Lenovo is looking to become a game changer in the hugely competitive smartphone space. How? By introducing Lenovo Smart Cast, the world's first-ever laser projection smartphone.
On Wednesday, May 28, at the company's TechWorld event in Beijing, China, Lenovo took the wraps off the Smart Cast smartphone, which is based on the idea of the pico projector (or handheld projector), adding the new smartphone to the company's lineup of concept products.
Peter Hortensius, Lenovo's CTO, asserts that the Smart Cast is the first-ever smartphone to imbibe a built-in laser projector. It touts the smallest pico projector in the world as well as a gesture-based system for control. The rotating projector in the smartphone will enable people to project video games, films or TV shows on a wall with ease. Users can even project controls or keyboards to a surface that is close by.
The Smart Cast will deploy gesture recognition software from Lenovo to decipher various actions such as sliding, multi-touch and clicking.
"Whereas today smartphones are limited to consuming content, Smart Cast changes the paradigm by giving users a smart phone with built-in laser projector, infrared motion detector and high-performance algorithms," stated Lenovo.
Smart Cast also packs in the ability to "transform any surface into a touch display." Users can beam a massive virtual touch screen to a table so they can type via the virtual keyboard. The smartphone will let users convert any surface into a smart display courtesy of the variable bracket projector and the in-built kickstand. Users can display the virtual keyboard in real time the same way Lenovo demonstrated at the event.
For those looking to chat through video, the Smart Cast will enable them to project the media on a wall. The best part is that you can check stuff on your smartphone's screen simultaneously.
Samsung already has two smartphones with in-built projectors: the Galaxy Beam and Galaxy Beam 2, but the concept has not really caught on. However, with Lenovo touting the "cat-like" features of the Smart Cast and its beaming abilities, perhaps the new smartphone can be the market changer.
Other specs of the Smart Cast remain unknown. It is hoped Lenovo will lift the veil in the coming weeks.
