Networkworld has published a report that Apple has ordered some chips from Foxlink that will afford them the ability to add micro projectors to their devices. The logical conclusion that most people have made up until now is that these things should be expected in iPhones and Touch devices within the coming years, and “the report goes on to note that Apple will be one of the companies who will implement Foxlink’s mobile projector in an upcoming model of the iPhone”. The word ‘upcoming’ is pretty ambiguous, and no timeframe is being tossed around, so I’m not full sure what to expect here.
Would a mobile projector on your phone be fun to use?
You bet it would! The modern art implications could be outstanding. Projecting stuff around town, despite being a sure fire way to get unwanted attention, some creativity could net interesting results. Watching a movie in a tent or a park. A heads up display in your car. Giving a sales pitch in an elevator, complete with slideshow! All have some awesome possibilities, but lets take a step back and get real.
Currently the iPhone has a bluetooth chip, and gps chip, a wireless networking chip, and now… a projection chip? Starting to sound like a little too many features considering the amount of battery life we currently have. Is there such a thing as feature overkill? If there is, the iPhone is slowly encroaching on that territory. Don’t get me wrong, if a projector was built into the device, even though I highly doubt it will be, it could be really take the phone to the next level. But, you know what would take the phone to the promised land? A battery that lasts a more then a couple of days with moderate use. I don’t know much about battery manufacturing, and I’m by no means an electrical engineer, but one would think that the first person to take the next step in mobile power will really set themselves apart from the competition.
I say screw the projector ships, and reallocate that money to battery research and development. There’s more benefit there than there is being able to watch an episode of 24 on the side of a house.
[image via rmtwrkr]
