SHOWWX Pico Projector Shines in the Online Vote

This projector is not an original device, that's why I am surprised it won. There have been competitive pocket projectors out from Optoma and 3M for quite some time now. This one seems to have won because some jumped up tech reviewer was seeing one for the first time. Well, the news is not the news, after all.

There are several paradigm shift(s) in progress and gaining momentum. Each one of these paradigm shift converges or embraces high quality pico projection in one form or the other. If you have the vision, you will see what I’m seeing already taking place...

• Wide screen HD Multi-media infotainment for one or many... in various settings; like living room, bedroom, boardroom, outdoors, and hotel room, airports, and cars and so on.

Research has shown that users prefer video communication over other forms of communication [text, sound, smell, touch] and video will continue to be the preferred means of all human communications. Research has also shown that users prefer wide screen, high definition, 2D/3D video with fast refresh [without motion blur] and always in focus images for all forms of video [static, streaming, and broadcast] communications.

• Planned one-on-one or one-to-many mobile infotainment, communications, collaboration, and networking. Mass adoption of Netbook computers, smartphones, and mobile TVs around the globe.

Users prefer mobility: The entire world [users and service providers] is getting into the instant gratification mode and going mobile in all forms of communications and entertainment across the globe.

• Impromptu one-on-one or one-to-many mobile infotainment, communications, collaboration and networking.

• Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks. Today, we are surrounded by a multi-level convergent media world where all modes of communication and information are continually reforming to adapt to the enduring demands of technologies, “changing the way we create, consume, entertain, learn and interact with each other”.

Convergence in this instance is defined as the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and ubiquity of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space.

• Flexible resource utilization and sharing... like one mobile TV/projector to replace many television sets in millions of households around the globe.

• Augmented reality and its applications will become common place, bridging the gap between the physical world and the digital world... and it will continue to be one of the main thrusts of new technology developments.

“How do you define real? If you’re talking about what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then real is simply those neuroelectric signals interpreted by your brain. However, that reality just got augmented as in “augmented reality”, when the live view of the physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagary... creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real time and with the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable.

• Peak Oil and Carbon Footprint phenomenon prompting renewed efforts to conserve energy around the globe. Low energy footprint of a pico projector will be a desirable alternative... without sacrificing HD widescreen viewing experience.

• The eventual death of multiple TVs per household and the replacement for energy guzzling LCD and Plasma TVs around the globe. Energy for food coming back to take precedent over energy for entertainment in the next five to ten years.

In addition to the above paradigm shifts, there are two mega business trends that are underway that could directly or indirectly effect on how the pico projectors come to the market and these trends would certainly impact picop adoption rates...

• Free Product for Service Contract: Productization, or the ability to package a solution or process into a saleable product, was once the Holy Grail of businesses. Design a better mousetrap and the world would beat a path to your door. But more and more businesses today are realizing that it is better to offer pest control as a perpetual paid service instead of selling a mousetrap as a one-time transaction. Lock the customers into predictable and legal contracts which become more profitable over the life cycle of the product.

Almost all mobile phone carriers offer a free phone in exchange for a service contract that legally binds the subscriber for two or three year service. Razor companies like Gillette offer free Razors in the hopes of selling you the blades for the rest of your life. More and more companies are adopting this business model... if and when their product lends itself to a perpetual service contact.

As this business model grows in popularity, innovative financial models will evolve, as these companies will need to make upfront capital investments and recover it from customers over many years. This business model will embrace PicoP projection like glove to hand and could be the game changer for the first adopter. Partnering with Microvision will be more like the partnership of champions... rather than Microvison looking for a strong OEM champion for its technology. Its not about technology... its about consumer experience and perception of quality and value.

• Vertical Integration Growth Model: For years, the big multi-national corporations that operated in multiple industries weren’t supposed to be a good idea. Stock market investors valued these companies at less than the sum of their various business divisions, for reasons ranging from lack of deep expertise across businesses, less transparency in disclosing financial numbers and extra layers of management required to steer an unwieldy ship. GE offers a real life example of the pitfalls of running too many businesses. But as GE hacks off businesses not core to what it considers its strengths — Genpact, television network NBC Universal, GE Plastics — a bunch of other new global companies are trying to become the new multi-national conglomerates.

Google, for example is now making its own servers and solar panels, acquiring content from authors and media companies, creating operating systems and programming languages and digitizing satellite and space maps for consumers. The list of businesses owned by the Indian company Tata group (India’s largest IT services company, luxury hotels, DTH television services, steel manufacturing, water purification, automobiles) would put even GE to shame. Apple, originally just a computer maker, today makes all types of consumer electronic devices, runs the world’s most successful music app (iTunes) and mobile phone application services (iPhone App Store).

Oppenheimer analysts may not realize this, but HD pico projection market in 2011 will be huge. And it will impact so many industries in so many different ways around the world; that Microvision could be the target of an acquisition by one of the multi-nationals with a vision. We can throw a few tickets in the hat to speculate, shall we...

Microsoft
Apple
Cisco
3M
Google

Anant Goel

if my neighbour has it I dont want it, so I am looking forward for this ASAP, better if these could be sold online (with world wide shipping),

I must have one of these ASAP!

Interesting pico projector concept - liked the laser concept esp with the contrast ratio. Should be good on non-uniform surfaces if I read the information correctly. Will be stopping by the booth at CES to look more closely at this.

Demand for Mobile TV With an Embedded Pico Projector:

Every survey of mobile TV viewers that I’ve seen lists sports as one of the most popular categories. There are a huge number of sports fans around the world, obviously, and most — if not all — prefer to watch events live.

It’s a major reason why some people subscribe to mobile TV.

ESPN has become a mobile information powerhouse, including transmitting some 63 million mobile alerts every month and receiving more than nine million unique viewers on its mobile Web site, whose traffic is increasing 78 percent annually, according to FierceMobileContent.com

Here’s the link…

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/espn-o...

Smartphones are responsible for 70 percent of the mobile Web traffic, with BlackBerrys at the top of the list, the article says. But the Apple iPhone also represents a major opportunity. To this, now you can add the Qualcomm’s FLO TV available today [November 13th] at Amazon, Best Buy, Radio Shack and other select retailers. Just in case you missed the recent buzz about Qualcomm’s FLO TV, it is a pocket-sized personal mobile TV that is strictly for watching TV on the go.

FLO TV Personal Television, as the product is called, is expected to be offered by retailers this holiday season at a suggested price of $250. Qualcomm also will offer its own programming service, with packages expected to cost $5 to $15 a month.

One advantage for a dedicated device is that TVs tend to be a shared resource where cellphones are seen as personal. Parents and kids might hand a TV back and forth as different kinds of shows air.

Qualcomm, though now known for chips, has had forays in hardware before. The San Diego-based company offered its own cellphones early in its history. Last November, Qualcomm announced that it had developed a design for a home computing device that uses its cellphone chips rather than PC components.

Now consider this…

A personal TV with 3.5 inch diagonal screen is great for personal viewing on the go and its dedicated feature also allows it to be shared between parents and kids, for example. However, the creator at Qualcomm may not realize the bigger picture impact of this dedicated Personal TV on the traditional TVs in a household… if and when a laser pico projector is embedded for large screen HD viewing.

Can you imagine the impact of this tiny dedicated Personal TV/Projector that can offer all the functionality of a traditional large screen TV plus gives you mobility, transferability, private and public viewing option and at lower cost of overall ownership… that is cheaper to own and cheaper to operate.

Companies that manufacture large screen LCD and Plasma TVs should not only be concerned but really worry about their future. I don’t think these TV and glass plate manufactures realize the future impact on their business model from faster adoption rates of dedicated mobile TVs that have embedded HD laser pico projectors

Microvision's SHOWwx PicoP projector is going to be very successful…

• Uniqueness: nobody has lasers… nobody is doing what they are doing.
• Thin Form Factor: nobody has the size and nobody can do HD images without getting bigger.
• Longer Battery life: up to 2 hours currently vs. 45 minutes for the competition.
• Infinite focus: nobody else has it.
• Larger screen experience: from 12” to 150” diagonal under certain ambient light conditions.
• Superior small font readability: it has 8 pt readable font.
• Uniformity of brightness: Images are uniformly bright from edge to edge, unlike some other competitors.
• No rainbow effect.
• Twice the color gamut (range) of NTSC
• WVGA resolution with sharper image detail... and future Pathway to high definition and brighter laser lights.

Currently, the competition comes from two major players, TI with its DLP technology and 3M with its LcoS technology. The competition sells its second generation Pico projector for about $295 and the quality of the image from their projectors looks like the picture on the left side. Microvision’s PicoP projector SHOWwx, on the other hand, projects its image better than the one on the right side.

http://myfotospace.my.funpic.de/Comparison-of-P...

If $295 was assumed as the average price for the baseline model and functionality [in-line with what the competition is asking], then Microvision could [and should] charge $495 for not only the better quality and vivid images but also some very interesting and differentiating features…

• Always-in-focus on any projected surface [projecting on curved surfaces or from an angel on flat surfaces]
• Short throw ratio 1:1 [bigger picture from short distance]
• Stunningly colorful, bright, vivid and detailed images [200% NTSC]
• Large images size [from 20” to 200” diagonal ]
• Higher image resolution (848×480) with HD pathway in future models
• Unmatched small font readability [size 8 font]
• Wide aspect ratio 16:9 [for wide screen experience]
• Fast refresh [60 Hz] to prevent motion blur when watching sports or action videos and movies
• High contrast ratio 5000:1
• Easy and simple plug and play. Single connector for TV-out [composite], VGA [RGB] and 3.5mm stereo jack─ audio pass through
• Low power and longer battery life. Movie capable battery life when fully charged. Charges via Micro-USB
• Extended warranty service… why not with all that MEMS reliability and exceeding drop test performance
• Ready for in-bed watching videos and movies on the ceiling
• All cables and leather case included
• Trade-in offer [worth $100 in exchange value] for any future PicoP projector purchase.

All these features are inherent in the laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx and the pico display engine; and they don’t really cost anything extra but they allow you to monetize the superior product functionality that Microvision offers.

There is no reason for Microvision to give it away for free…

Great conversation starter for any occasion!

That is an awesome gadget. I can imagine no end of utility and lulz for that device. Then imagine the future, if this catches on. Just image a projector like that built into a mobile phone.

I think LG already did that....!!!!

LG has a laser based projector?

They have a phone with a pico projector. They are advertising it on television like it is available now. Actually, I think Samsung also has one but only in Korea.