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The phone with a projector

samsung.com

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Re: The phone with a projector

#21

Post by maebert »

camtarn wrote: post #12
sambeau wrote: post #3

This sounds great at first but I'm unclear about how usable it would actually be. Any pressure on the device would cause the screen to jump about. I could see it being ok in start-then-put-down mode for Movies and Slideshows. But how often do we use phones like that? I look at photos in tiny batches normally with one other person, usually in a crowded place: pub, restaurant, car. I rarely watch movies on my iPhone bu…

You could probably use it in more impromptu ways - e.g. by holding it above a sheet of A4 paper in a suitably dark pub, to allow an entire table to view a photo or video rather than having to pass a phone around. It wouldn't be stable at all, but being able to just beam a photo onto a random surface is pretty cool (although: cool enough to buy a phone solely for that feature? I'm not sure.)

Using a gyroscope and accelerometer one could possible stabilize the picture up to some extent. But really, the fun starts when there'll be a mini-Kinect in your phone to interact with the projection...

Re: The phone with a projector

#24

Post by teyc »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #11

This is a real attempt to go after a market that has been trying to exist for a while. Back in the late 90's i laughed at Salesforce pitch people coming in dragging two carry-ons on wheels - one for the laptop one for the projector. Now they can slip them into pockets. Its a real market, and the next step is I put down my phone as a projector, you control the projector from your phone.

It is also useful for casual meetings.

As a side thought, while convergence is great - we no longer carry a separate music player, video player, phone and now mobile projectors, I've increasingly run into more people carrying spare batteries around.

Re: The phone with a projector

#25

Post by archivator »

Here's a hands-on from The Verge - http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/26/2825474/samsung-galaxy-bea... . Contrast is pretty bad in an indoor-lit environment.

I also can't tell if it's autofocusing or a laser projector. I can't imagine having an autofocus lens on a package this small but then again the contrast is worse than what I'd expect from laser projection.

Re: The phone with a projector

#27

Post by gokhan »

_b8r0 wrote: post #15

It seems like Samsung are throwing phones out to see what sticks. While I think projectors could be useful, I'd be concerned about battery life and heat, not to mention what was cut out to fit this in. Hopefully they'll come to realise that the experience of using the phone is what wins, not how many widgets you can stick on one.

So the one in your pocket is just a phone to make calls and nothing else? No GPS? No sensors or something? Gyro? If so, I don't think it's a winner.

Re: The phone with a projector

#28

Post by melling »

[deleted] wrote: post #26

[deleted]

The glass half empty or half full? It's funny to hear people complain because "Help me Obi-Wan" isn't quite ready for prime time. All these "cool" phones, tablets, etc are funding more R&D for the advances that will lead to the phone (or glasses) being the only device that you need.

Now, if you could only get consumer robotics kicked started, we'll have our droids much sooner.

Re: The phone with a projector

#30

Post by unwind »

samwillis wrote: post #7

Does anyone know which projector technology they are using in this? Edit: Should have googled first, its a TI DLP nHD projector apparently.

Googled? What about reading the linked-to page? It's right there, after all. Even "above the fold", for some value of current screen resolution.
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