A projector phone? From Samsung? Sure, why not? We got a chance to spend some time with Sammy’s newly announced “Beam” addition to its ever-expanding Galaxy line, and we left with mixed emotions. On the one hand, this is a solid and well executed smartphone, but it sports a 1Ghz dual-core chip, Android 2.3, a 4-inch WVGA screen, 8GB of built-in storage, and 768MB of RAM, so the specs aren’t exactly on par with other modern handsets. On the projector end of things, we’ve got a powerful 15 lumens unit capable of displaying a 50-inch wide image on any flat surface. This is pretty cool, but we’re still not sure this is a space that needs filling. That said, if you’re in the market for a projector-equipped smartphone, this is pretty much the best game in town. Our hands-on photo gallery follows below.

Accompanying the lackluster Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) tablet announced on Sunday, Samsung took the wraps off its new Galaxy Beam Android-powered smartphone. The handset features specs that are anything but impressive in 2012, but the toned-down technology packed within the device clears room for an integrated ultra-bright projector. “GALAXY Beam provides mobile freedom, enabling a unique shared experience around digital content for everyone—anywhere and instantly—from a smartphone as slim and portable as any on the market,” Samsung’s President of IT & Mobile Communications Division, JK Shin, said in a statement. “GALAXY Beam is a device borne out of Samsung’s insight and innovation, demonstrating Samsung’s commitment to providing extraordinary experiences for consumers with products that let them express and fulfill themselves.” Key specs beyond the 15 lumens projector include Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 4-inch WVGA display, a 5-megapixel camera, 8GB of internal storage and a 2,000 mAh battery. Launch details have not yet been announced, and Samsung’s full press release follows below.

Share the Fun with Samsung GALAXY Beam

Samsung’s projector smartphone offers unforgettable shared experience for playing multimedia content anytime, anywhere

Barcelona – February 26, 2012 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today introduced Samsung GALAXY Beam, the projector smartphone that allows users to display and share multimedia content anywhere on a large luminous projector screen.

GALAXY Beam lets users spontaneously share photos, videos or other digital media with family or friends by beaming content stored on the device directly onto walls, ceilings or improvised flat surfaces, so that everyone can share the fun without the need to huddle around smartphone or pad-sized screens. GALAXY Beam’s ultra-bright 15 lumens projector allows users to freely share life’s memorable moments instantly and in crisp clarity, even in outdoor environments.

“GALAXY Beam provides mobile freedom, enabling a unique shared experience around digital content for everyone—anywhere and instantly—from a smartphone as slim and portable as any on the market,” said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics.

“GALAXY Beam is a device borne out of Samsung’s insight and innovation, demonstrating Samsung’s commitment to providing extraordinary experiences for consumers with products that let them express and fulfill themselves.”

Video clips, maps, business information, games – a whole range of multimedia content can be beamed instantly by GALAXY Beam on a crisp, high-definition projection up to 50’’ wide. The device features a projector-dedicated application which makes it easy to select content and activate projection in a few simple steps.

Add a dose of ambience or entertainment to a friends’ gathering by transforming any household room or outdoor deck into an instant mini home-theater, projecting full-screen video clips on a ceiling or wall for common sharing, at the touch of a button. Or capture your favorite holiday moments using the GALAXY Beam’s 5MP camera, then display a full photo slideshow to family members on a dining room wall while playing accompanying music straight from the device, so that everyone shares the experience.

For young users who depend on constant, immediate socializing of digital content and entertainment, GALAXY Beam introduces a new way of sharing. It becomes much more than a phone—a handy digital tool, deployable anywhere, which can add visual entertainment to a simple street gathering, set the mood for a small party, or simply turn life’s moments into something personally and immediately sharable. With GALAXY Beam, a birthday or anniversary party can be enlivened in seconds by sharing YouTube or Hulu music videos straight onto a ceiling or door. Likewise, students can collectively share videos or study-work in any dormitory room or student lounge, turning group study into a whole new interactive experience right from a desk table or from the palm of their hands. GALAXY Beam is also ideal for action-packed interactive gaming: Users can upload their own games or choose from over 1,000 games available via Game Hub, Samsung’s dedicated virtual gaming store, then project games to co-players or observers to turn gaming into an unbeatably interactive, shared experience. Additionally, GALAXY Beam is convenient tool for mid-sized business workers. An estate agent can beam images of candidate properties to customers as they tour them; or an architect can display draft concepts or designs to co-workers on the spot at a building site or public location.

Despite featuring a full built-in projector, the GALAXY Beam does not compromise on style or portability, measuring just 12.5mm thick and featuring an elegant, ergonomic design. It runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread which is powered by an impressive 1.0GHz dual-core processor, ensuring great versatility and a highly responsive user interface. An impressive 8GB of internal memory allows ample multimedia storage without compromises, and a powerful 2000 mAh battery ensures greater display power and content freedom.

The GALAXY Beam is exhibited at Samsung stand (Hall 8), Mobile World Congress 2012. For multimedia content and more detailed information, please visit www.samsungmobilepress.com.

Note to Editors:

Samsung GALAXY Beam Product Specifications

Network	HSPA 14.4/5.76 Mbps 850/900/1900/2100EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
OS	Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Display	4.0” 480×800 (WVGA) TFT
Processor	1.0GHz Dual-Core Processor
Camera	5MP AF + 1.3MP / Flash
Video	MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, DivXRecording/Playback: 720p@30fps
Audio	MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA
Connectivity	BT 3.0+HS, 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, MicroUSB, USB 2.0, 3.5mm Ear Jack
PC Applications	Samsung Kies 2.0
Memory	6GB RAM + 8GB Internal Memory, MicroSD slot (up to 32GB)
Dimension	64.2 x 124 x 12.5mm, 145.3 g
Battery	2000 mAh

* All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

Brookstone announced a new device Monday morning that allows you to project images up to 50 inches diagonally onto any surface using your iPhone. It is called the Brookstone Pocket Projector for iPhone 4/4S by Texas Instruments DLP and I’ve spent the last week using it. I’m definitely impressed by the product, which slides onto an iPhone much like any other case, but is it worth the hefty $230 price Brookstone is asking? Read on for my review.

Hardware

The Brookstone Pocket Projector is bulky but it serves two purposes. It can project an image onto any surface, or its 2,100 mAh battery can be used to charge your iPhone. The size of the device reminds me a lot of a Mophie Juice Pack for the iPhone. It’s just skinny enough to squeeze in a pocket, but for $229.99, I wish it came with its own protective carrying case to be used when the projector isn’t connected to the iPhone.

The actual 15-lumen LED-lit projector lens is on the top of the case near the iPhone’s headphone jack. It is capable of projecting a 640 x 360-pixel resolution image up to 50-inches in size. The case easily slid onto my iPhone 4S, and I liked that it had its own 0.5 watt speaker on the outside. The unit can be turned on by holding a small button to the on/off position for about three seconds. If you move the same button to the “Charge” position, it will charge your iPhone and turn off the projector.

The Good

The Brookstone Pocket Projector is amazing. You may remember when AT&T and LG launched the eXpo projector phone a few years ago. It didn’t take off because there wasn’t a whole lot that you could project and it didn’t really make sense at the time. The iPhone, however, has access to tons of video content, which means you can use the Pocket Projector to display Netflix, YouTube videos, rented or purchased movies, recorded home videos and more. If you happen to own an iPhone 4S, the projector can mirror everything that you do on your iPhone. You can use it, for example, to show off photos, browse the web and more.

The projector is very easy to use. All you have to to do is plug your iPhone into the device and turn on the projector. That’s it. An iPhone 4S will begin mirroring and an iPhone 4 will automatically start projecting whenever you open a video application. When I opened Netflix, the screen was already visible on my wall and the same went with my videos. Anyone can use the device without an instruction manual.

I loved watching Woody Allen movies with the Pocket Projector on my bedside table. It was even fun playing quick YouTube videos on my ceiling. I was able to get through a full movie just fine, and there’s small dial on the top of the unit for adjusting the focus on the fly. It’s a bit hard to do with one hand and without fumbling, so the dial could be a bit looser, but it worked.

Your friends, family and co-workers will definitely get a kick out of the projector. Everyone I showed the device to was blown away by the picture and how such a big image could be projected from such a small device.

The Bad

I don’t have a ton of complaints about the Pocket Projector. My biggest is that 15-lumens actually isn’t that bright, so I couldn’t display videos clearly with even a modest amount of light in a room. I had to close every curtain and turn off every light just to be able to see the picture. At night, however, the Pocket Projector worked great and video was clear from across the room.

I do wish it was possible to project HD video instead of a 640 x 360-pixel image, but really I found that resolution to be satisfactory. It’s incredible how powerful the Pocket Projector is for its size.

I was also frustrated by the miniUSB charging port. Most gadgets take advantage of the microUSB standard, and the miniUSB port meant I had to keep an extra charger around.

Conclusion

If you’re a business traveler with an iPhone 4S looking for an accessory that will let you display presentations in meetings or videos in empty hotel rooms, the Brookstone Pocket Projector should be a no-brainer. At $229 it’s a bit of an expensive accessory for just keeping around your house for entertainment purposes, but if you have the extra cash to spend and want to show-off the latest mobile DLP tech from Texas Instruments to friends, it’s definitely a fun and unique purchase.

TI told me that we can expect a smartphone with its DLP technology built-in sometime in early 2012, and I can’t wait to see what that’s like. It may seem that a smartphone with a projector in it is a gimmick, but now that our smartphones have access to tons of media, not to mention our entire lives, products like the Pocket Projector are more compelling than ever.

Brookstone’s Pocket Projector will be available for purchase in Brookstone stores around the country beginning later this week for $229.99.

Apple may be working on pico-projector technology that could be used with its iPhone and Mac products according to a patent filing discovered by UnwiredView. The patent, titled “Projected display shared workspaces,” shows how one might be able to use an iPhone or Mac to project content onto a larger open space, such as a wall, by attaching a small pico-projector. In addition, users could control the projection using multitouch gestures on their iPhone screen or Mac trackpad. The patent reminds us of AT&Ts LG eXpo, which had its own projector accessory but wasn’t much of a hit with consumers. Read on for a second image from Apple’s patent.

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The BendDesk is a new multitouch workspace created by the talented minds at The Media Computing Group, and it’s absolutely incredible-looking. It’s a fully curved display that looks to form a 90 degree bend and makes use of two projectors, 3 cameras, and loads of IR lights to view and track up to 10 touch points. The software they have come up with is also equally impressive — you can flick photos for instance from the top or bottom part of the display, or hold them in a locker in the middle where the curve is. Unfortunately this isn’t something you’re able to buy anytime due to the fact a ship date nor price were revealed, but we’ll keep waiting. In the meantime, check out their demo video after the break.

Although we fear the only people who will buy a phone with a projector built into it are the same jackasses people who bring laser pointers into movie theaters, we have to admit the Samsung i8520 Beam is pretty darn cool considering the DLP Pico projector is actually built into the device and not some crappy add-on. But of course, no novelty feature can help a phone’s sales if the rest of it isn’t up to snuff, though it looks like the i8520 has enough packed into its 14.9mm thin frame to get the geek juices flowing:  a 3.7″ WVGA Super AMOLED display, 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, aGPS, Wi-Fi, DNLA, 7.2Mbps up HSDPA (900/1900/2100MHz), 16GB of internal memory, 512MB ROM / 384MB RAM and an 1800 mAh battery that is said to yield 7 hours and 50 minutes of 3G talk time. OS wise, the i8520 is running Android 2.1 with “Specialized Projector UI”, something which is identical to the bada interface. No word yet on what processor we’re dealing with, although we have fired off an email to Samsung PR. The Samsung i8520 Beam will be available in Europe and Asia starting in Q3.

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AT&T’s first Snapdragon powered handset, the Windows Mobile-powered LG eXpo, is now available now for your buying pleasure. The eXpo has all the latest bells and whistles including a 3.2 inch 800×480 touchscreen display, 1 GHz processor, quad-band GSM, tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with 5X zoom, slide out QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and Wi-Fi. All sorts of accessories are available for this phone but noticeably absent from the list is the removable pico projector, one of the big selling points for the device. No word on when the projector will be available but you can score the eXpo alone for $199 after a $100 mail in rebate and a two year commitment.

[Via wmpoweruser]

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As you might have imagined, the unending leakfest continues today with information about two more handsets headed AT&T’s way. First up is the Pantech Aladdin, a QWERTY slider with HSDPA connectivity, 2.2-inch QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel camera, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, microSD expansion, threaded SMS, and support for Napster, eMusic and other forms of Windows DRM. This entry-level handset will fall in line with the Pantech Matrix / Matrix Pro and is expected later this year. Also expected to drop at AT&T is the LG Monaco, a high-end Windows Mobile side slider. The Monaco will feature a 3.2-inch WVGA touchscreen display, 3.6Mbps HSDPA, 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, microSDHC support and a sweet-sounding Pico projector accessory. The Monaco will reportedly run Windows Mobile 7 which likely pushes the launch date of this phone well into 2010. Hit the jump for the associated slides.

Read (Pantech Aladdin)
Read (LG Monaco)

First the Mini 9 netbook and now this tiny little pocket projector – isn’t everything supposed to be bigger in Texas? Geared towards the “road warrior” according to the copy on Dell’s product page, the Texas-based PC slinger has finally made its latest creation available to the public. The M109S is a teeny tiny projector measuring 3.64″ x 4.12″ x 1.46″ and weighing in at a feather-light 0.80 lbs. Well, maybe it’s not feather-light but Lauren Greenfield might still have some perfectly understandable objections. With an 858 x 600 SVGA resolution and an 800:1 contrast ratio, this little scrapper is capable of projecting a clear image up to 60″ diagonally; definitely more than impressive for a projector this small. It also has a host of features such as auto keystone, vertical adjustment and password protection. The only set back with this little gem might be the price point: $499. Hey if your clients can’t afford to have a projector waiting for you when you get to their offices, you’re likely taking them to the cleaners and $500 is nothing.

Oh and Dell people, what’s up with the heading on the product page?

Yeah, we get it. It’s a Dell.

[Via Your Blog]

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[Via PMP Today]

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