These days, portable pico projectors seem to be all the rage, but even many pico projectors are too large to fit into the same crowded pocket as your phone. Samsung has tried to address this problem by building the Beam, a phone with a built-in projector, but peripheral-maker Genius has an even brighter idea. The Genius EV150 is a tiny projector that connects to docking port on your iPhone and, with the flick of a switch beams the content of your phone screen to any surface.
We had a chance to watch as a Genius rep plugged the BV150 into an iPhone, then hit the hit the on switch and blasted the screen content, including a video onto a paper screen a few feet away. At 20 effective lumens and a 640 x 360 resolution, the BV150 doesn't provide the brightest or sharpest image we've seen, but you can't compare a device this small to a "full size" pico projector. The convenience jumps all.
Speaking of convenience, the BV150 has its own 2,000 mAh battery which serves two purposes. First, it powers the device so that the projector doesn't suck any juice from your iPhone. When not projecting it can be moved into charge mode where where that 2,000 mAh battery actually charges the iPhone as an external battery. Considering that the iPhone 4S has just a 1,420 mAh battery, that's more than a full charge.
The EV150 we saw today was just a demo unit, with some tweaks likely before it hits the market. We look forward to seeing and testing the final version, but until then, check out the video below for a closer look at the Genius BV150.
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