Peter's MVIS Blog: January 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

MPCL1 Unboxing reviews

A couple of "unboxing" reviews

From Australia -- Nice Review

YouTube CES Keynote -- MOBILE VIDEO

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Binge On.... more Binge watching

More content for PicoP -- the ecosystem is perfect.

Engadget

T-Mobile announced on Thursday that it is expanding its Binge-On catalog to include four new streaming services -- Amazon Video, Fox News, WWE Network and Univision NOW -- bringing the total up to more than 40.

Binge-On List

With Binge On™ and a qualifying rate plan, watch unlimited video without hitting your data bucket. Services include:

More Detail on FoxConn offer to purchase Sharp

I am observing this situation. I don't have any opinions about it yet. Such a deal could be very beneficial to MicroVision (or not.) It certainly is a step closer to a major manufacturer with immense reach and very important market positioning.

Benzinga

Reuters

Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW) has detailed its offer for troubled electronics maker Sharp Corp (6753.T), a person with direct knowledge of the talks said, potentially complicating a rescue bid led by a Japanese state-backed fund.

Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), still seen as a front runner, will go head-to-head with Foxconn in the bidding for Sharp, and its third bailout in under four years.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, had already offered over 600 billion yen for Sharp but had stopped short of detailing a restructuring plan, people with knowledge of the matter had said last week, dampening enthusiasm for its proposal among Sharp advisers.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

What's better than "news?" -- Gray's Sports Almanac

What's better than news is knowing the news before everyone else does.

When in Back to the Future Biff gets Grays Sports Almanac. It has a record of sports scores for the next fifty years. He ends up making enough money to do anything he wants to.

He pulled that off by knowing the future.

If you're following MicroVision right now and you know about the Qualper phone. You have a pretty good idea what the headlines are going to be -- in the future.

"Phone's great new feature - laser beams!"
"The future is here: The big-screen smart phone."

So, we can be disappointed that the headlines don't say that already, or, like Biff, we can go to the track. (You can behave better after you win.)

I was having a conversation with someone about this company recently. He's the kind of guy you should listen to when you're making "wealth management" decisions. He said it pretty clearly. "By the time the 'market' understand, this will be a very expensive stock."

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Sony Forming new Interactive Entertainment division

Out of context this may seem like very unrelated news to MicroVision -- it seems to me however, that with a significant connection between PlayStation and their video content (playstation tv) and the original connection between MPCL1 and PlayStation, that this is something that deserves some attention.

Source - Sony Computer Entertainment

Tokyo, Japan, and San Mateo, Calif., January 26, 2016 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (SNEI) announced the formation of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE), a new company that joins the forces of all business units belonging to SCE and SNEI, including hardware, software, content and network services operations. SIE will be headquartered in San Mateo, California, the United States, while also establishing key global business operations in Tokyo and London, beginning Friday, April 1, 2016.

“By integrating the strengths of PlayStation’s hardware, software, content and network operations, SIE will become an even stronger entity, with a clear objective to further accelerate the growth of the PlayStation® business,” said Andrew House, President and Global CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and Group Executive in charge of Network Entertainment of Sony Corporation. “Along with our business partners, SIE will develop pioneering services and products that will continue to inspire consumers’ imaginations and lead the market. We will work hard to maximize corporate value by coordinating global business operations across San Mateo, Tokyo, and London by leveraging local expertise.”

Background and Purpose behind Establishment of SIE LLC

SCE, established in November 1993, first launched the original PlayStation® system in Japan in December 1994, bringing a completely new market of entertainment through gaming. Since then, SCE has continued to innovate and introduce unprecedented features with every generation, including the current PlayStation®4 system, and has revolutionized the world of computer entertainment. Furthermore, SCE has delivered compelling gaming experiences to users worldwide on each PlayStation platform through features that are available on the high-performance hardware developed by the company, and brought to life by the wide variety of highly acclaimed software titles from SCE Worldwide Studios and third party developers and publishers.

SNEI, established in April 2010, has been providing a robust portfolio of unparalleled network services through the premium entertainment service brand, PlayStation™Network (PSN℠). SNEI’s offerings include game-related services, such as PlayStation®Store, a premier destination for users to purchase digital games and other gaming content; PlayStation®Plus, a membership service that provides a wide array of exclusive gaming features and content; and PlayStation™Now, a streaming game service that allows users to enjoy a wide range of PlayStation®3 games on various network-enabled devices. Other innovative network services available on PSN include PlayStation™Vue, a pioneering cloud-based TV service that reinvents the television experience; PlayStation™Video, a video-on-demand and transactional service that enables users to enjoy an in-depth catalog of movies and TV shows; and PlayStation™Music, a music listening destination that offers Spotify’s best-in-class music experience.

Since its launch in November 2013, PlayStation 4 continues to demonstrate record-breaking global expansion and growth, while PSN, which began full scale operation in November 2006, continues to expand with new offerings reaching millions of users every day. At the same time, the market environments of hardware, software, content and network services are ever evolving, and it has become important for both SCE and SNEI to unify their business strengths under one entity with a single focus, ensuring PlayStation continues to offer ground-breaking entertainment experiences to consumers around the world.

Through the formation of SIE, the companies combine resources across their hardware, software, content and fast-growing network businesses, positioning the company for enhanced competitiveness, continued expansion and market leadership in all areas. SIE will better respond to the needs of consumers and the evolving digital market to deliver unparalleled interactive entertainment experiences under the PlayStation brand.
Corporate Strategy and Financial Target

Key corporate strategies of SIE are: retain and expand PlayStation user engagement, increase Average Revenue Per Paying Users (ARPPU) and drive ancillary revenue. SIE will vigorously expand the PlayStation business by delivering an integrated experience built around best-in-class games and network services to consumers worldwide.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Qualcomm China Deal

Interesting that the biggest player in mobile chips, is doing a deal in China -- and ending up with a new Chinese company name. I'm not sure what it means, but this kind of deal may shed some light about what is going on with Qualper.

AT Motley Fool -- Much more at the source

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), the largest mobile chipmaker in the world, recently formed a new joint venture in China with the Guizhou Province government. The new company, Guizhou Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology, will design, develop, and manufacture chipsets for servers. Qualcomm will provide research support and server chip technology licenses to the joint venture.

The company will launch with an initial investment of 1.85 billion RMB ($280 million), and be 55% owned by the Chinese government, and 45% owned by Qualcomm. In a press release, Qualcomm President Derek Aberle stated that, although Qualcomm had worked with its Chinese partners for more than two decades, the joint venture "represents a significant increase in our collaboration in China."

This move could help ARM Holdings (NASDAQ:ARMH), which provides the chip designs on which Qualcomm's data centers are based, and harm Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), which has faced multiple challenges in the Chinese data-center market. Let's take a closer look at Qualcomm's data-center ambitions, and how it could turn China into the next big battleground for server chip dominance.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Laser Mist Hologram with PicoP

This is made with PicoP.

THIS PROJECT IS THE 3D HOLOGRAM INSTALLATION.

IT IS COMPOSED BY 40 UNITS OF THE LASER PROJECTOR AND 40 UNITS OF STICK PC AND MIST GENERATOR.

YOU CAN ACTUALLY TOUCH, YOU CAN BE INTERACTION.THE ESSENTIAL IDEA OF THE WORLD COORDINATES IN THE REAL SPACE AND THE PC FOR CALIBRATION WAS GIVEN AT THE TIME OF THE OMOTE. SIMPLE IDEA OF FUSION THIS VIRTUAL SPACE AND REAL SPACE HAS THE POTENTIAL OF UNIVERSAL REPRESENTATION.

THIS MACHINE CAN BE HIGH-DEFINITION DRAWING. BECAUSE IT IS BECAUSE LASER LIGHT SOURCE.

AND THIS MACHINE YOU CAN ALSO MAKE A HUGE HOLOGRAM.

IN THE FUTURE, WE WILL INCREASE THE ACCURACY OF THE CALIBRATION. WE WANT TO HOMOGENIZE THE CONCENTRATION OF MIST.

IT IS PLANNED TO CARRY OUT THE INSTALLATION TO CREATE A HOLOGRAM BY 100 UNITS LASER PROJECTOR.

birth of light / 3d laser mist hologram from nobumichi asai on Vimeo.

SONY LEZAB

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Embedded phone for sale - MicroVision

Nothing like a nice reference on a site that is selling a phone with your technology embedded.

Qualper site

Foxconn and Innovation Network Corp offer buyout of Sharp

Sharp hasn't been in good financial shape for some time. I'm not sure what the ramifications of a buyout will be -- but they clearly have been trying to sell PicoP.

PicoP in the hands of Apple's manufacturer could be a very interesting situation.

Will add more as I see it today.

--> READ THIS ONE QZ <--

Market watch

Benzinga

From Wall Street Journal

Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles the bulk of the world’s iPhones, has offered about ¥625 billion ($5.3 billion) to take over troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

Sharp, which has been bailed out repeatedly by banks, is set to review a competing offer from Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, a government-backed investment fund. A person familiar with the matter said the fund was weighing a bid of around ¥300 billion, a figure earlier reported by the Nikkei newspaper. It wasn’t clear whether the INCJ bid would require concessions from Sharp’s main creditors.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

A-su Laser Watch

I looked for A-Su at the Haier booth. They were scheduled to be there. (The PicoP equipped R2D2 was there, but wasn't shown.) I was there several times trying to find it. I originally found the R2D2 under a cloth (and then disappeared) ... I got close, but missed it.

Maxim -- Asu Laser Sports Watch (Check it at the source!)

I admit it, I wasn't expecting this watch to wow me like it did. I knew I was about to see a "wearable projector" as I headed into the press conference held in a little side room at the Venetian at #CES2016. So I figured it just shined the time on your hand—impressive but not earth shattering. Then the folks at ASU used their Cast One watch to throw a five-foot 720p video up onto the wall.

It actually worked pretty well, instantly marking it as one of the coolest demos I'd see at the show. This promotional video gives you an idea of what I saw in that dark room.

Since it was a press conference, they went on to say that it does everything in the world a watch could possibly do and all other previous attempts at wrist-borne tech are crap by comparison. Notwithstanding all the marketing hyperbole, it does look like it'd incorporate tons of innovative and practical features.

The big caveat is that it'd have to strike a pristine balance—for instance, between having enough processor speed and battery life to do what it needs to for long enough to make it worth it. (Would you actually watch full movies or just use it as a slick tool for extending your phone's screen in quick little bursts?)
A-Su Site 1 (Best one)

A-SU Website (chinese)

Commented Link (Good one) This article claims the projector is from STM. The specs for the STM device are significantly inferior to the MVIS picop. This is a space that deserves to be watched. Inferior competition won't hurt us a bit.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Mems Manufacturing -- UPDATED

At about 4:51 it talks about DLP mirrors, It's pretty dry, but good information and not all about manufacturing. (And it's about 6 years old - so nearly archaic in the field.) Produced by the industry group that was helpful to me at CES.

Completed camera Modules - note how they seem to have been assembled on a single chip, attached to each other.

Micro machining MEMS Same equipment and stuff that makes CMOS and computer chips. (I'll admit that I haven't had a chance to watch this entire video)

Friday, January 15, 2016

Japan Times Video from Wearables Show

At about 1:49 it features the Sharp laser projector..

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Qualper VS iPhone 5

I'm NOT trying to get people to draw any particular conclusions. Given recent news reports that Apple is releasing another iPhone5 (the 5e, for "enhanced") I figure an investor in MicroVision should be watching this.

Do a Google search on iPhone5e and you will find a lot of recent articles suspecting its release this spring. For example: Gadgets 360 | MacRumors

The below is interesting. If the iPhone5 is supposed to be a "basic" or "entry-level" phone with an "affordable" price -- why is it suspected to be the exact same price as the iPhone6?

From IBTimes

"Currently, the iPhone 5e is said to be under construction with Foxconn factories. Since Apple will be aiming to increase the user base of Apple Pay towards developing markets like China and India, it will be launched with an affordable pricing. Rumors indicate that it will be available for about $500, Phone Arena reported."

I looked through a lot of pictures of cell phones. Round home buttons are relatively rare (they do exist in other phones) Metal bands around the edge are rare as well.

Do your own thinking and your own homework.

The Qualper Phone:

Notice the ROUND home button.
Notice the metal band around the outside edge of the phone.

The iPhone 5

Notice the round home button
Notice the metal band around the phone

MicroVision Displayground Blog

Displayground

MPCL1
ViewSmart Smart projector
Qualper Smartphone with embedded projector
PicoPro
Haier R2D2
Sharp RoBoHon (darn it, not there in person and I missed it at the Qualcomm booth)
HD Projection with auto keystone correction (very cool)
Nomad eyewear
Dual mode projection (wall and table-top) -- ultra-short throw
Laser beam scanning projector
10 degree field of view HUD
Laser After market HUD

I didn't see either of the HUD applications myself.

She doesn't mention the PicoP powered Android TV either. Check it out at the source.

Sharp and it's MVIS PicoP

Translated Sharp Article

[Wearable EXPO] Sharp's ultra-small laser projector, the embedded device of IoT era

Sharp on the 13th, in the "wearable EXPO" being held at Tokyo Big Sight, was exhibited on the small laser MEMS projector module.

This is called business solutions company, that department has been developed to deal with, such as the company's copier. It becomes module which applies the built-in laser oscillator in general copier. It becomes possible to assemble the dense parts of the optical system carrying compact, but the accuracy of as a package is a proprietary technology in the development.

As a feature of the laser projector, color gamut is also reproducible for a peaky, 35 lumen brightness is also high. High contrast because without a light source to display black, compared to a typical projector, such as illuminate the entire surface, there is advantage in power consumption.

Above all, it's the maximum benefits of the laser light source, it can be projection of vivid images to focus free. It can be attached to a portion of the chest of the guards at the venue, it was projected images in the palm. From there, such as focus adjustment is absolutely unnecessary, as it is also can be projected on the wall, it can be watched video while working in a hands-free. For example, the image of the security robot camera, the thing with assumes the applications, such as to check from a remote location.

Since the terminal is large and compact palm in the future and that is assumed to use as embedded. If become IoT to the prime, it becomes necessary your device to display information, it becomes possible to embed naturally walls With this terminal. To work support as long as it is a plant, and the signage is in the city, applications where it is assumed a wide range. Low power consumption, likely can be also exhibits advantages of the module.

Wearables Conference Tokyo

Proof that Sharp is selling their PicoP module AND trying it out in more products than RoBoHon

From the Japan Times

Sharp Corp. showed off a miniature laser projector that can be carried around in a pocket.

The firm said a security guard could carry it in their shirt pocket and project live camera surveillance imagery on the palm of their hand. Sharp said because the projected image was automatically focused without requiring the user to make adjustments, it could be projected on to pretty much anything.

Bracelet View

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

AT&T Unlimited Data for Video

An alert poster at Yahoo Message Board posted this link The ecosystem continues to improve!
More at the source.
From Yahoo News

AT&T (T) unveiled a new unlimited plan with an emphasis on video.

The new plans will only be available only for AT&T's 25 million customers who also subscribe to AT&T's DirecTV or U-Verse television service at home, however. And unlike the truly unlimited data plans of a decade ago, customers will actually get 22 GB of high speed downloads before AT&T slows their connection to a crawl when they use their phones in congested areas.

Video distribution is heating up as one of the next battlegrounds for the mobile industry as the U.S. market matures and customer growth slows. Verizon Wireless (VZ) launched a free short videos service called Go90 in September and T-Mobile (TMUS) unveiled a feature it called BingeOn in November that lets customers watch as much video from many popular online services without counting the downloads against their monthly data limits.

Shares of AT&T rose 0.5% on Monday after the unlimited plan was announced. Shares of Verizon and T-Mobile were unchanged.

AT&T, which spent almost $50 billion buying satellite television service DirecTV last year, plans to make a hard push to use the new unlimited plans to cross-sell its mobile and home video offerings, Glenn Lurie, CEO of AT&T Mobility, said in an interview. About 15 million DirecTV subscribers don't use AT&T for mobile and 40 million AT&T Mobile customers don't buy home video from the company, he said.

"The cross-selling opportunity for us is just staggering," Lurie said.

But AT&T disputed that the new plans were a reaction to T-Mobile, saying that the deals were part of a strategy to leverage its investment in DirecTV, plus another $418 billion spent last year on additional spectrum rights. "Please don't compare this to BingeOn," Lurie said, emphasizing the cross-selling opportunities. "It's nothing like it."

Monday, January 11, 2016

CES Impressions

I didn't really type up my impressions from CES. A few important impressions stick out, that give me great confidence for the future.

I think the Qualper phone, ViewSmart device and the PicoBit are all made by the same large company. (Just to be clear -- no one in any position of authority told me so.) Maybe they're a shell company for SONY, or maybe for SAMSUNG. The quality of the devices was excellent, and the three devices look very similar. (The little projector door looks exactly the same on all three devices.) Celluon seems to have some connection with SAMSUNG, and the device contains a SONY PicoP module. The exterior of the device seems a lot like the SONY phone I carry. I am suspicious that this is connected to the new smartphone factory Sony has built in Thailand. (Only my suspicions.) The devices are awesome, and I KNOW people will want them.

Haier and R2D2: We missed an opportunity for some great publicity with an American Cultural Icon. Yes, MicroVision is in a robotic refrigerator with a projector in the shape of R2D2. The news isn't the robotic refrigerator. The news is that we have a foot in the door of a major manufacturer. The only glimpse I got of R2 was this in the back of the display, covered for an unstated reason. When I returned one of their representatives told me that he couldn't be seen because of Disney licensing agreements. They have the Star Wars license in Japan, but not in the USA. So R2 Stays under cover.

About Haier Corporation

Sharp didn't participate in the show. They are clearly, however, marketing their PicoP engine as a separate component.

Eyewear. This year, Augmented reality glasses were around the place like GoPro like cameras were around the place last year. Every time you turn around, there's a pair of virtual reality or augmented reality glasses. I was impressed with the effect of the Virtual reality goggles I tried (from HTC) It's an extremely immersive experience. The resolution leaves something to be desired though.
Augmented reality is going to be a place for MicroVision to truly shine. I went out to my way to try every pair of Augmented Reality glasses I could find. In twenty years we'll laugh at how primitive what is out there now really is. I tried the glasses that Robert Scoble calls the BEST a couple of times, from a couple of different companies. They had great difficulty adjusting them for my head, and the field of view, although called the best, was kind of bad. Imagine holding a laptop at arm's length in front of you. That's the size of the screen of information they had available. -- still really cool, but not very good -- especially since that information is right in front of what you want to be looking at. When I tried on MicroVision's NOMAD -- the field of view was like holding a 40" television screen at arm's length -- and I'm told the field of view is now larger -- and higher resolution - and in color. While most of the work that goes on around these things has been software and interface -- adding a better display is going to be relatively straight forward and essential for them to get wider adoption. There is one other head mounted display that I think *might* compete: The BMW Head mounted display. I did not get a chance to see this. It's going to be a big space - even if this is competition that will be okay.

SONY: Sony makes most or all of its money selling components. PicoP is an additional component for them to sell. It's an off the shelf LARGE display that takes up very little room. Expect it to be popular.

Expect other OEMS to go to the SONY (& Sharp) modules before they consider making their own.
Know that when there is demand - SONY will be able to ramp up production faster than you think.
Also remember that SONY is a risk averse company -- they do far better selling components than their own products. (they'd rather fill demand for components than stick their necks out on their own consumer products.)
SONY is probably doing things that MicroVision isn't aware of. That's okay. If they have a contract with a large OEM - they're going to have NDA's to deal with as well.

The MP-CL1 isn't part of the projector division at SONY -- it's being sold by the BATTERY division. (This is an important consideration -- it NEVER occurred to me that it would be sold by battery guys)

NDA's are still huge.

I've never been more confident about the prospects for this company.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

MPCL1

Saturday, January 9, 2016

CES Day 3

It was a short day at CES for me, and I used it to follow up on some things I'd missed. Half the day was travel, and a large part of Saturday was catching up on sleep, reconnecting with friends and nursing a sore knee.

The Bed Display at SONY.

SONY had a display of MPCL1 in a bed. The bed was a canopy bed, and the MPCL1 was in a tray pointed up at the Canopy.

I had missed this the previous time through this section of the show, and heard good things, so I returned to see it. I was glad I did.

I stayed by this display for about 45 minutes. It was almost constantly crowded with people, universally smiling and often asking if it's available now, and how they could buy it.

This was an excellent display, and probably the most popular at the display other than the VR Gear (I admit I'm a bit biased)

Augmented reality, the Daqri Helmet & Microvision Nomad

That's the Daqri Helmet in the background. I had a chance to wear and unpowered model. It's quite heavy - more than twice the weight of a normal hard hat. They admitted that field of view is still limited - like a 120" screen at 10 feet -- which actually looks like a laptop screen on your lap.

It's probably a lot like a hololens that has an incorporated hard-hat. The industrial uses could be incredible.

Daqri Helmet Press Release

Daqri Helmet at LinuxGizmos

The Osterhaut Group -- The R7 Smart Glasses

I had a chance to try this technology on in a couple of places. Once with a company who was developing it for remote medical help, and with another company that was using it to help people with limited vision.

The glasses are reputed to be the best, with the largest field of view.

I had an opportunity to try on the NOMAD in the MicroVision booth -- the field of view is better -- and it's an older system. I was assured that now the resolution is better and the field of vision is wider.

I did miss the BMW AR Helmet, which does look like it may be capable of a wider field of vision. I'll be looking for more on it.

DK50 Augmented Reality Glasses (50 degree field of view)

Recon Glasses -- a very small screen outside the direct field of view. If you look down and right the small display -- maybe a dozen characters worth or a compass readout

The place was packed with various kinds of augmented reality glasses... From what I've seen MicroVision could make most of them much better than they are.

The HTC virtual reality headset

I did have an opportunity to try the HTC VR headset. It was a remarkably intense experience.

Remember that this is similar to the Oculus Rift, Sony VR, and Samsung Gear VR. (Notice there's a LOT of competition.) I've tried on the others, except the SONY model. MicroVision isn't in competition with any of these, but I do notice that the market value of Oculus Rift was 2 Billion when Facebook bought the company -- it's not very special compared to PicoP. Still cool though.

Friday, January 8, 2016

CES Day 2

Celluon:

I went to the booth three different times, but the working model of the PicoBit was out at meetings each time I got there.

I did see the mockup of the unit however. It looks a lot like the ViewSmart, although it has additional features like the HDMI input and a couple of extra buttons on the bottom side of the touchpad.

It looks enough like the ViewSmart that I wouldn't be surprised at all if Celluon and ViewSmart are are somehow related.

You can see the HDMI connection at the back of the unit, and the buttons toward the back of the top of the unit. The top of the unit is all touchpad. (and it's size compared to the PicoPro) On the lower picture, you can see the little projector door that is like the one on the ViewSmart.

Later in the day, I had an interesting experience, I saw a booth where a PC about the size of a paperback book was being demoed. I asked them if they could put a screen in the computer. There was a bit of language difficulty. I took out my PicoPro and showed it to them. To say they were excited would be an understatement. I ended up taking the guy down to Celluon's booth, last I saw he was dragging one of their people back up to this booth to connect the two.

Longhaocomputer.com

Sumitomo Laser Module:

Pretty much everyone in the manufacturing portions of the consumer electronics business is pretty tight lipped. They were very open that the laser modules were targeted for projectors -- the ultimate use, but they mentioned some other uses as well.

This is a box they had on the display with the two now in production laser modules and the smaller one (next to the dime) that is in development. (that's small!)

Learning about MEMS Manufacturing: memsindustrygroup.org

A little more mundane, but important for understanding MicroVision.

I stopped by this booth and grilled an engineer for about 45 minutes about how MEMS are manufactured. It was very useful. I'll do a full post about it when I can compile one. The quick summary, lots of chemistry, silicon, coatings, layers, and the parts handling - very interesting methods.

Beam

Beam Labs

Beam is a light fixture that has a projector integrated in it. It's cool. Sony has a similar thing going in LifeSpace. Use it to share pictures, etc. The image is not touch interactive, though, and as they move the light up and down it has to be focused. (sound familiar)

They let me compare to the PicoPro. The image from the PicoPro was at least as bright, and stayed in focus - as we know. The presenter was suitably impressed with the PicoPro. (I mentioned MicroVision -- and that the image can be touch-interactive. I think they'll call.)

I took the picture below. The projection was pretty good, but the lighting was not optimal for projection at their display. (although unless fixed, difficult to keep in focus.)

There's more, but these are the highlights.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Visit to CES Day 1

Joe S. and I visited the MicroVision Suite. Really awesome display of products and new stuff.

1st. Qualper and ViewSmart are completely confirmed as products containing MicroVision Tech. Got a demo of the ViewSmart & Qualper Phone.

First, Got this nice shot of MPCL1 pretty much front and center at the SONY booth. (It's a big display, so front and center is a difficult concept, but it was right out in the open.)

Then on to the MicroVision Suite

Here's their small display of the Qualper phone. This display was in the MicroVision Suite. The ViewSmart projector was there as well. The picture is excellent, bright, and the interaction with the unit was great. The top of the unit is like a mouse... that moves a cursor on the projected screen.

The Qualper phone, is about the same size as an iPhone only a little thicker.... I wouldn't hesitate to carry it. I was tempted to slip it into my pocket on the way out, but I don't read Chinese.

Here is Mr. Tokman demonstrating the Qualper to Joe Spaz. On the table in front of them are some cool demonstration devices. Including one that has automatic keystone correction, and another that I think will be the rage -- a VERY small unit that is an Android TV. Plug it in, and watch TV and Netflix on the wall.

Sumitomo Laser Module

Global Sei

Full-color laser module

Sumitomo Electric has developed the world's smallest full-color laser module [6 (H) × 13 (W) × 11 (D) mm] comprising red, green and blue semiconductor lasers. This new module product is based on the Company's experience in materials and component mounting technologies. Its stable optical and electrical characteristics make the module suitable for a variety of applications, such as illumination, small projectors and various sensors. At the tradeshow, Sumitomo Electric will demonstrate an illumination system incorporating this full color module.

Acer Launches Windows Projector Phone

This has been Determined to be false.

I know nothing of the projection tech in this product.

So far sourced from a single article (so go easy on your enthusiasm) Other articles makes no mention of a projector with the same name and brand name. ZDNet Windows Central

It DOES show the enthusiasm for projector technology. (and MVIS is the best)

It would not surprise me if this is a re-brand or tweak of Qualper. (Notice how Daqri, until last night was an independent company, now is part of Intel)

ProjectorpointUK

Top projector manufacturer Acer has announced the launch of the first non-Lumia Windows 10 phone, the Liquid Jade Primo, featuring projection capabilities.

According to Acer, the Liquid Jade Primo has been designed to replace computers, laptops and tablets, offering all the features needed by users in a significantly smaller package.
Based on Windows 10 Continuum technology, the phone can sense when it is connected to a secondary display to allow for universal apps to display on the screen regardless of their developer.

This built-in capability to connect to other USB or wireless devices also allows the Liquid Jade Primo to be used as a touchpad, virtual keyboard, or even as a projector.

Acer has stated that the projection capabilities are some of the most impressive features of the new smartphone, allowing users to project presentation decks to a projector or large screen, while displaying a 'Presenter View on the phone's screen.

Not only can this technology enhance projection portability for business users, but allows users to carry their media from projection device to projection device without needed to transport a large projector.

Daqri -- pops up in a big way after a long silence

I do not know if we are in this product.

(it could be... I'll see if I can figure it out today.)

It is interesting that after a very long time of no word at all, there are dozens of articles about this thing this morning.

Daqri press release

DAQRI, the Augmented Reality company that is transforming the future of work, unveiled the next-generation DAQRI SMART HELMET™ today, powered by the 6th Gen Intel® Core™ m7 processor and Intel® RealSense™ technology. DAQRI SMART HELMET is an industrial-grade, human-machine interface that inserts real-time information – including Augmented and Mixed Reality work instructions, safety information, mapping and more – to maximize safety, productivity and well-being for workers in a variety of industrial settings. DAQRI founder and CEO Brian Mullins gave attendees a first look at the newest DAQRI SMART HELMET and its capabilities with an on-stage demonstration during Intel CEO Brian Krzanich’s CES keynote. DAQRI SMART HELMET has been in the pilot phase with Fortune 100 partners across industries including aerospace, construction, oil & gas and more, and will be available for purchase beginning in Q1 2016.

Silicon Republic
Engadget

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Toyota to adopt Ford System

This is potentially huge.

Ford's system appears to be very heavily involved with SONY (who intends to use PicoP for HUD systems)

From ReCode

" Ford plans to announce that Toyota will become the first rival carmaker to use Ford’s SmartDeviceLink, the software platform designed to help developers write a version of its software — Pandora, for instance — to run on cars that have adopted the system. SmartDeviceLink is behind Ford’s Sync 3 in-car navigation and entertainment system.

By offering its system to rivals, Ford hopes to improve the odds that Detroit can keep up with Silicon Valley in what is shaping up to be a key battle between the auto and tech industries. Ford said it is in discussions with Honda, Mazda and Subaru, which are considering adopting the platform."

Ford Sync

Ford Races to connect cars

Making All of the connections here (for us, and the automakers, apparently) is difficult. How everything comes together remains to be seen. Really worth watching though.

In Las Vegas

Nothing much to do yet.

I'll get my room changed I hope. (Music from the casino floor all night, and some kind of show where things were blowing up until midnight right outside the window.)

Will check on a couple of friends, get floor pass & wait for the flood of Press Releases & news that will start hitting the in-box this afternoon.

This evening -- catch the SONY press conference on line.

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