A lot of the tablets PC prototypes making the rounds today feel like netbooks with the keyboard chopped off. But the folks behind the DigiLife iOne have decided to use the extra space that afords to add something unexpected to their 10 inch tablet — a pico projector.

The DigiLife iOne is just a concept at this point, but theoretically it would have a 10 inch capacitive touchscreen display, a Samsung Cortex A8 ARM-based processor, USB and microSD ports. The tablet will run Google Android, and the company says it’s about 80% finished and should be ready to go within a month.

The idea is that you’d be able to project content onto a wall, or just about anything else using the built-in VGA projector.

I have to admit, the idea is kind of nifty — until you think about it for a moment. Are you going to hold a tablet and point it at a screen? That seems like it would just result in shaky, unwatchable video. You could put the tablet down on a table and project content onto a wall — but that would make using any touchscreen controls rather awkward.

Overall, it seems to me that it would make more sense to launch a pico projector accessory for use with tablets or netbooks rather than building one into a tablet. But with dozens of other companies launching tablets in the near future, I supposed adding a projector is one way to make your product stand out.

The company hopes to sell the DigiLife iOne for about $200 without the projector, and around $300 with the projector — although I have a suspicion that might be the price for distributors, not end users.

You can check out a video overview after the break, courtesy of ARMdevices.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

5 replies on “DigiLife iOne: Would you like a pico projector with your tablet?”

  1. A nifty idea, but like the article said is it something that they have added just to make the product stand out from its competitors? I’m guessing many people will be sticking with removable pico projectors. There are some really good ones out there with a lot of on board memory, such as the Adapt 305.

  2. I can see it used to project a bigger image so it could be seen by others (if the user was sitting down, it would increase the number that could see it).

  3. Yeah, but the speaker would be standing in front of whatever they project! It would be an audience of one or two who could see it. It would be far better if the projector could be pulled off of the unit to via an 8ft cable so that the speaker could be off to one side and facing the audience looking at the projected image.

    Power draw must be huge to put out the lumens, but you’d figure for a presentation the device is pulled-in.

Comments are closed.