DALLAS — If cellphones with built-in video projectors are
going to take the country by storm, then Dallas will be at the eye of the
hurricane.
Dallas-based AT&T Inc. said Monday that it will release
a new phone — the LG eXpo — on Dec. 7 with an optional snap-on “pico
projector” that uses technology from Dallas-based Texas Instruments Inc.
The Windows Mobile 6.5 smart phone with a speedy 1 gigahertz
processor will be the first projector phone in North America.
Samsung has already released a projector phone in South
Korea also using TI’s digital light processing technology, but that device was
never released in the United States.
The LG eXpo will cost $199 after a $100 mail-in rebate and
with a two-year contract.
The attachable LG Mobile Projector will ship in the next few
weeks for $179.
The device will be able to project videos and other files
stored on the phone onto walls, screens and other surfaces.
Ultimately, phone makers and tech companies such as TI want
to integrate projectors directly into phones, as Samsung did with its W7900
projector phone.
Analysts estimate sales of projector phones could reach 100
million or more per year by 2015, a substantial chunk of the 1 billion-plus
phones sold annually.
The LG eXpo is also notable because it will be able to access
a faster version of AT&T’s 3G wireless network, which will soon go live in
Dallas and a handful of other U.S. cities.
In addition to the eXpo, phones now available that are
compatible with the HSPA 7.2 network upgrade are the iPhone 3GS from Apple Inc.,
the Tilt 2 and Pure from HTC Corp., and the Samsung Jack with the Windows
Mobile 6.5 upgrade.
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
