TI's Tiny Pico Projector: Back for Another Round

These itty-bitty projectors are taking their sweet time getting off the ground, but Texas Instruments is here showing off an LED version of these bleeding-edge, if not-quite-ready-for-prime-time projectors.

If you recall, TI had a prototype DLP projector on hand for CTIA last March, and now the electronics giant is back with the second generation—now LED-based, along with smaller chips and optics. I saw a working prototype embedded in a dummy cell phone, and the results were impressive: a good-sized, vibrant image projected on my trusty notebook (my washed-out pictures don't really do it justice). While I only got to see still images during the demo, a TI rep told me the prototype is perfectly capable of displaying full-motion video.

Here's the big (and enduring) question, though: When will we start seeing these projectors in retail cell phones and other portable devices? TI is telling me that it might not happen until 2009. Meanwhile, Displaytech (which I wrote about in my CES preview) is showing its miniature FLCOS projectors here at CES as well, and I'm hoping for a demo in the next day or so. I'll keep you posted.