In the Nikon S1000pj Future, There Is No Escape From Baby Pictures

No, this isn't a lost Beyond 2000 segment from 1997—this is a real thing, that is happening. Here's how Nikon expects customers to use their new mutant camera/projector hybrid, the S1000pj. More »

Official Specs and Prices for New Nikon Coolpix Line, Including Mutant Projector-Camera

Nikon's new Coolpix point-and-shoot line leaked yesterday, but today Nikon unveiled the official prices and specs (though no release dates) for all four cameras, including the crazy S1000pj with the built-in projector. More »

Pico Projectors Go High Def

That didn't take long. While we're still waiting for many announced pico projectors to even be released, Forever Plus has revealed the world's smallest 720p projector. More »

Epson PowerLite Flagship 1080p Projector Is Super Bright, Super Clear For Under $3K

Epson's PowerLite Home Cinema 6500 UB projector, with a 75K:1 contrast ratio and 1,600 lumens, is a prime example of what I love about tech: Everything's cheaper even as it becomes more powerful. More »

Sharp 720p DLP Projector to Clock In at Under $1000

Sharp's expanding its WXGA line with the PG-F255W projector, packing 1280x800 resolution, Sharp's BrilliantColor tech, 2,200:1 contrast ratio, 2,500 ANSI Lumens, Ethernet, variable audio line-out, and a USB port. It's a lot for not so much cash, coming in at less than $1000. More »

Japanese Apple Stores to Sell Optoma Picoprojector in December For $500

Way back in June Optoma promised to release its picoprojector this year, and now there's news that indeed it will. Still reportedly the world's smallest and lightest, it'll go on sale December 1st in Japan at the Apple store, of all places. In case you've forgotten the DLP device is just 0.67 x 2 x 4.1-inches and can produce an image up to 60-inches at a modest 480 x 320 resolution and 1000:1 contrast for 2 hours from its battery. Its expected price in Japan is around $500, though there's no news yet on when it'll be coming to these shores or what it'll cost. [AVWatch]

DoCoMo DLP Phone Projects TV, Makes Butt Look Big

The NTT DoCoMo prototype phone shown in the video above has an embedded DLP projector, presumably using an LED light source in order to project a respectable 20- to 25-in. video image on the wall a few feet away. The downside, as you can hear from the dude asking questions (AOL Switched's Tom Samiljan if I'm not mistaken) is that the phone is large, or at least small but strapped to a real brick of a projector. I guess we're supposed to admire the image, and wait for the actual mini-projector technology to catch up. [TechPertPanel - YouTube]

Nippon Signal Mini Projector Could Fit Into Your Shirt Pocket

Nippon Signal has revealed its new entrant into the color projector size war, showing off a SVGA 800 x 600 resolution color projector that's roughly the size of a cigarette case at a recent micromachines exhibition. The prototype, which measures a tiny 90 x 55 x 20mm, uses a MEMS scanner to project images, rather than the more traditional LED. More »

Bat-Logo Projector Key Ring: Recipe For Embarrassing Superhero Call-Outs

You know how dumb you feel when somehow your phone is set off in your pocket, and you leave a 25-minute voicemail message for someone random? Imagine how awkward it'd be to set off this gizmo in your pocket, only to have the Dark Knight himself rock up in the Batmobile, ready to fight danger at your call. "Oh... Sorry, I guess I set it off by accid... *KaPow!*" This Dark Knight branded Bat Logo projector key ring probably also serves as a regular torch, and is available August 1 for around $16. [Nerd Approved]

TI Intros Industry First Lamp-Free DLP Projector

Hot on the heels of the Optoma pico-projector that uses a TI chipset, TI itself has announced the "industry's first home-theater lamp-free projector." It uses a PhlatLight LED illumination source instead, and a Brilliantcolor chipset to give a 1080p display. This makes it capable of a 50% bigger color gamut than traditional projector tech (that's over 200 trillion colors!) and a contrast ratio that can go up to 500,000:1. The lamp-free bit is the part that will interest consumers: as well as not requiring expensive new bulbs, the LEDs consume far less power so you'll pay for less electricity if you're a heavy projector user. Apparently "multiple DLP customers" are expecting to launch projector products with the tech late this year. [Digitimes]

R2-D2's In Ur Serverz, Monitoring Ur Packetz

These gigantic Japanese nerds just rigged up an R2-D2 DVD Projector into a server monitoring system that alerts them whenever a system is down. R2's got Nagios, a monitoring app, an IR controller, and the ability to project what's wrong for the people to see. The video illustrates how it works in a dramatically geeky manner. These should be standard issue in every server farm around the world. [Syun - Thanks Motohiro!]

World's First Cellphone with Pico-Projector Being Produced in China

While we've been watching the development of pico-projectors with interest, Chinese company Cking has gone ahead and built what may be the first production phone with a projector built in. More »

NYU Student Creates Virtual Girlfriend—Shame She's Only 2D

Created with lonely people in mind, Drew Burrows' INBED is an "infrared-sensitive" light projected virtual girlfriend. A sexy brunette, she's got about three tricks up her sleeve—and she does all of them from a supine position. More »

JVC and Kenwood Will Join Forces, Merge in October

JVC, the group behind the scenes of popular projectors and thin LCDs, and Kenwood, known for their car stereo equipment, will merge in October. The new company, JVC Kenwood Holdings, has been discussed for almost a year, when the two first collaborated on car electronics. So what happens when you merge TVs and car equipment? Lots of ugly rides. And, hopefully new, great gadgets. [Forbes]

Sunvision PMPP, World's First Media Player With Pico-Projector

We've been talking about pico-projectors for a while, and here's what's apparently the world's first commercially available media player with one built right in: the Sunview PMPP. The LED-lit iView IPL630 unit inside it can project a VGA display up to an impressive-sounding 53 inches, but only a brightness of 9 lux at this size. The rest of the PMP sounds ok: a 3.5-inch LCD, speaker, remote, SD slot and size of around 5.2 x 3.1 x 1 inches. Interestingly it runs a Windows CE core, so it should be able to project documents and presentations. How does it look or sound? We don't know, as it's only available in limited quantities for now, and there's no word on prices. [Display Daily]

Sanyo's Big and Bright 4200 Lumen T-Series Projectors

Sanyo has launched two new 4200 ANSI lumen projectors that pack enough punch to throw a screen up just about anywhere, regardless of whether the lights are on or not. The PLC-ET30L will give you 1400 x 1050 resolution, while the more affordable PLC-XT21/L produces 1024 x 768. Aside from the resolutions, both models seem identical in other respects and both models let you go big, in fact, huge; that is as long as you consider 300" diagonal big, so you better set aside a comparatively hefty budget for your screen. More »

Sanyo Claims XGA LCD Projector World's Smallest and Lightest

This is the PLC-XW60, the world's smallest and lightest XGA LCD projector—according to its maker, Sanyo. Weighing in at just 3.6 pounds, the projector can beam a 1024 x 768-resolution, 100-inch image on a wall just nine to 11 feet away and is aimed at teachers and travellers. Find out what else the compact little blighter can do below. More »

InFocus IN83 DLP Plays Slightly Bigger Than Its Older Sibling

InFocus's new IN83 DLP projector may look the same as the previous IN82 model but it does pack some slight upgrades. Displaying full 1080p HD, the IN83 features the latest DarkChip4 DLP chipset and HDMI 1.3. The IN83 specs appear to be just a step above the IN82, and this slight upgrade wouldn't be complete without a price increase. So here's what's new about the IN83. More »

Nokia Patent Describes Cellphone With Virtual Keyboard

Virtual keyboards aren't exactly a new concept, but Nokia's patent describes a cellphone with integrated equipment, which allows a virtual keyboard to be set up more rapidly. The patent, titled, "Mobile device with virtual keyboard," does away with the need for a separate projector entirely, by instead using the onboard camera and optical sensors that are already present in typical cellphones. There is a drawback, however. More »

Microvision Handheld Pico Projector Can Drive a 100-inch Image

If you really must have a way to watch those four seasons of Futurama DVDs anywhere you go, this Microvision SHOW handheld projector is the way to go. Not only is it about the size of a first or second-gen iPod, it can shoot out a 848x480 image (DVD quality) that's anywhere from 12-inches to 100-inches in size. It will have a 2.5-hour battery life, and runs off of their PicoP display engine. We'll have to see just how good this thing is at CES, but anyone who's interested in pulling out a projection show anywhere should be hot to trot over this bad boy. [BusinessWire]

Portable Home Theater PC Concept Lets You Spill Buttered Popcorn on Your Keyboard

Jin Woo Han's design for a Home Theater PC concept is certainly innovative. Somehow reminiscent of R2-D2, it has a built-in projector flanked by speakers that you can detach for optimum positioning. The slimline unit has retractable cords and a collapsible keyboard. Gallery is after the jump. More »

Panasonic PT-AX200E Home Cinema Projector Features "Game Mode"

Panasonic's new PT-AX200E Home Cinema Projector is putting (wealthy) gamers in the forefront thanks to a "Game Mode" that promises a "life sized" experience. In Game Mode, signal processing is optimized to HD game content, which supposedly reduces response time from 15ms to 5ms. Panasonic also claims that the mode enhances gradation in saturated areas to achieve a higher degree of detail. Other features include: 720p resolution, Light Harmonizer 2 technology for a clear picture in all lighting conditions, a redesigned optical unit that delivers 2000-lumen brightness, Advanced Dynamic Sharpness Control, and a 2x optical zoom lens. Available in Europe for £1098.99 (approx $2125). [Panasonic via Pocket-lint]

Toshiba's TDP-EX20U projector, which only needs to be three feet away from a wall or screen to project a 60-inch image, just got WiFi. [Gadgetress]

Sony BDP-S500 Blu-ray Player and VPL-VW60 Projector Come Stateside

Just FYI, the BDP-S500 Blu-ray Player and VPL-VW60 projector, both nice but not quite flagship gear from Sony we saw at IFA, are official. $700 and $5k respectively. Info after jump, but more photos in the backlinks. More »

Sony's VPL-VW200 Flagship 1080p Projector

Sony's VPL-VW200 is being announced and it keeps the 1080p, Xenon bulb, and shape of its predecessor, the VPL-VW100. It also almost doubles in price, going for $15k. (The VPL-VW100 is $8k.) It also has new SXRD panels that can hit 120FPS, and a panel adjustment allows for fine tuning of RGB for perfect overlap. More »