Akyumen is about to offer some new mobile products to U.S. customers that include embedded pico projectors. These products are more popular in Asia and I am not sure if the company will have any competition here in the U.S.
We saw them demonstrated at the ShowStoppers event at NAB where they were creating visible images in the bright room. The pico in the smartphone produces 35 lumens and the one in the tablet offers 40 lumens. That is not a lot of light so I was surprised at how useful the image was in this bright environment. Picos with 90 lumens are planned for later. The pico devices are DLP-based and have 1280 x 720 resolution.
The phone will be Android-based while the tablet will have Windows 10. Both will be priced in the $700 to $800 range, but this price includes a Bluetooth speaker, earbuds, and a stand with additional battery.
Currently the company is negotiating with AT&T and T-Mobile, but seemed confident that AT&T will offer the products soon – perhaps with a subsidy as well. – CC
