The Microvision Mobile Projector is GENIUS

By on February 23, 2009 in News

Time for another ‘coffee moment’ video.

Go and get a coffee and sit back and watch this one. Dan and James introduce the Microvision Mobile Projector. It’s just stunning and you will want one…

Here’s the video:

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Ewan is Founder and Editor of Mobile Industry Review. He writes about a wide variety of industry issues and is usually active on Twitter most days. You can read more about him or reach him with these details.
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  • http://intomobile.com constantine

    too late, not going to take off, i don't buy it at all. connected displays are the future. intel needs to shove chips into things and people are not buying computers as fast as they used to, but televisions on the other hand …

    CES was all about the connected display, streaming here and streaming there, by the time those things start becoming mainstream then so will NFC. walk up to a display, tap it, you have control over it now.

    prices of panels, they offer infinitely better quality than a projected image, hell you had to turn the light off to get decent results out of that thing. margins on panels are terrible and getting worse, differentiation will start happening at the connectivity level. be prepared for much smarter displays then we have now.

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    It's worth mentioning a few facts:

    1. Due to the slight difference between the refresh rate of our camera and the laser scanlines on the Microvision projector the image appears to flicker, this does not happen in “real life” and is a side-effect of recording it with a camera.

    2. Our camera doesn't handle low-light situations well and therefore doesn't do the Microvision projector any favours… IMHO it still looks amazing!

    Needless to say, I absolutely LOVE this product. I saw an earlier prototype version a while ago and have been driving the rest of the MIR team mad ever since I heard we were getting a proper demo.

    Apologies to the whole MWC press team who had to put up with me pestering them to let us into their nice conference hall and figure out the complicated lighting desk (which was labelled in spanish) to demo this properly ;)

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    I think you're missing the point, I don't see 100″ smart panels being ubiquitous any time soon. We turned the lights down because all projectors work better in the dark (with black being the absence of light) but the projector was usable even under the spotlights of the auditorium (you can even just about see it on my black t-shirt ffs!).

    Even at the $500 launch price this product is amazing value and I for one will probably be buying several.

  • http://intomobile.com constantine

    did you ask him what a replacement bulb costs and what the lifespan of each bulb is?

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    That's the amazing thing about this projector, it's not a shitty DLP or LCD based light engine… it's a scanning LASER!!!!!!

    Because it's a beam of light from lasers it's always in focus, incredibly bright and the lasers have an immense lifetime unlike the bulbs used in LCD/DLP projectors.

    The Microvision laser projector seriously impresses me (and come on, you know how cynical I am!) but I'm not at all excited by those little DLP projectors that are just hitting the market… they are built on an old technology that isn't translating to the mobile world very well at all (for example LED lamps are not nearly as bright as the metal halide ones used in the desktop versions)

  • http://intomobile.com constantine

    Mitsubishi was supposed to start making televisions based on that laser technology, but you know what … those plans have been canceled. Until I see these babies in volume I'm going to remain bearish on projectors in phones.

    Too niche, too geeky, too many technical problems.

    Anyway, at least your other video with you beating the piss out a mobile was awesome and even sold me!

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    Making TV's based on lasers is stupid for the reasons you mentioned above… panel technology is good enough to not need lasers for RPTVs.

    Where lasers do have a place is in tiny projectors, I disagree that they are too niche, geeky and have technical problems. There is a massive market for these amongst the powerpoint crowd and I wouldn't be surprised if, when the price drops below $250, we don't see people using them for entertainment.

    I did ask Russell if I could hit one of his prototypes with a hammer but he didn't seem too keen!

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    Yeah – Dan's mad about this, but I have to admit the demo was excellent. No focusing and a massive clear image greated from a handset-sized device. Imagine sharing your images at a party on a wall…

    This unit outperforms the comparable Samsung unit and the actual projector is about a 3rd of the size of an iPhone.

    Oh and yes, MIR is the only show to use an unreleased Nokia N97 for lighting effects. Awesome :-)

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    But what will be the source of those images? For temporary / mobile installations why cart a panel when a good surface and few inches square of plastic have you covered?

    (steps back and lets Dan Lane re-assume faboi pose)

  • http://whatleydude.vox.com James Whatley

    The thing that really hit home for me was when Russell said (at 2:35):

    “It redefines the elevator pitch…”

    As soon as he said that, I got it.

    Every week I speak to sales guys or CEOs or new companies looking for funding…
    If a businessman can approach a VC and deliver his entire pitch (slides an' all) in virtually no time at all with a pocket-sized piece of equipment, then wow – that's one thing they have over the next guy.

    Seriously. That's how this device speaks to me.

  • http://whatleydude.vox.com James Whatley

    “Oh and yes, MIR is the only show to use an unreleased Nokia N97 for lighting effects…”

    Ha! You beat me to it.. <grin>

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    Perhaps you were too busy 'banging your head on the invisible wall of the
    future' :-)
    Whatley… you make me laugh.

    2009/2/23 Disqus <>

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    I admit I made rude hand gestures at the screen when I heard him say that :P

  • http://www.rickycadden.com Ricky Cadden

    Not even for mobile usage, but think about how this will redefine gaming and even home theatre. Today, if I want to use a projector in my home, I'm stuck trying to mount this huge thing, as Dan said, the size of a small suitcase. I could easily mount that to my ceiling or hell, even poke it through a hole in the wall.

    Fast forward a bit and now imagine this thing is embedded in the bezel of a laptop (or better, a NETBOOK!), or in the case of my next video game system. A PSP with this embedded, etc. There's just so many ways to use this technology, outside of just connecting it to a cell phone (which will be fantastic, too).

    I'm sold, hook line and sinker. I'm also fascinated to know the difference in the laser and the dlp technologies, as that's going to be a major factor.

  • http://invalid.name DanLane

    Something we didn't film but should have is the bare laser assembly that Russell had with him… it's tiny!, easily small enough to fit inside a netbook bezel or handheld gaming device.

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  • Ryan

    Thanks guys! From the states here, I've been impatiently waiting for this to hit the market for over a year. Although Microvision is pushing this as a mobile device, I have an ulterior motive. Imagine a home theater projector that produces no light on dark scenes for an infinite on/off contrast, creates a picture with soft edged pixels that blend together for a film-like image, highly saturated colors, and uses a laser light source that lasts 20,000 + hours! And if you need more light from this tiny projector, just aim 5-10 of these at a high gain screen. The ansi contrast on prototype Microvision projectors has been reported to be over 2000:1, perhaps the highest ansi contrast of ANY projector EVER. Which kind of makes sense since there is no lens or complicated optical path that causes light scatter and kills contrast.

    Not since CRT technology have we been graced with such amazing image quality from a display device…and it fits in your pocket! Only 5 months to wait now! :)

  • Mike42

    Loads of people paid over £500 not so long ago for N95's on Expansys.

    Loads of people pay that much for a crap 1-week holiday in some package tour hellhole.

    This does have serious wow factor, and the use cases on planes, trains, in the back of taxi's, other cars, in the pub, at parties, are too numerous to mention. Using a high-gain sheet of A4-size material that could be folded/rolled up, you'd get an image perfectly viewable in normal indoor light conditions.

    It's been along time coming (I saw early demos of this nearly 3 years ago) so it's great to hear it'll be commercial this year.

    /m

  • http://shkspr.mobi/ TerenceEden

    After arsing about hanging a heavy 720p projector to my wall at home, I'd buy it in a flash. He said ~$500? That's still cheaper than many SD/720p projectors. And if it does perfect blacks, doesn't need focusing OR expensive bulb changes, how can it fail to be a winner in the home cinema market.

    I mean, look at those specs http://www.microvision.com/showwx/specs.html

    Yes, I'd love one built in to my BlackBerry, but I'd be just as happy blutacking it to my ceiling.

  • http://digitalcraftsmen.net Denny

    Wow.

    I don't think I'd wait until that came down in price before buying one, to be honest… $500 sounds pretty reasonable to me.

  • Justin Peer

    It’s not going to take over from full size projectors just yet, the quality and brightness just aren’t there, but I’m pretty certain that will come with developement. We’ve been thinking of buying one of the current versions for being completely independent of anyone else’s equipment when doing pitches to VC’s. No having to wonder if they have a suitable display, or the right cables, etc, just pull one of these out, drop the blinds and you’re in business.

    The elevator pitch is a fantastic phrase and really shows where these things are going.

    For home movies I don’t mind having the projector on the ceiling, my 100″ 1080p setup isn’t going to get overtaken for a while, but the sales people with a phone/eepc and one of these must be frothing at the mouth to buy them.

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    No bulbs. Frickin' lazers!

  • http://mostlythis.com Mac Morrison

    awesome
    but what if i dont ahvea media centre screen or dan lanes stomach to project on?

  • Joe

    Wants one.

  • http://gisuser.blogspot.com glenn

    Ok, I'm sold too.. awesome. Its small, fast, simple and provides a solution. What the hell is there not to like??

  • Tony B

    I need to preface this with that I work for Microvision so I'm obviously a bit biased. However I thought you guys did a great job on the review. You guys have been one of the first that have seen such a large picture projected from it and I'm glad you were impressed. The large picture is one of the most impressive features of the projector that hasn't been shown to the public yet. I'm glad you guys were there to show everyone first.

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    Dan Lane is available at very reasonable rates. We're also going to see if we can get replica stomachs manufactured in China for mass distribution.

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    I think I'll buy one of these and do every subsequent presentation on a curved screen. Why? Just because I can :-)

  • Ed

    Interesting little gizmo.
    First thought is that this would be superb for taking my video collection along to a hotel room – watching DVDs on a laptop isn't that satisfactory.
    Secondary to that would be – well, sharing media content with friends – it's not that uncommon to do 'hey, have you seen …' and show them a pic of … almost anything. Or a webpage, or whatever. Splash that on a wall instead.

  • Paul Anderson

    You guys mentioned that “it's not a shitty DLP or LCD based light engine.” – can you compare this to other pico projectors that you've seen? Which ones have you seen? And what do you think is better about this one? Have you seen the new 3M MM200 prototype, or just the MPro110 and the Optoma PK101? Just looking for some context about why you think this is better, and compared to what?

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  • Martin Hillerby

    Ben, how about posting your pre-filming interview with Russel Hannigan that James Whatley mentioned? We'd love to read it or see it if it was filmed.

  • Martin Hillerby

    Dan, what is it that doesn't excite you about the other DLP and LCOS projectors that are hitting the market now? TI has just released a report on their latest DLP chip that has the same resolution as MVIS's. I believe that these Pico Projectors coming out are LED based because they are cheap and available now, unlike the costs of lasers and the availability of the green one presently. These other light engines can switch to lasers when they are available and might just do that. If the picture quality, brightness and all had no focus would price be the determining factor or is there a reason you would still like MVIS's SHOW WX ?

  • Martin Hillerby

    You'd need a remote to control it which isn't planned on being included at first.

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  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    Sure, can do… it will be a written peice as we didn't have the cameras
    rolling.

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  • outlawjosiewales

    Dan and James, thanks for the MWC report. You mentioned that the Sony Ericsson folks set up the Hannigan /SHOWWX presentation for you.

    Can you tell us what triggered the meeting?

    Were you approached by Sony Ericsson or Microvision?

    or…

    Did you court the relationship?

  • http://whatleydude.vox.com James Whatley

    Hey there,

    Just to be clear:

    Sony Ericsson has *nothing* to do with the meeting itself. To clarify – We wanted to demo the Microvision projector on a big screen. It just so happened that the person who was running access to the room we demo'd in was the exact same person that gained us access to a Sony Ericsson preview party late last year.

    That is the only connection.

    Regarding who triggered the meeting, I think you'd have to ask Ben and/or Dan.
    Guys?

  • http://whatleydude.vox.com James Whatley

    Hey Tony,

    Thank you *so* much for dropping by, great to connect on Twitter today :)
    A couple of things –

    1) Would it be possible nearer release to get a demo/review copy for an upcoming show? We would be more than happy to return it once we'd put it through its paces and I'm certain that'd make a certain Mr Lane a VERY happy man indeed! ;D

    2) We had a rather odd comment on the HD version of this post – (see here – http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/2009/02/mir…) from one of Microvision's shareholders. Can you confirm who he is and why he dislikes us so?

    Much appreciated! :)

    J

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    Per my previous comments – Dan knew of the product and we accepted a very routine pitch from a PR to meet Microvison at MWC. No smoke or mirrors here… move along.

  • Martin Hillerby

    Who was the PR? Was it MVIS's PR? What we're trying to find out is was it SONY/ERICSON who triggered the meeting or was it MVIS themselves? If it was SONY/ERICSON it is very big indeed and would be very big news. To not clear this up is confusing your readers. Please clear this up.

  • http://www.smstextnews.com/author/Ben.Smith Ben Smith

    I think we've been very clear, but to be tediously detailed…

    The meeting was aranged via Lisa Figlioli.  She works at Vetrano
    Communications who represent Microvision.  It was a bulk e-mail that
    (probably) went out to all registered press attendees of the event -
    we got about 800 other similar requests.

    SonyEricsson had no involvement at any point.  The only reason they
    were mentioned was that the person who provided access (literally, was
    working at the media centre reception desk) to the room we filmed in
    had previously invited us to a SE event which regular readers would
    have seen us cover.  The reason for mentioning this person was solely
    to highlight how lucky we were to be able to test with a big screen -
    it was not planned and would not have been possible if it weren't for
    a friend of the show.

    If we really had a source to indicate that any major phone company was
    pimping this product do you not think it would be headlined on the
    front page of the site by now?

    It's a very exciting-looking product, but could the shareholders in
    the crowd take a deep breath and relax…?

    2009/2/26 Disqus <>

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