An interesting article. And some of the things mentioned did seem silly even at the time. Most interesting here is the commentary about the quality of the projector. The projector phones mentioned had things going against them in a big way. Poor resolution and focus wheel requirement.
The Motorola Instashare seems to be getting some traction, and it still has poor resolution and a very touchy focus wheel.
Smart Cast hasn't been released yet. -- And Microvision has the ability to release a really good projector.
As far as not having any use... well, every phone has a camera -- to capture images. Projectors are for sharing images - and people like that a lot more than capturing them.
TechRadar -- More at the source.
1. Projector phones
Notable examples: Samsung Galaxy Beam and Galaxy Beam 2, Lenovo Smart Cast
This is possibly the best example of something that was made because it could be, not because it should be. How many people really want a sub-par projector bolted on the side of their phone?
OK, Powerpoint Pete would probably be happy not to have to take a laptop to his dull sales presentations, but the rest of us?
Projector phones came about because pico (ie, tiny) projectors were suddenly possible, so of course someone had to put one in a phone, in case that was the magic bullet that killed the iPhone.
Spoiler: it wasn’t.
When the inexplicable sequel to the first Galaxy Beam came out, a pico projector expert told us: “It's a bit of fun - when people first see pico projector phones, they say ‘Wow! That's really cool!’."
But the novelty wears off quickly – in fact, as soon as they see that they're not actually any good".
Nonetheless, they do reappear occasionally, usually in China (they’re making projector smartwatches now too).
The most promising reinvention of this tech was the Lenovo Smart Cast in 2015, which projected a touchscreen - in other words, you could actually interact with the projected image to play a virtual piano and other such gimmicks.
But until the projector quality improves and someone actually thinks of a use for these things, it looks like the writing’s on the wall for the poor old projector phone.
This review showing why Microvision's solution is so much better.
Business Today India
Insta-Share projector mod. The projector mod, made of plastic and weighing 125 gms, is like a thick cover that instantly snaps to the rear of the device. It packs in a 50 lumen projector lens that can project as far as 70 inches on any flat surface at a maximum resolution of 854x480p. The projection mod has a kick-stand that can rotate up to 180 degrees - this means it can be comfortably used to project on a wall or a ceiling. The automatic keystone adjustment setting comes handy here. Snapping the projector mod onto the phone and pressing the power key turns the projector on. There is a slider to adjust the focus of the projection.
It lived up to the claims of '70-inch projection', but the viewing experience was disappointing. While it is understandable that the clarity and the colour reproduction cannot match with that of the phone's display, the colours looked completely washed out when projected. For instance, the green colour in the video on the phone appeared greyish green when projected. The Projector mod heated up within a few minutes of projection. Instead of projecting videos, I ended up watching movies on the phone itself, using the mod as a stand (a very expensive one at that!). Motorola has packed in a 1,100mAh battery to the mod, which gives close to one hour of projection time.
The Instashare projector is the first widely distributed phone projector, so paying attention to how it's received is important. As many reviews as can be seen.
So far, people are impressed with this projector that has dismal resolution and requires a very touchy focus wheel... and comparable brightness to the embeddable PicoP engine --that has been out for more than a year.
Good stuff for us.
CGM Online -- A projector for your phone? Yeah, you read that right. The Moto Insta-Share Projector was for sure the craziest of the mods I used. This one is definitely for the business folks out there who need to show off a project in a snap, but it’s versatile. It has the ability to shine up to a 70-inch projection with 50 lumens of nominal brightness, so it could come in handy if something were to happen to your main projector. But don’t let its professional design fool you; this is made for projecting on the go. It’s helpful when you want to show off your latest Internet video to a bunch of people and not have them all crowded around a small phone screen, and it comes with integrated kickstand and a focus wheel to make said video look its best. A built-in battery also gives it an extra hour of life, which can be charged separately. As an added bonus, it also comes with a little carrying case.
Again, I think the price is a bit much on this, but it does produce a great picture quality. It should prove helpful for business-on-the-go.
