Cell Phone as the Primary Computing Device:
The Killer Feature is on the horizon!

About 18 months ago, I was chatting with some of my colleagues and concluded that a tiny projector integrated with the cell phone will eliminate the biggest drawback on the device: The Tiny Screen! Well, the future may be here soon. I just saw a WSJ article "The Miniaturization of Projectors" (you might need a subscription to read the article) describing the availability of the first solutions leveraging laser technology in this space.

One of the companies that demonstrated a product at CES was Microvision (I missed seeing it live at the show). Here is an engadget review by someone who saw it live. Seems Microvision is targeting phones integrated with the technology to be available by the end of 2008. Microvision is not the only game in town. Others include, Symbol Technologies (owned by Motorola) and SpatiaLight (a very techie website - here is a press release that provides a more readable explanation of where they are).

Will you be more willing to surf the net, watch a business presentations, see holiday videos and family photos displayed on a wall from a cell phone than on a tiny cell phone screen? The answer depends on the quality of the display. This is one of those things (like a post-it) that, once they succeed, make everyone wonder: How did we ever live without this? Time will tell!