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Acer's C110 and C112 pico projectors aim to please, travel well
Ah, the pico projector. An idea that flourished if but for a moment, but never really hit that critical mass that CE companies yearn for. Evidently that matters not to Acer, who has decided to kick out two more for good measure. The downright diminutive C110 (seen above) is a DLP-powered beamer that gets all the juice it needs via USB, measures just 110- x 85- 25mm and offers up a WVGA (854 x 480) native resolution. The LED bulb is said to last up to 20,000 hours, and it'll go from dead to dazzling in five seconds flat. Moving up a couple notches, there's the C112 (pictured after the break), complete with an optional external battery (good for two hours, we're told), a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and an identical WVGA resolution. Both of these guys are slated to hit UK shops at the end of the month, with prices set at £199 and £220, respectively.
Inbrics M1 gets Android 2.1 and CPU bump to 1GHz, insists on being called an MID
It looks like a smartphone, it has a smartphone's form factor, operating system, and an extra-slim slideout QWERTY keyboard, yet Inbrics still insists on calling the M1 a Mobile Internet Device instead. When the company's not busy sinking its own battleships, it appears to be doing actually beneficial stuff, such as cramming a new 1GHz Samsung CPU inside its device. The original 800MHz unit was the thing that worried us most during our otherwise praise-filled hands-on experience with the M1 at CES, so it's a good sign to see it getting a bit of extra brawn ahead of launch. The software has also moved with the times, with Android 2.1 being the current OS on tap, which should look rather nice on that 3.7-inch OLED display. The M1 will have WiFi, but no cellular connectivity is planned just yet. It's all dependent on having a Western vendor pick up the hardware and infuse it with its own requirements. Although at CES we were told to expect the M1 in March, the current timetable is for a July launch in Korea and US availability by the end of the year, provided Inbrics finds a partner for the device. Netbook News have also finally squeezed a price out of the company and have been told to expect it in the "low $200" range. Sounds kinda promising, don't you think?
