anything like us, you're terrified of whales for pretty much no reason. Seiko's newest alarm clock -- the Ocean Theater -- probably isn't for you then. Fair enough, but plenty of people are not maladjusted, and we're willing to admit that it's pretty cool, even if it's terrifying. The clock, which responds to touch, can project various marine life upon your walls, and we imagine it'll be a huge hit with children. As you'll see in the video after the break, if this thing works as advertised, it's really rather impressive. The Ocean Theater also doubles as an iPod dock, and will be available from Japan Trends; it's up for pre-order now and runs $235. Like we said, definitely check out the video after the break.

[Via Uber Gizmo]

Continue reading Seiko Ocean Theater alarm clock brings the life aquatic to your bedroom

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj torn asunder, L-shaped projector module examined

by Laura June posted Oct 7th 2009 at 4:08AM

ifixit's gotten ahold of Nikon's new camera - projector hybrid, the Coolpix S1000pj, and done what they do... meaning they've ripped it apart. Okay, they slowly and carefully disassembled it while painstakingly photographing the proceedings. Most interesting to us, of course, is the Nikon developed, L-shaped projector we just heard about that makes the whole set up possible, and we have to say that the internal layout of the S1000pj is terribly impressive to behold. There's another shot (and video!) after the break -- but hit the read link for the entire, time consuming project in all its tedious glory!

Continue reading Nikon Coolpix S1000pj torn asunder, L-shaped projector module examined

HYPOLED develops mega-tiny VGA projector display, has a tiny coin in the photo to prove it

by Laura June posted Oct 5th 2009 at 10:01AM

HYPOLED, an 18-month-old project tasked with creating OLED microdisplays for upcoming pico projectors, has just released a report of its recent progress. Among the advances is a Fraunhofer IPMS-designed all digital VGA, full color OLED microdisplay backplane with matching pico projector optics. The display measures just 0.18-mm thick and is already in prototype manufacturing. The super miniscule display is connected to a MediaBox enabling it to operate via WiFi. Fraunhofer is now expected to begin developing a prototype of the full projector, meaning that with any luck, our picos should be getting a teensy, tiny bit cooler in the near future.

[Via About Projectors]

Epson blows the roof off of your house party with two new projectors

by Laura June posted Sep 17th 2009 at 9:36AM

Epson's just announced two new additions to its home theatre lineup which should make your bi-weekly showing of House Party even more of a success than usual. First up, the PowerLite Home Cinema 705HD boasts a 720p resolution, a brightness of up to 2,500 lumens, and 1.2x optical zoom. The 705HD is an entry-level HD projector, so its pricing -- $750 -- is a bit less than some other models. The other model the company's outing is the MovieMate 60, a combo affair housing a 16:9 native resolution-having projector, plus a built-in dvd player and two 10 watt speakers. The projector has a brightness of up to 2,000 lumens. The MovieMate 60 retails for $650 -- and both are available now.

Continue reading Epson blows the roof off of your house party with two new projectors

Sanyo releases LP-XU106, the brightest projector under 4 kilograms

by Laura June posted Aug 26th 2009 at 4:35PM

Sanyo's just announced a new projector, the LP-XU106. The projector weighs in at 3.4 kilograms, making it what the company calls the brightest projector in its weight class. And it is pretty bright -- at 4,500 lumens and a contrast ratio of 1,000:1. It also boasts Sanyo's "Easy Setup Function" to help out the projecting novices. The LP-XU106 will be available on November 20th, but there's no word on pricing as of yet. We'll keep you posted on that one.

[Via Akihabara News]

Epson begins mass-producing 'world's smallest' LCD for 3LCD data projectors

by Laura June posted Jun 29th 2009 at 10:38AM

Epson's started volume production of what it believes to be the "world's smallest" XGA high temperature polysilicon TFT (HTPS-TFT) panel for 3LCD data projectors. The chip used (an L3P05X-91G00) is approximately 23 percent smaller than its predecessor, and the 0.55-inch panel boasts natural XGA (1024 x 768) resolution. Epson says they're working to increase the resolution on these types of displays, which are currently being manufactured only for 3LCD data projectors. Pretty impressive -- though, we'll just hold out until they start putting these babies into really tiny television sets.

[Via About Projectors]

BeamBox outs MiLi Evolution Mini Power Projector for iPhone, iPod touch

by Laura June posted Jun 27th 2009 at 8:27AM

Pocket projectors -- if they aren't quite 'all the rage' -- crop up all over the place these days. Beambox has teamed up with MiLi (makers of some fine iPhone chargers) on this newest one. The MiLi Evolution Mini Power Projector works in conjunction with your iPhone or iPod touch, docking it into the unit which then acts as projector and charger in one. The LCOS projector boasts 10 lumens of brightness for VGA projection of an image from 3 to 70 inches. It'll be about $255 when it's released around the end of July. One more shot after the break.

Continue reading BeamBox outs MiLi Evolution Mini Power Projector for iPhone, iPod touch

Samsung's 1080p-blasting A800B and A900 projectors unveiled, plus six more

by Ross Miller posted Apr 15th 2009 at 10:46PM

Good ole' Sammy's announced an octuplet of new projectors, and while we'd like to say they're all special in their own little way, two models definitely catch our eye more. The A800B DLP boasts a 1080p output, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 1000 ANSI lumens, two HDMI ports, and a variety of other input options. The luxury doesn't come cheap, of course: retail price is $10,000. The other full HD model is the A900, and although we're lighter on details with this one, we do know it's packing 1000 ANSI lumens, only one HDMI port, an impressive 12,000:1 contrast ratio, and what we can only assume is price tag of equal magnitude. As for others, we've got the travel-sized $700 P400 with SVGA output, the L220 (price unknown) and $1100 L300 for bringing VGA / XGA to classrooms, respectively, the XGA-blasting D300 for large venues, and a $1500 A400B for home theaters, which features WXGA, 2500:1 contrast ratio, and 2000 ANSI. We kindly direct your attention to the read link for all the nitty-gritty details.

[Via About Projectors]

Texas Instruments unleashes pico projector dev kit on the world

by Laura June posted Jan 30th 2009 at 7:16AM

Pico projectors have been multiplying like gerbils over the past year and a half, so it was probably only a matter of time until we saw a developer's kit released upon the market, right? Right. Well, Texas Instruments has announced it's doing just that -- released through Digi-Key Corporation. The kit will contain an HVGA resolution DLP projection device, a three color LED, a power supply, and a video cable connected to a BeagleBoard which boasts an OMAP35x processor, supported by Linux. The kit costs $349 and it's available now, so all you would-be miniature projector designers, get to it: the world is waiting.

[Via About Projectors]

Aiptek PocketCinema V10 hands-on

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jan 14th 2009 at 9:58AM

This is it! We just received video of the only pico projector endorsed by Russell Crowe (if by "endorsed" you mean "absolutely not endorsed," and by "Russell Crowe" you mean "the poor target of our Photoshoppery"). For a handheld VGA projector, the thing seems to handle itself pretty well. It's small and simple to use, but then again it doesn't really seem all that bright (something you might notice if you ever need it to, we don't know, "project" something). This bad boy has 1GB internal memory, an SD slot, and miniUSB, which should handle most of your I/O needs. Be sure to check out the explosive videos -- generously provided by Engadget Spanish -- after the break.

Continue reading Aiptek PocketCinema V10 hands-on

Tiny Wiimote "projector" is not nearly as impressive as it sounds on paper

by Laura June posted Nov 21st 2008 at 10:10PM

This image is not necessarily one we are thrilled about having projected upon our walls, but we are pretty fond of anything in miniature. This 2.25-inch Wiimote is actually a semi-ingenious mini-projector which projects an image (yes, only one) from Super Mario Kart when its button is pressed. When you order you'll get a random choice of one of the six possible images, each less exciting and more pointless than the next. They're available from ThinkGeek now for $6, which is maybe worth the roughly one minute of amusement you (or your cat) will get out of the thing.

[Via Wired]

Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10 available for pre-order on Amazon

by Laura June posted Nov 10th 2008 at 11:37AM

You know what trend we really love? Tiny projectors. We seriously cannot get enough of them. In fact, anything that is cool in regular size, is much, much better once miniaturized. It's not the first time we've seen the Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10: when we last spied it, it was getting ready to go on sale in Australia as the Mint V10 for $600 AUD ($414). Well, it's now available for pre-order on Amazon in the good old US of A, with a miniaturized price tag of $299.99. Russell Crowe is not going to be happy.

Update: The V10's gotten a very exhaustive review over at MetkuMods that you probably want to check out, if only to see the projector's packaging, which is intensely awesome. Needless to say, they love the portability of the device, but deem it not bright enough. Oh, they're also upset it doesn't have any games, which is weird and makes no sense.

[Via I4U News]

Dell's M109S pocket projector gets itself a ho-hum review

by Laura June posted Nov 4th 2008 at 10:41PM

The portable Dell M109S projector which we saw a while back has just been reviewed over at Laptop Magazine. Similar to other pocket projectors, the verdict seems to be that the quality is nothing to explode in excitement over, but is impressive for such a small machine. Laptop praised the projector's LED as one of the "brightest in its class," though they seem disappointed with its non-standard native resolution of 858 x 600. They also laud the simplistic design of the projector, but found the buttons on the box "hard to use," and complained about the lack of remote control capability. Ultimately, they conclude that the size -- not as small as pico projectors, but not large enough to compete with higher-end models -- makes the M109S an awkward middle child. If you want the full rundown, however, hit the read link.

Mysterious Asus laptop with projector spotted at Computex

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jun 5th 2008 at 12:56AM

What's this? An Asus laptop with built-in projector above the monitor? This curious computer was spotted plopped unceremoniously in a corner at Computex by PC Perspective. They report that the unlabeled machine's camera -- installed right at the top of the monitor bezel -- rotates and that the projector's performance is uncertain given the show's bright conditions. If this is something other than a floor prototype, we're awfully curious about battery life. Until then, we'll just have to fantasize about portable PowerPoints of doom. Hit the read link to see a closeup.

InFocus projectors adding DisplayLink USB graphics

by Ryan Block posted Mar 6th 2008 at 8:16AM

It may (or may not) be wireless, but InFocus will apparently be one of the first companies to incorporate DisplayLink's USB graphics directly into their future projectors. No other details, that's all we've got for now, we'll let you know when they've actually got gear to announce.