PMP+Projector = SunView PMPP

The SunView PMP Projector is being heralded as the very first commercially available "pico-projector." The logical question to ask is answered this way: "Pico=small" therefore, a pico-projector is a small projector. Why this type of projector wasn't dubbed simply a "mini" projector is anyone's guess. The important thing to note here is that there is a commercially available PMPP--Personal Media Player/Projector. The SunView PMPP really is a great idea for a gadget, even if it isn't the strongest handheld in the specs department.

According to an April 17, 2008 article at DisplayDaily.com the SunView PMPP was introduced this week at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair by Sunlink International Holdings (which hopefully just sounds like a mob front company) and iView Limited (best known for their microdisplays). This cute, little device sports a 3.5 inch LCD (half-an-inch bigger than the 5g iPod's LCD), which is ideal for single-person video viewing. However, when you want to show a video to more people and don't want everyone crowding your personal space, you need to give them something bigger to look at.



The SunView PMPP can then project a VGA (640x480) resolution image up to 2.5 feet away. Your image size can max out at 53 inches. While the resolution is something to sneeze at, the fact that you can throw it onto 2.5 feet of wall space, 2.5 feet away, is pretty damn impressive when you consider how small the PMPP is. How small is it? It's 133×79x25mm small--which works out to roughly 5x3x.75 inches. That's just slightly larger than that 5g iPod mentioned earlier.

Add to that an SD card slot, Windows CE and the ability to play movies, display photos and run presentations and you've got one impressive handheld gadget.

Sadly, there is no word on price or availability just yet. However, one would assume that in order to allow this device to be approachable by the majority of consumers, it would have to price in at less than 500 or 600 USD. This is especially true when you think about how plenty of other (better known) companies are working on getting pico-projectors inside other media devices (like mobile phones).