Phones with in-built projectors should be available by 2009 according to a report by CNN. The micro projection technology is PicoP, the result of a July deal between Microvision and Motorola to develop a mobile device projection engine. Not only will it allow video for mobile devices to be viewed in a larger format but also applications such as portable navigation software for GPS enabled smartphones.

In September, Microvision picked up the 2007 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation partly in recognition of a bi-directional MEMS scanning mirror design to be integrated in its PicoP projection engine. It’s no small achievement to project a suitably large image with the low power available in mobile devices. Microvision are intending to pursue the incorporation of the PicoP into other applications such as a heads-up display for a car GPS navigation device.

Other micro projection technologies are in development including Digismart, a patented technology from Digislide.

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