Projectors in handsets

The Scoop
Perhaps one of my most anticipated technologies to enter into the mobile handset market... the mobile projector!



Read: http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/20/hands-on-with-texas-instruments-cellphone-projector/

This is exciting because it means more power in the palm of your hand. To clear up some questions that some of the (moronic) users of engadget made at the bottom of that awesome article:

* What you see is NOT what you get - it is a proof of concept model which means it exists to show that it is possible, and that it is possible under a certain umbrella of criteria. (IE; small enough to fit in your hand, good enough for a target audience [business solutions?], etc.)

* That "phone" in the video and pictures is NOT a real phone. Watch the video... listen carefully... the attendant even says "it's not a real phone." It's only a shell. I seriously doubt Texas Instruments is about to start making their own cell phones. They will most likely cell the components to other manufacturers who specialize in the cell phone department, such as HTC, Motorola, Nokia, etc.

* The proof-of-concept will obviously get better. The Engadget article even said that TI has an LED version of the projector which already offers improvements over the model they had at the fair.

Where I Want This To Go
I want HTC to pick up one of these projector chips/lenses and integrate it into the successor to the HTC TyTN II. Ideally, the next HTC phone in this class should carry a CPU chip with twice the power, bluetooth 3.0, a 5 MP camera, a mobile projector, wireless n and better internal drivers. They could, in theory, push such a device out (metaphorically) tomorrow. And if they could manage to do it for around $700 retail unlocked, I'd be in line to buy one. Can you tell I'm an HTC (and specifically, HTC TyTN II) fanboy?

-Alex