Fly on WallStreet

   By Roger Cheng
 Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--For people who can't resist showing off their family
vacation photos, the development of new high-tech lasers may allow cell phones
to project pictures and videos on the wall like an old-fashioned slide show.
Technologists have long struggled with the dilemma of balancing the
consumer's desire to keep images large and clear even as the devices that
display them - like handsets or personal digital assistants - slim down. One
answer would be the ability for those devices to project images and videos on
a large flat surface, allowing someone to run a PowerPoint presentation or
show off their photo gallery straight from a handset. As a result, it
eliminates the need for a larger, space-consuming screen.
Microvision Inc. (MVIS) unveiled a working prototype of the tiny projector
at the Consumer Electronic Show in what it hopes to be a lucrative new
business for the maker of scanning technology. The company hopes to have a
plug-in projector by the middle of 2008, with embedded projectors in cell
phones by the end of that year.
Microvision's PicoP projector, roughly the size of a Thin Mint, will add
roughly $100 to the price of a cell phone. It's expected to be able to run at
least one to one- and-a-half hours on a normal battery charge.
One of its key features, dubbed Infinite Focus, allows the projector to
display a clear image between two feet to 10 feet away, as well as on curved
or distorted surfaces. Images range from the size of laptop screen, or 30
inches diagonal, to the size of a plasma screen television, or 100 inches.
While this could mean big business for Microvision and other projector
makers, for now it remains in the developmental stage. Insight Media, a
Norwalk, Conn., market research firm focused on the display industry, projects
sales to ramp up to nearly 5 million units by 2009 as the costs come down.
That figure could jump to nearly 15 million by 2011.
Microvision isn't the only company working on a tiny projector. Others
include Motorola Inc.'s (MOT) Symbol Technologies and Israeli company Explay
Ltd.
"The goal is to provide mobile users with a large screen anywhere," said
Microvision Chief Executive Alexander Tokman. He added the market could be
huge if it could just capture a sliver of the explosive market for high-end
cell phones.
Both Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony Corp.
(SNE) and L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERIC), projected industry handset sales
well above 1 billion this year, with high-end phones such as Apple Inc.'s
(AAPL) recently unveiled iPhone among the fastest growing areas.
While Tokman is optimistic, it's still unclear how consumers will accept it.
"It's one of these cases that if they build it, they'll hope they'll come,"
said Chris Chinnock, president of Insight Media. "Consumers don't know about
this. This clearly could be a big hit, but it could be a big flop."
Microvision is talking with four of the top five handset makers about the
projector. "The cell phone companies have been looking for solutions, but no
one has been able to make the display technology," Tokman said.
The difficulty lies in producing full-color images, which require a
projector with lasers that use the three primary colors: red, blue and green.
While much work has been done on developing red and blue lasers are now being
utilized, there has been less progress on green laser technology. Without a
source of green, no images could shown in their true color.
Enter companies such as Corning Inc. (GLW), Germany's Osram GmbH and Novalux
Inc. The companies are each developing green lasers. Corning, in particular,
is using technology based on its experience in the telecommunications
equipment business.
"The foundation of our approach was to use technology we developed in the
telecom phase for creating high-powered infared light used for telecom
components," said David Charlton, who is in charge of developing early-stage
technology projects which could lead to new businesses for Corning. He calls
green lasers the "keystone component" to a true projector.
Companies are exploring the use of lasers because other alternatives such as
light-emitting diodes are less accurate and consume more power. The green
laser Corning is developing, for example, converts electrical power to light
more efficiently, Charlton said. The idea of projecting images has been around
for a while, but the problem of power consumption has always been a hurdle for
the adoption of the technology into smaller devices.
Corning is currently demonstrating its green laser to consumer electronic
companies and original equipment manufacturers to get a sense of the demand
for a projector. It's likely a manufacturer would bundle the green laser with
the red and blue ones from other suppliers to create the projector.
The combined projector flashes the lasers on and off extremely quickly,
effectively painting a picture in space. Charlton compared it to waving a
flashlight on the wall from side to side quickly to create a picture.
In addition to cellular phones or personal digital assistants, the companies
envision small projectors in cars for heads-up displays on the windshield or
in digital cameras. In the past, Corning has said the market for green laser
technology - if successful - could be worth several hundred million dollars.
(Roger Cheng covers the telecommunications industry for Dow Jones
Newswires.)
-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020; roger.cheng@dowjones.com