About a year ago, I remarked that with all these shrinking projectors out there, one day we'd undoubtedly see a palm-sized projector.

Well, our wait is almost over.

My sources tell me that TI (Texas Instruments) is readying a truly palm-projector (sub 2-pound) for an INFOCOMM 2001 introduction.

Now, I'm not sure if the world really needs a hand-held projector as much as we need these little, tiny personal digital assistants (PDAs), but I will guarantee you one thing -- this will be a hot commodity.

Not only will this potentially be the "buzz" around the show floor, but also it will certainly be of great interest to all the true road warriors tired of lugging around those loathsome, overburdened 3-pounders (insert laugh here).

Seriously, this is huge. For those of you that remember COMTEX (now known as INFOCOMM) in 1986 in Atlanta, GA, when Sharp and Kodak/Sayett rolled out the first version of the LCD panel (something that resembled a 35mm slide on steroids sitting atop an overhead projector), to see a hand-held projector that weighs in at less than three pounds is amazing.

And, how's this in comparison. At that same 1986 show, a well-known and well-respected General Electric (yep, that same GE) rolled out the 170-pound brand new in the series 5000 Light-Valve projector that set a new standard in light output garnering over 650 ANSI lumens!

Wow, top that Intel!

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Gary Kayye is Principal of Kayye Consulting a firm that specializes in providing marketing consulting, telephony integration and training development to the professional audiovisual industry. He spent 12 years at Extron and AMX as VP of Sales and Marketing before founding his own firm. He can be reached at www.kayye.com or via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com.

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