Macworld 2010: Hands-on with Microvision's SHOWWX laser pico projector

I'm still skeptical about laser projectors -- while the technology is impressive, the practicality is still a little limited. And unfortunately, Microvision's demo of their SHOWWX projector here at Macworld 2010 didn't do much to change my mind. It's a nice little device -- it's almost exactly the size of the iPhone, and the rep told me that most of the unit is actually the battery -- and there are some good applications for it. But for the consumer market that Microvision really wants, the $500 unit (that will go on sale in March) is still a little too small in terms of scale and usability.

Just using the device, which will project clear images and video from an iPhone or iPod on a wall about three to four feet away (more or less depending on ambient light), you can tell that the idea of a microprojector is almost at the level where it could be really successful. As the rep said to us, the iPhone is a 1:1 device, and while many of us do use it to show pictures and video to each other, it's really only meant to show one person at a time. But the projector goes to a "1 to few" relationship instead, and that's a prospect that will be appealing to anyone who wants to show off business presentations, video, or pictures of family members to anyone else.

There are a lot of other good things about the projector as well: since it's a laser projector (the specific technology is called "pico p," and Microvision is looking to sell not just these retail units, but the tech itself to anyone willing to pay), there's no focal requirements -- you can basically point it at any surface shape, and it'll project in a visible way. It's a piece of cake to use -- just plug it into the iPhone and go.

There are enough issues that the unit isn't perfect yet, and not all of them are Microvision's fault. For one thing, that battery -- it only lasts two hours (enough to watch a movie, but not much else), and it basically doubles the size of the iPhone. For another, the capability -- Apple hasn't yet enabled developers to project screenshots or actual app screens from the connector port, so while this might be a great device for showing off apps to friends and business groups, no dice. And the price is still a bit high -- at $500, business users may be interested, but not many regular people will pay more than they paid for their iPod touch just to project pictures from it.

Personally, I think we will see projectors more and more -- eventually, they'll be included in a successful device (maybe even an Apple device), and consumers will enjoy projecting their favorite content on makeshift larger screens. But the technology just needs to get a little smaller, less power intensive, and a little cheaper. Microvision's projector will be available in the US in March, and you might even see the sales guy bring one around the next time he arrives at your company for a pitch.

View Tags

Source: http://microvision.com/

Categories

Macworld Accessories iPod Family Peripherals iPhone

I'm still skeptical about laser projectors -- while the technology is impressive, the practicality is still a little limited. And...

Add a Comment

Sign in »

7 Comments

Filter by:

Jason

Seriously, that thing does look disappointing. I think the L1 from Aaxa Tech has much better potential. http://www.aaxatech.com/products/l1_laser_pico_projector.htm
Projectorcentral.com recently reviewed it and gave it 5/5 stars for performance.

Here is the projectorcentral review too
http://www.projectorcentral.com/aaxa_l1_laser_pico_projector_review.htm

April 12 2010 at 5:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jmgerard

Hi,
I was also at macworld 2010. I saw the microvision showWX projector. The guy there was willing to answer question if you ask directly. But not a very good salespersion to show off the device. Also he was only displaying the device on the counter service facing down to show that you do not have to focus the device from the very little I tried it it seemed to me to have the same problem as other projectors. In the room where the booth was setup with all the lights on you could not get a very big image before it starting to wash out. If there is a brightness adjustment setting the rep did not show me or really talk about the device. Although I thought the device was supprisingly light weight. At a price of $500us that is pretty steep. I don't know how many people will buy one. If they would market the price to say $350us then I think they will sell a lot more units. I would like to see a compairison between this unit and the LG. If I remember correctly the LG WILL display at 1280x720 where as the showWX only 848x480 . And the price is much cheeper for the LG model.

March 03 2010 at 11:11 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

rsipple

I under stand that this device has a brightness setting, are you sure you have it on the right setting? Also could you have found a worse backround? I bet if you had it on the right setting and porjected it on the wall to your left, the smooth surfaced one, you'd have a better picture! Better yet, why don't you get one of each of the competitors devices and project them all at the same time on the same wall? Then you'd have a story!

February 14 2010 at 1:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Bart

I think this SHOWWX projector is really cool. It's using lasers and that's cool because it's always in focus. But also, it's not projecting black, it paints the screen line by line and the laser is turned off when there is a black spot to paint, this saves battery life and creates a great effect. Other projectors have to block the light to get black.

I think everybody likes to projects thing on the wall, ceiling or other surfaces (limited by your imagination), just remember the fun you had with light torches and shadows in your childhood and therefore I think many people will be attracted to play around with a projector like this and can be connected to their iPhones with the included cable.

The official price is not given yet, so that leaves the option for a pleasant surprise, but let's wait a little longer.

February 13 2010 at 2:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

joshua

Even macworld has turned into an iPod/iPhone show... kinda light on the interesting Mac events.

February 13 2010 at 4:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

digitalsedition

One of the first things you want to do when putting a product on the market is making sure that people in your target actually see the need for your product and are willing to buy it in large enough numbers that you have a viable business.

Are there that many people looking to project video from their phones? I find that hard to believe.

February 12 2010 at 9:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Chris Pirillo

Yeah, I've been REALLY happy with my Cinemin Swivel - even though its array of connectivity options leaves you to your own devices (so to speak).

February 12 2010 at 5:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply