Nano-projector turns phone into a cinema

A tiny colour projector designed to be used with mobile phones, handheld devices and PDAs has successfully passed its first batch of tests.

Israel-based Explay says its nano-projector engine is a hundred times smaller and more efficient than rival technology.

The projector, little larger than a matchbox, will take images from a portable device and display them at any size up to 35ins on a wall or screen.

Explay says the engine had successfully produced eye-safe, always-focused images in tests with some leading mobile phones, digital camcorders and portable media players.

There will be strong demand for this kind of technology as mobile video becomes more mainstream in the coming years. Not only will it allow you to watch video clips and streaming movies on the nearest white wall, but business users will be able to carry out presentations for small groups without lugging around a dedicated projector.

'An ultra-small, ultra-efficient, eye-safe projection engine is the key enabling technology for embedding the projector into mobile devices,' said Explay CEO Daniel Oleiski

'We have focused our efforts on miniaturisation and efficiency improvement to meet this challenge. Explay is already partnering with several manufacturers, with the goal of customizing their products in order to make them compatible with Explay's innovative nano-projector engine. We are also working with several of the leading consumer electronic brands.'

Explay claimed that forecasts show that more than 60 million portable devices with projector capabilities will be sold by 2010.

* Impatica has launched a device called Showmate that will render presentations from a Bluetooth-linked Blackberry on a full-size monitor or digital projector.