Promate lumiTab is a bonkers Android tablet with a projector
The world's been waiting for an Android tablet with a built-in projector and thank goodness -- Chinese tech maker Promate's built one.
Of course! Why didn't I think of this? The world's been waiting, breath bated, for an Android tablet with a built-in projector and thank goodness for Chinese vapourware tech maker Promate -- it's only gone and drawn one built one.
The concept is simple. And totally nuts. You want to share your legitimately downloaded movie with your friends and adoring family -- instead of plugging your device into your TV with a clunky HDMI cable, you just turn on the built-in projector and BAM! 100 inches of low-res entertainment on your wall.
The Promate lumiTab cuts a few minor corners in its admirable quest to cram a mini-projector into a slate. The projector itself is the biggest -- its resolution is only 854x480 pixels, so at its full 100-inch display you'll get a rather ropey 10 pixels per inch. That might be fine for your hypothetical corporate sales meeting, but it's going to put a dampener on your movie night.
Other specs are similarly middling, with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, expandable with a microSD card and a 7-inch 1,024x600-pixel display.
Those should at least keep the final price down, although Promate hasn't said how much it expects to charge, or even if it'll come to the UK.
It's not the first time some mad genius has packed a pico-projector into a mobile device -- we had an awful lot of affection for Samsung's crazy Galaxy Beam phone, even if it was far too expensive and completely unwatchable.
Would you buy a tablet with a projector? Do you think mini-projectors will ever be good enough to make gadgets like this worthwhile? Project your thoughts in the comments, or on our high-lumen Facebook page.