It is thought that Pico projectors could be the next big thing in the mobile phone market – though obviously when we say ‘big’ thing, we mean tiny. Pico projectors were shown off to the world at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, and amid all of the displays of large screen TVs and massive electronics products, it was the miniscule Pico projectors being touted by Microvision Inc that really captured the imagination.

Pico projectors, the small products with the tiny projector lamps capable of proving presentation quality images from a device the size of a phone, are still very rare at the moment. However, Microvision and Texas Instruments believe that they will become big business and will form one of the must-have gadgets on the next wave of mobile phones, such as iPhones and BlackBerries.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, the Pico projector was being shown off by Microvision in a standalone device. The projector was no bigger than a bar of soap, yet its projector lamp was able to project crisp video images onto a wall using laser technology. The aim of laser Microvision is to see their Pico technology used in mobile phones, and cameras.

Cameras would benefit from Pico projectors because they would be able to project photographs onto the wall instantly, combing the camera and projector into one device.

Matt Nichols, the director of communications for Microvision, said the company is looking at mobile phones as their big target:

My feeling is that ultimately the phone is the largest opportunity.

We believe that in a five-year forecast, your phones will all have projectors.