3M’s mobile phone with LED illuminated projector by the year endEver imagined a mobile phones which will let you see the big picture? Well, this virtual life will come to reality this year end with the launch of built-in mini projectors.
3M’s LED illuminated projector is currently a prototype handheld device, that displays photos or films stored on the unit’s SD or Mini-SD card.
The projector has a brightness of around 8-10 lumens, and displays an image of up to 50inches, although with perfect lighting conditions, it’s possible to squeeze a 60inch screen out of the projector.
The projector’s VGA resolution image is striking.
Text from PowerPoint presentations is rendered sharply, photos are reproduced with lifelike skintones and colours with negligible detail loss. Bright images look slightly washed out, but the garish lights of the CES showfloor made it hard to block out ambient light in 3M’s tiny booth.
The projector is claimed to run for two hours continuously using a standard mobile phone battery. So, 3M envisages can be used for impromptu business presentations, or for quickly sharing photos or short videos with others.
Roberts says 3M is in talks with “several leading phone and camera manufacturers” although wouldn’t reveal names, but claims products could arrive on the market before the end of the year.
