A solution in search of a problem
While a lot of folks are happy to use their phones' MP3 player and camera instead of a dedicated device a projector is niche, niche, niche. I can see this phone flopping like its predecessor.
Samsung's first Galaxy Beam, the GT-i8520, was a tremendously thick, heavy and expensive handset that very few bought. Having had a rethink, the company is now trying the whole smartphone-with-a-projector idea again with the GT-i8530. Essentially, this handset amounts to a Galaxy Advance S with a Digital Light Processing …
That was my initial thought as well, but after some consideration, I can see this evolving into something quite useful.
Looking back, remember how crap the iPhone 1 was? Okay, it's still overpriced but the functionality and design has moved on leaps and bounds.
I can see the same thing happening with this. Aside from obvious business applications (ie. "oh, the projector doesn't work, ring IT Support....Wait. No. We'll use my Samsung Electronics Galaxy Beam GT-i8520 instead") its personal use could be to watch a movie anytime, anywhere with your mates. Or girlfriend if she's into that sort of thing.
I dont know, but does gingerbread come with the ability to run powerpoints, or show an excel or word document ?
If so, it would make a good solution .
Another good use would be to show holliday snaps (or any kind of snaps) .
Streaming video and the olympics/ vuelta woul;d be another good candidate (provided those streaming websites run on the webbrowser on there).
Do you know how low 15 lumens is?
Most projectors kick out around 1000+ minimum and most people watch their projector with blinds closed.
So don't think you have a chance in hell of using this on a normal projector screen, about 1 metre in front of you sure. Then there's the issue of focus, if hand holding it then you aren't really going to get much stability and focus. The resolution is so low than text will look crap.
Give it 5-10 years and it might get useful, but for now all it is good for is projecting rude words onto peoples heads on the train for a laugh.
Its been proven that you can stimulate your baby's IQ with images and such.
Nothing like projecting those images at the ceiling above the baby's crib...
I remember staring at ugly curtains in disgust for hours from my bed when I was a small child and couldn't get up myself yet...
Images to project would be anything in black and white or primary colors, like simple numbers and letters all the way to scientific formulae, microscope images, musical notation etc it doesn't matter too much what it is, so long as it doesn't look scary...
Perhaps you ought to get a job where your boss isn't a Puritan.
Take off your tie, wear a t-shirt, grow your hair; be the person that loves life rather than one of the people who are afraid of authority. Celebrate the female and male forms in all their naketude, especially those with dragon tattoos.
I live and work in a foreign language school here in China where all my colleagues are female (99%). Sorry, but I was also not amused having this pic on my screen and my colleagues wondering why I turned off the screen so quickly. I might enjoy these images, but I am not everyone...
I don't actually live there...
You had me going there for a while...!
Anyway, you'd be surprised how many females do appreciate pictures of females with dragon tatoos in compromising situations... Just don't turn it off so quickly next time, let them read the article and blame those terrible immoral British tech news sites.
And enjoy that formal warning on your employment record?
It may well be El Reg but someone glancing across the office could well jump to the wrong conclusion and report you for such things in many corporate environments. You may work in an office where you can get away with it - not all of us do.
Grow up.
If you're a teacher, or person in other position of responsibility over vulnerable adults or young people, you simply can't be caught ogling ass during your coffee break.
(As much as some of us might celebrate the aesthetic delights of a nicely-shaped carbon unit)
Others have made similar points, but as I made the original post, I ought to reply to your comment.
I don't have a boss who is a puritan. I don't wear a tie at work, though I consider wearing a t-shirt to be unprofessional in my office. I love life, and I'm not afraid of authority. And I have no objection, in general, to the unclothed female (or male) form.
But I see no reason why I should offend other people in my office - particularly women - who may not actually WANT to look at a picture like this at work.
If you really work in an office where displaying this sort of picture is acceptable, I wonder how many women would find it comfortable to work there?
"Showing directions from the boozer to the nearest curry house, midnight rambles and a crafty hand shandy aside, I can’t actually think of that many real world situations in which I’d want to use the Beam."
But 'Beer', 'Food' and 'Onanism' are the top 3 on my list of 'things to do'............
I'd rather see the phones support exporting their display via VNC, or RDP, or X (personally, one of the nicest things about Maemo was that it was based on X, so apps could run on my desktop, and I could run apps via SSH on my tablet...)
Likewise, if they'd make these pocket projectors speak one of those protocols over WiFi, then you could use your laptop, or your phone, or ... with it.
AND you could walk around during your presentation, carrying the phone to use as a presentation remote.
(and while I'm wishing... Google, make Android support adding Bluetooth profiles to a device, so I can have a proper presentation remote program that just adds the HID profile to my phone, like Bluemaemo did, rather than forcing everbody to do these dain-bramaged work-arounds where I have to install an app on the computer running the presentation to control it.)
Screen sharing is totally possible via already existing apps.
Both ways (As in using a phone as an extra PC display and using a PC as the phone display).
Hardly a USP
If they missed a trick (And I dunno, maybe it is possible but it wasn't mentioned) it would be to allow HDMI in, so that you could literally use the phone as a projector for your PC or XBOX.
Yes, you could get the image via remote desktop or something, but these things typically aren't capable of a 60FPS image, plus HDMI has audio too and I doubt this thing has a line in jack.
Whatever, as an avid amateur movie maker, I would really like one of these.
Surely most sports fans would like one of these also? Don't Sky allow you to use a web based service? Anytime? That plus one of these phones would surely be highly cool.
Could also be a good laugh in a nightclub or pub - project images onto the ceiling. May also even help your mates find you, if you projected your name or something to the ceiling.
I did think about getting a pocket sized projector at one point, one with a composite video input. The Nokia N97 could give composite out via its headphone socket (one of the few good bits of that phone) to feed it if I hadn't retired the phone and have an HTC (no video out, despite the claims it can display on your TV).
Instead, I just stick them onto my tablet to save everyone crowding round a small phone.
..Alun Taylor were able to grow up a bit, and avoid "hilarious" exploitative images in his reviews. It's a bit knuckle-draggy.
I could quite easily see the fact that I have images like that on my screen during a lunch break making my female colleagues feel awkward or unhappy, surely we've outgrown this sort of adolescent leering in tech by now?
You'll find no more ardent and enthusiastic fan of a splendid female arse than me (back off, Sir Mixalot, you are outranked here), but there is such a thing as an appropriate context.. Technology reviews probably aren't that.
Thanks for your time.
@TonySpoons
I guess you don't work in IT (target group for TheRegister). In what world is viewing TheRegister NSFW for those of use in IT... TheRegister: "Independent news, views, opinions and reviews on the latest in the IT industry."
As others have stressed, this should have been marked NSFW. No one is saying the article isn't suitable for viewing at home or calling for a ban or anything - just a warning that bottoms (no matter how nice) will be on display, so look at it when you're at home, not when the boss is sat behind you!