Here come the teeny, tiny, mini-projectors

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- A new generation of tiny projectors will let us walk into a meeting and give a PowerPoint presentation using nothing but the gadgets in our pockets. Gone at last will be the need for a giant laptop and a heavy, hat box-sized projector.

Samsung unveiled today its MBP-100 mobile projector at Mobile World Congress. It throws a relatively dim 20-inch screen on any nearby wall. You don't need a laptop; it connects to either phone or media player. The MBP-100 is reportedly scheduled to ship in Korea next month. Samsung hasn't announced pricing or outside-Korea distribution, but one can hope for "cheap" and "in the U.S. this year."

The Samsung projector joins a thin field that includes the Microvision SHOW device I told you about Jan. 2. Like the MBP-100, the SHOW fits in your pocket and projects slides from a cell phone or other pocket gadget. It also projects slides from a standard laptop. Best of all, the screen size can be as large as 100 inches.

Texas Instruments is working on a tiny "pico" projector, which is a component designed to be built into cell phones and stand-alone pocket projectors. The company has demonstrated prototypes, and is presumably shopping around for OEMs.

Other small startups are working on similar technologies. The addition of "projector" to the long list of devices that have been miniaturized and integrated into cell phones looks like an inevitability. It's even possible to imagine cell phone projectors that are bright enough for serious use. Now all we need are better batteries -- and PowerPoint presentations that aren't so damned dull!