The Future of Mobile Apps – How it Will Affect Our Lives (updated)

Smart devices have become the new standard for personal communication, networking, and

productivity… and corporate efficiency and collaboration.

Everywhere we look, smart technology has become the must have for everything from communication, networking, personal productivity, personal comfort, even mission critical tasks… and app developers can only move forward in creating a world that is more mobile, hands free, dynamically integrated and cross-functional.

With children playing on their tablets for fun, and business executives on their smartphones looking for apps to configure and standardize the workplace, the future trend over the next few years is going to not only push the limits of how we interact with mobile technology, but how mobile technology can interact with us.

Major companies like Microsoft─ with Microsoft Surface and mobile functionality in Windows 8, and Google─ with its Google Glass technology, are showing a renewed focus on design for mobile devices that not only affect tablets and smartphones you’re using today.  They’re also talking about the smartwatches, visors, pico projectors, and God knows what else we’ll be using next year and the year after that.

Mobile was an add-on. Today, mobile is just as, if not more, important than the traditional desktop PC… and who knows what’s around the corner with wearable computing?

It would be crazy not to be looking at all these new devices and new ideas, from things hitting the market now like…

• Google Glass,
• MicroVisions Laser PicoP Display Engine in every single mobile device,
• or things that are just rumors like Apple’s watch.

Our growing reliance on the Cloud and big data streaming has only accentuated what mobile technology can do. Apps are better looking, more versatile and make connecting with people easier and essential. Looking ahead further into 2014, a few mobile trends are beginning to become extremely visible.

The Cloud:

SD cards and internal storage are still essential for personal computing technology, but what about cross-platform mobile accessibility? I remember the days when carrying a floppy disk or USB stick was the only ways to keep my data on me at all times.  As I got older, I started emailing things to myself. But now with apps like DropBox or my Google Drive, sharing and archiving my data from any smart device is as easy as uploading a file.

Now, this same model is being applied to basically every app, from content streaming applications to niche utility apps… and being able to save your data somewhere other than your device for sharing and retrieval is paramount. Apps that used to offer options for social media sharing are starting to adopt DropBox availability and drive accessibility as a basic feature for more efficient apps.
Access to online storage is not only making data easier to get to regardless of device, but encouraging more personal connections through networking.

Mobile Sharing:

Playing on-line games with friends from far away lands to sharing your content with others via your mobile device is becoming the standard for workplace and social networking. Just look at any website as evidence for this model of mobile trending. You cannot find an article online, for example, that does not have an option for sharing a link or assorted media on basically any social networking site imaginable. Mobile sharing goes beyond social engagement… it can, if done right, spread your message like wild fire.

As mobile technology and its ubiquitous use continue to multiply, configuring apps to keep everyone connected, regardless of mobile platform, is the most important step to keeping our personal smart technology as efficient as it can be.

Cross-platform Apps Configuration:

This trend is more applicable to the corporate setting; where apps not only need to be focused and efficient in bringing out the best from the workforce… but also allow standardization across the entire user base for fluid communication from the bottom up. Apps that are developed for corporate use must be designed and be natively intuitive for multiple types of devices and be able to efficiently communicate throughout a large collection of personal smart devices, to ensure that the mobile network is not only transparent but also works as it should.

The workplace demands streamlined communication, specifically the accessibility to embedded analytic for corporate, departmental or local office operations. On the spot reports may be a luxury right now, but when everyone is standardized on an app, reports can be as easy as inputting data and watching it trend throughout the office. Executives looking for the quickest way to provide accurate analysis are turning to apps developed specifically to create trends for essential data. Whether employees are using personal mobile smart devices or their personal work computers, apps that mimic the office environment online are a company’s best bet for efficient data management and communication.

Also, cloud-based employee management apps that consolidate employee information, interaction, business expenses, and production into an easy to access database are continuing to pick up speed.

High Definition Laser Pico Projector Display Engine in Mobile Devices  

The combination of a mobile device and a built-in HD laser pico projector offers ultimate in mobility… functionality… video sharing… and the cool factor ownership of an interactive and 3D projector display.

MicroVision unveiled their latest HD Laser pico projector with focus-free touch Interactive and 3D display. This second generation laser PicoP display engine has higher screen resolutions than the original. MicroVision describes the PicoP Gen 2 engine and PicoMagic display applications as “ideal for various consumer and commercial mobile applications such as entertainment, advanced gaming, business projection, and education.” 

Focus-free touch interactive displays will allow users to instantly interact with a projected image on any surface, as well as, create Multi-user applications such as virtual whiteboards. For business users, touch interactive technology will provide the convenience to conduct business presentations with only the touch of their fingertips on a large display surface. Avid mobile gamers would also benefit from touch interactive technology by interacting with projected images with high response levels, making mobile gaming more realistic.

This technology is sure to engage the creative imagination of thousands of app developers, and we can hope to see many thousand of apps that will be useful in business, entertainment, and educational field. 

Self-care Healthcare for Global Markets:

Present day medical technologies are far advanced over those available to our ancestors─ and as a result we suffer far less than they did. Yet modern medicine can achieve little in comparison to what scientists know is possible for the future. Despite amazing advances in understanding and treating conditions [such as cancer, heart disease, dementia, diabetes, and many others], it is still the case that, for basically healthy people, no presently available therapy or tool can produce even a fraction of the long-term benefits to health and life expectancy provided by awareness, prevention, nutrition, regular exercise, a calorie restricted diet, natural therapy, and natural supplements.

Self healthcare behavior is the new paradigm; and an up close and personal choice that is as unique [in scope and strategy] as you and I and billions other on this planet decide to choose.  Developing a suite of comprehensive self healthcare mobile apps with such diversity is a complex proposition… unless you follow the old mantra of “one-size-fits-all” recommendations based on books, articles, and blogs that talk generalities and quote statistics.

Self-care behavior, a key concept in healthcare, refers to decisions and actions that an individual can take to cope with a health problem or to improve his or her health. Examples of self healthcare behaviors include seeking information (e.g., reading books, searching the Internet, attending classes, joining a self-help group); exercising; seeing a doctor on a regular basis; getting more rest; lifestyle changes; following low fat diets; monitoring vital signs; and seeking advice through lay and alternative care networks, evaluating this information, and making decisions to act or even to do nothing.

Self-care is generally viewed as a complement to professional health care for persons with chronic health conditions. Self-care behavior is, however, broader than just following a doctor’s advice. It also encompasses an individual’s learning from things that have worked in the past.

Presumed benefits of self-care include lower costs for the health care system; more effective working relationships between patients and physicians and other health care providers; increased patient satisfaction; and improved perceptions of one’s health condition. Self-help behaviors have been shown to lessen pain and depression and to improve quality of life. Generally, health care practitioners encourage and support patients to practice self-care behaviors because patients then actively participate in their own care. However, many practitioners experience difficulty in offering advice on self-care behaviors because they are not aware of specific techniques, strategies, and supports their patients can use.

Self-care is seen as empowering and with acquisition of self-care skills, people are able to participate more actively in fostering their own health and in shaping conditions that influence their health.
There are several apps under development that focus on mind and body fitness and will allow the subscriber to establish his/her own personal scope and strategy for self healthcare… and serve as the guiding light for their personal journey to health, wellness, and longevity.

We believe there is a massive awareness and movement underway where individuals want to take charge and get-on with a personal journey to enhance their health and wellness… and prevent onset of chronic diseases. Self-care healthcare apps will help them understand, facilitate and support this journey.

Cognitions Bridge, for example, is a suite of apps for education, entertainment, brain fitness, cognitive development, and prevention of age related cognitive decline and dementia.

These apps are examples of where apps are going. Some are paid and others are free, but are evidence that the mobile apps are no longer meant to just improve the day-to-day tasks of using a smart device.

Future mobile apps will be more interactive, offer more cloud-based models, work across smart devices, and keep people engaged… to entertain, educate, network, and bring about a paradigm shift in self-care healthcare.

According to IDC report published in 2011, app downloads are projected to grow from 10.7 billion (in 2010) to more than 182 billion (in 2015).  Reports also show that mobile advertising spending is increasing 20-30% annually in the developed markets. We are finally at the stage where mobile is seriously considered as one of the channels for marketing.

Anant Goel

Producer CEO – RKNet Studios

MicroVision: Future Lies in Changing It

Everything with a ‘C’ is changing: “Corporations, climate, community, currency, communications, and competition.”

The future doesn’t lie in predicting it. It lies in shaping and changing it. Trends and forecasting are essentially irrelevant.  The future is what we make it, not what someone says it is.

Having said that, what’s in MicroVision’s future?

“PicoP Display Engine in Mobile Devices that Offer Ultimate in Mobility… Functionality… Cool Factor” 

It would be cool if MicroVision's laser PicoP Display Engine (PDE) was inside this cube…

 

http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html

In 2009, there was so much speculation in the media [by designer YankoDesign] that it almost felt like the real thing would be on the market soon. Just look at the write-up on this “Nokia Pulse Projector”…

“Nokia Pulse Projector is a tiny LED projector that also functions as an NXT speaker with Dolby Sound. This tiny projector uses Bluetooth and Pulse software to communicate with a mobile phone.

It’s meant to pair up with mobile phone, making a pair of perfect multimedia device and the user will be able to use the mobile phone to control this LED projector. The Nokia Pulse Projector relies on DLP Technology for high quality imagery. It’s able to project with native resolution of 1280×768 and 1500:1 contrast ratio pimps out crisp image quality, with picture sizes ranging from 15 inches diagonally all the way up to 60 inches at 7.87 feet. It even sports LED light technology with 1000 lumens of brightness plus 16.7 million colors.

It’ll be another great mini-sized projector that can be carried around anywhere you go for an impromptu presentation of those pictures, videos and slides on your mobile phone, and it lets the mobile phone to be used as the projector’s remote. Nice, but it should be just a concept at the moment."

[Via YankoDesign]

*****

Here’s the link…
http://askalexia.com/2009/05/23/nokia-pulse-projector/

The story gets more interesting when speculation gets to MicroVision’s PDE inside Nokia Pulse…

“The Nokia Pulse, a concept by Miika Mahonen, is similar to the soon to be released MicroVision Mobile Projector. They’re both designed to be powerful mobile display systems that can use a mobile phone as the source of video and as a remote control. The Nokia Pulse also combines an NXT-speaker with Dolby sound processing into the compact device, which can (theoretically) project images up to 60-inches on any wall.”

Continues…
[via YankoDesign]

*****

Here’s the link again…
http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html

Four years later, however, the concept remains to be just that… a concept. But wait a minute… over the last few months, a few developments have come together to bring us closer to this, or something similar to this, as a possible reality in the near future.

There are essentially three parts for this concept to work and they all seem to be in place now…

1) MicroVision laser based PicoP Display Engine at 35 lumen: was released in early 2013; for product sampling to 40 or so major electronics companies from around the globe… and that’s the major part of the puzzle, now in place.

So what makes MicroVision’s laser based PDE so important?

It’s the “Disruptive Technology”; that can bring about massive shifts in “technology paradigm” and “social paradigm”.  Here’s what makes MicroVision’s PDE as "Killer app" in simple terms?

a. Always in-focus image that needs no adjustment when on the move or when moving to change the projected image size… due to inherent feature of laser projection.

b. Longer projection periods per battery charge… by switching-off the laser light source during periods of dark picture segments.

c. Cool to the touch and no waste heat generated… due to modulating lasers as light source.

d. Large projected images [up to 100”] in widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9.

e. High Definition 720P images at 35 lumens brightness… with pathways to high definition images at 50 lumen or higher brightness in 2014.

f. Dramatic cost reduction [with huge profit margin improvements] as the laser light technology matures and economies of scale are achieved towards the end of 2013.  For example, synthetic green lasers [SGLs] were priced at around $120 each… whereas the diode green lasers [with higher light energy output and efficiency] are currently priced at $40 in small quantities.

g. Small physical size that starts out small and gets even smaller from one generation to the next. 

h. Social Change from the way we share information now to the way it will be shared in the future.

i. Commercially Viable: REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 3, 2013-- MicroVision (NASDAQ: MVIS), a leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display technology, today announced a development agreement with a prominent electronics company to incorporate MicroVision’s ground breaking PicoP® display technology into a display engine that could enable a variety of new products.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=114723&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1802951&highlight=

The key words from this news release are: “…to incorporate MicroVision’s ground breaking PicoP® display technology into a display engine that could enable a variety of new products.”

MicroVision’s PicoP Display Engine at 35 laser lumen, using diode based green lasers, will be ready for prime time show in the next few months…  

2) Samsung's new Wireless USB chipset: enables HD streaming with less power.

It's a beautiful combination, really… lower power consumption, and support for high bandwidth applications. That marriage is evident in Samsung's newest Wireless USB chipset, which was built around Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology and designed to enable high-def streaming between a mobile host device and a tethered device for viewing.

Ultra-Wide Band technology offers many advantages, especially in terms of very high data transmission rates which are well beyond those possible with currently deployed technologies such as 802.11a, b, g, WiMax and the like. As such UWB technology is gaining considerable acceptance and being proposed for use in a number of areas. Already Bluetooth, Wireless USB and others are developing solutions, and in these areas alone its use should be colossal.

According to Samsung, the two-chip solution will be aimed at smartphones, cameras, camcorders, TVs, PCs, tablets, beam projectors, portable HDDs, Blu-ray players and handsets.  And given that it can handle a theoretical high of 480Mbps with an average power consumption of less than 300mW, even the weakest smartphone battery should be able to stream at least a single episode of Family Guy to the TV or a pico projector. It's slated to hit mass production in Q4 and we'd say more details should be available right around CES 2011.

3) Pulse Software: that controls communications between the pico projector and the mobile host device. This Pulse software could be part of the Samsung’s wireless USB chipset solution, or a company specific product like Nokia Pulse [if there is such a thing] or Apple AirPlay, etc. 

“While the Pulse is still just an idea, MicroVision is currently working with other major electronics companies to incorporate their PicoP Display Engine into devices such as smartphones, media players, tablets, laptops, and Automobile HUDs.

Is the screen size on your mobile phone irrelevant, if you can project onto any wall... from 15 inches to 100 inches?

Perhaps!

Just take a look at images at 15 lumen and imagine what it would be like at 35 lumen or even at 50 lumen…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZO6_7hcNQ&feature=related

With MicroVision laser PicoP Display Engine inside; this cube could be the ultimate in mobility, functionality and cool factor.

Not only that, it is a productivity enhancing tool for business communications, as well as, a perfect product for personal and interactive entertainment… all in one cool package.

Everything that you need to put this cool product out there for the consumer to buy is here… all it takes, is the vision and the will to succeed before the next product cycle or someone else comes-up with a better mouse trap.

Anant Goel

Producer CEO – RKNet Studios

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rknetstudio.ninja

Laser Pico Projectors Will Make TV Obsolete

Laser PicoP technology could blow away the television industry as we know it!

Why pay for a big 60 inch TV when you can buy a 50+ lumen HD PicoP projector for one third the price and get 720p [1920 X 720p] at 16:9 wide screen resolution… and take it with you anywhere you go with an Internet connection?

Could the big TV companies put a kibosh on this PicoP technology?  I’ve been following this technology for many years and up until recently no body believed that PicoP technology could pose such a threat leading to the demise of energy guzzling [65watt] LED TV. In countries where energy is a precious commodity, countries like India and China, PicoP projectors [at 5watt] could see faster and massive adoption.

Think about it!!!

A laser PicoP projector at HD 720p resolution and with built-in WiFi connection, would be at less than 5 watts. And you could project 60 inch HD images from less than 5 feet away in a small Asian living room. The LED based 60 inch TV would consume over 65 watts... and produce so much wasted heat in hot and humid countries like India and China. Did you know the biggest consumer of electricity is for operating the billion or so TVs around the world.

Large screen energy guzzling TVs are doomed. If nothing else, the HD PicoP technology would definitely not help their cause.  Just like the iPad and tablet is killing PCs; MicroVision’s HD PicoP technology is truly disruptive. Imagine in next 36 months; you could buy a smartphone with built-in HD PicoP projector shooting 1080p at 50+ laser lumen. That would definitely hurt TV sales; but they [TV manufacturers] can not stop this progress. Too many large players like SONY and SAMSUNG want this technology to grow and flourish. The market pull is enormous. Once we get clear guidance for mass produced Diode Green Lasers, it will be a proverbial rocket ride after that... for companies like MicroVision.

So, did I buy a PicoPro from Celluon and got rid of my 42" HD LED TV. 

The answer is YES and NO!

Yes, I bought the PicoPro from Celluon but did not get rid of my 42" LED TV... not yet anyway!

I’m thinking, for example, of buying another one when the 50+ lumen 1080p PicoP projectors come out… and use it in the bedroom for occasional viewing on the ceiling.  I could easily watch a show on my wall or ceiling and take it anywhere I want and for one third the price of 60 inch LED TV.

So it’s obvious to me that TV sales stand to lose a substantial amount over the next few years─ when the PicoP projectors at 50+ lumen and 1080p resolution come out… especially when the sales in colleges and universities start to pick-up momentum.

At the very least; HD PicoP projectors at 50+ lumen will fill-in the spot for the 2nd and 3rd TV sets in affluent homes.

Anant Goel
Producer CEO - RKNet Studios
www.LeRumba.com

 

MicroVision: Wave of Change and Paradigm Shift Growth of 40,000% Plus

After 40 years of being on the cutting edge of technology, now I'm developing intelligence games and apps for brain fitness and cognitive skills development. 

However, my passion is investing in companies that ride the wave of change or bring about the paradigm shift; with an eye on the long term growth prospects of the company.

In the last 30 odd years that I have been investing, I have had my share of good fortune and misfortune. However, what’s important is the fact that I managed to secure my financial future and live today to talk about my strategy of investing in companies that ride the wave of change or bring about a paradigm shift. Some of these companies─ like Intel, Dell, Qualcomm, and Cisco─ have grown to be huge enterprises and have made their early investors over 10,000% or more since their inception.

A while back I wrote a post about my 14,000% profit experience with Intel during its growth phase from early 80’s to the end of Dot.com era in the year 2000. Here’s the link to that post…
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/09/intel-i-made-over-14000-profit-since.html

I’m one of those old timers that invested in Intel during its early days as a company… in the early 80’s. I recall buying some shares for a total cost of $1,000 dollars. I had to liquidate all my position in Intel during the Dot Com bust of 2000… around May of that year. However, it was not all that bad, because I managed to sell pretty close to the all time high and I remember bragging about my good fortune and fortitude to have stayed the course to make over 14,000% profit… for a net gain of over $140,000 dollars including dividends and the stock splits.

The past performers in my portfolio have served well. However, these companies like Intel, Dell, Qualcomm, Cisco, and Microsoft are past their hyper growth phase and are now too big and are just slow earnings growth vehicles. No disrespect to these fine companies… it’s just that they don’t fit the “hyper growth” company model any more.

One of my stocks holding now, besides an options income portfolio, is MicroVision. Over the years, I have seen many ups and downs, but I still believe MicroVision has the makings of the next 40,000% profit producer in the next 3 to 5 years.

Here’s why…

On Wall Street, you often hear terms like “top dog” or “first mover” in the context of a growth stock presentation to institutional clients. It’s quite interesting really…

A "top dog" is a company that dominates its industry... and a "first mover" is a company with a technology or product so revolutionary that it disrupts an existing industry and creates an entirely new one.

On the rare occasion that you find a company that is both─ both a top dog and a first mover ─ the chances are pretty good that you've found your next big winner...

Just think of eBay in the online auction market... Amazon in the online retail market... Netflix in the Video Streaming and DVD-rental market… and Cisco in the router market… 3D Systems in the 3D printing market, etc.

These companies redefined the way business was done, launched entirely new industries, and continue to dominate those industries to this day. And you don't need me to tell you how handsomely they've rewarded shareholders along the way.

In order to find companies that will deliver truly life-changing investment returns, you have to find growth companies early in their life cycle and truly believe that they are indeed the ones to ride the wave of change or bring about the paradigm shift… with potential of sustained long term growth.

Before we talk about MicroVision (NASDAQ: MVIS) as the growth company of the future with a 40,000% profit potential, let’s first consider…

Is now really a good time to be buying growth stocks?

The fact is; it takes guts to make money in this market.

But here's some good news…

For one thing, our current economic conditions bear a striking similarity to the economic downturn of the early 1990s. And "growth” stocks can excel even if the broad market continues to stumble. In fact, the analysts expect better profit prospects for growth stocks than for value stocks.

Money for nothing...
We have to be realistic in our expectations when searching or investing in growth companies. The purpose of looking at the great companies listed above is not to show that growth investing is an all-win situation. Far from it!

The purpose of the illustration is to demonstrate how well great companies perform over a long period. If you can identify just one great company early, and then hold on for the long term, you can do pretty well for yourself.

Growth investing is highly volatile, and it will fray the nerves of those individuals with a low risk tolerance. Having said that, all investors should devote only a portion of their portfolio to growth stocks!!! For those traveling in the fast lane, an allocation of 30% of their portfolios might make sense. More conservative types should allocate at least 10% in order to provide a little juice for their investments. I'm the risk taker type, so I devote about 50% of my portfolio to growth.

MicroVision: Growth Stock with 40,000% Profit Potential

I believe MicroVision has the makings of the next 40,000% profit producer in the next 3 to 5 years. In order to become a very successful, profitable and huge company [in terms of market capitalization] you need the following prerequisites:

Management: with expertise, vision, support network, past record, communicative and persuasive skills and a will to succeed.

In my opinion, we have the best possible management with all the prerequisite attributes necessary for managing MicroVision at this stage of the company’s growth. Here’s a link for your review…

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=114723&p=irol-govmanage

Financially Sound: with money to support on-going operations, R&D expenditures, product development and commercialization.

According to the latest annual report for period ending May 2013, MicroVision had $9.2 million in cash and short term cash instruments. Looking at the financials, the company is burning about $3 million per Qtr. At this rate, the company has about 3 Qtr worth of cash… assuming no additional revenue from product sales, or contract payments, or stock options and warrants.

Since we already have a 35 lumen PicoP display module [currently sampling to over 40 major electronics firms globally] and SHOWwx product was launched [years ago] in the US, Europe and the Asia Pacific region… I would venture to say that most R&D expenses have already been incurred [almost $442 million to date]. And net profit from backlog sales could reduce the cash burn by $1million dollars per Qtr. That would stretch the available cash reserves to 4 Qtrs or so. It’s ironic, but the investors of the past have funded this massive R&D undertaking to-date. However, the current investors will reap the benefits and are assured the company has cash to fund the on-going operations, product development and embedded PicoP projector commercialization.

Here’s some links…
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=MVIS

http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20130502005453/en/MicroVision/earnings/pico-projector

Disruptive Technology: that can bring about massive shifts in “technology paradigm” and “social paradigm”. Pico Projector Displays bring big screens to small devices. The Pico Projector or “PicoP Display Engine” can be embedded in mobile phones, tablets, laptop or similarly-sized mobile devices to enable up to 100inch full color projection display in HD resolution for applications such as streaming video, digital TV, high resolution pictures and surfing the net.

http://vimeo.com/68161792

Competitive Advantage: MicroVision has over 500 U.S. Patents issued and many more pending to protect its intellectual property… giving it a huge competitive edge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1LqjunkWhE&feature=youtube_gdata

Technologically Feasible:  PicoP Display Engine technology is based on the proven and mature silicon MEMS laser scanning mirror technology. The company launched the world’s first laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx in the US in March of 2010.

http://www.microvision.com/about_microvision/index.html

Commercially Viable: REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 3, 2013-- MicroVision (NASDAQ: MVIS), a leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display technology, today announced a development agreement with a prominent electronics company to incorporate MicroVision’s ground breaking PicoP® display technology into a display engine that could enable a variety of new products.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=114723&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1802951&highlight=

Market Size: The market for PicoP Display Engine is huge. The potential markets are automobiles, mobile phones, smartphones, laptops, tablets, iPods, iPhone, digital cameras, camcorders, personal mobile TVs, and the fashion eye-wear.

Here are some world-wide statistics...

New autos: sales for 2007 … 49 million units
http://www.metrics2.com/blog/2006/12/28/world_auto_sales_flat_in_2007_china_becomes_no3_re.html

New Mobile Phone Sales: for 2007… 1.15 billion units
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/item/?ci=29702

New Laptop Sales: for 2007 … 207 million units
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132861-pg,1/article.html

New “Tablets, iPods, iPhone, Digital Cameras and Camcorders”… over 300 million units

New Eye-wear Sale: for 2008… 1 billion units

Personal Mobile TV/Projectors… new market opens up with potential 200 million units

Technology and Business Partnerships: MicroVision has partnered with Pioneer Corporation of Japan; the biggest [financially], the most respected [for over 100 years] and the best in the business to design and manufacture its PicoP Display Engine for the automotive and consumer electronic markets.

Now what we need is a few more commercial business partners and OEM agreements for the PicoP Display Engine and Wearable Display product line. I am sure it will happen soon in the next six months and when it does happen the MVIS stock will run up the charts as we have never seen before.

MicroVision has the potential of being the “Top Dog” and the “First Mover” in the global PicoP projection market…

When investing in technology, always look for the “killer app”—yes, the software program, piece of hardware, product improvement or whatever—that makes the product stand out.

Take Internet browsers for example. Now, for a while there it took everyone some time to figure out what exactly an Internet browser was. Today, many of us can’t imagine what life was like before we had Google. These days, if you need information on any topic under the sun, you simply “Google” it! What would we ever do without Google?

When looking to buy the latest tech stock, investors [you] need to scrutinize the product and the unique ability it offers to its users. Google is a great example of a “killer app” that revolutionized the Internet.

So What’s MicroVision “Killer App”?

It’s the “Disruptive Technology”; that can bring about massive shifts in “technology paradigm” and “social paradigm”.  What makes MicroVision’s PicoP Display Engine technology as "Killer app" in simple terms?

1. Always in-focus image that needs no adjustment when on the move or when moving to change the projected image size… due to inherent feature of laser projection.

2. Longer projection periods per battery charge… by switching-off the laser light source during periods of dark picture segments.

3. Cool to the touch and no waste heat generated… due to modulating lasers as light source.

4. Large projected images [up to 100”] in widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9.

5. High Definition 720P images at 35 lumen brightness… with pathways to high definition images at 50 lumen or more brightness in 2014.

6. Dramatic cost reduction [with huge profit margin improvements] as the laser light technology matures and economies of scale are achieved towards the end of 2013.  For example, synthetic green lasers [SGLs] were priced at around $120 each… whereas the diode green lasers [with higher light energy output and efficiency] are currently priced at $40 in small quantities.

7. Small physical size that starts out small and gets even smaller from one generation to the next. 

8. Social Change from the way we share information now to the way it will be shared in the future.

The PicoP Display Engine can be embedded in hundreds of different products representing a huge market share for entire product line-up. It has the potential of adding billions of new dollars to MicroVvision—expanding what I like to call the “halo effect” from the PicoP Display Engine to the rest of MicroVision product line of applications that are currently under development.

Yes, investing in technology can get complicated. Many advisers compare the stock price to the company’s earnings and cash flow, and then look at earnings growth trends and the company’s debt levels in comparison to its competitors. This is some in-depth analysis for the average investor!

Well, MicroVision has very little earnings and cash flow from current sales; so you have nothing to analyze. Consider yourself in good company: Billionaire Warren Buffet doesn’t invest in technology because he doesn’t understand the fundamentals of the business. That is why he has missed out on billions of dollars in potential profits from the likes of e-bay, Google and Apple. So, if you’re waiting for revenue and current cash flow from your MicroVision investment, there is none for all analytical purposes.

But that will change in the next 3 Qtrs: when the earnings report will show increasing sales of technology development contracts from 40 or so Consumer Electronics giants from US, Europe and Asia Pacific region.

When it comes to emerging technology from companies with small capitalization, don’t do what Warren Buffet does. Do your own DD and then take a small position in MicroVision for its emerging technology and huge profit potential in the next 3 to 5 years.

Is MicroVision ready for prime time and worthy of your investment dollars, consider this…

Five years from now in 2017, the stock could easily trade in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.

Here’s an educated projection…

• Worldwide Market Size: 2 billion units [mobile phones, laptops, smartphones, tablets, iPod, iPhone, iPad, camcorders, digital cameras, gaming devices, mobile TV/Projectors, and automobile HUD, etc.]

• Market Adoption Rate: 10% in 2017... 200 million units

• MicroVision Market share: very conservative 20% of 200 million units… 40 million units

• OEM price: $70 per PicoP Display Engine

• Revenue: $2.8 billion

• Net Profit Margin: 40%

• Net Profit: $1.12 billion

• EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization: $1 billion [with operating expenses at $120 million]

• Interest Expense: $0 million

• Interest Income: $0 million

• Tax: $200million

• Depreciation: non cash and very small

• Amortization: non cash and very small

• Net Operating Income: $800 million

• Earning Per Share: $20 on a fully diluted basis [40 million shares]

• Price Earning Ratio: 60 for a hyper growth company

• Price Per Share: $1,200 per share

Percent Gain based on current price of $3… over 40,000%

In my book, the “Risk” is insignificant [may be 2% per year interest in treasury bills as the lost opportunity] as compared to the potential of making over 400 times on your risk capital in the next 3 to 5 years.

Do your own diligence and don’t just think outside the box… see outside the box.

Anant Goel
Producer CEO - RKNet Studios
Mobile Apps for Fun and Cognitive Skills Development

MicroVision | End of the Road or End of the Tunnel

The last post I wrote about MicroVision was over a year ago; and the title was the most revealing and depressing…

MicroVision: Major Cost Cutting Measures or Death Spiral?  

A year later─ after blowing another $40 million or so down the hole, and 1 for 8 reverse split─ we seem to be at another juncture in the MicroVision saga.  This time; it’s either the end of the road or end of the tunnel for MicroVision.

Over the last year, we have seen some major cost cutting measures… but still burning $20 million dollars or so per year.  On surface it seems like a good effort… but not good enough to save the company while still waiting for Diode Green Lasers.

At the rate MVIS stock prices is going [down]; it looks like the end of the road… but there is, at the same time, hope that it could be the end of the tunnel and some green light of hope setting into the picture.

There we go again, the good old pesky Diode Green Lasers─ the Holy Grail to the MicroVision salvation.

Before we get into details and start talking about pesky Diode Green Lasers and Holy Grail and such… lets re-visit the issues once more…

Lately, there has been very little visible activity or news at MicroVision─ other than more stock issues and dilution.  And that makes me wonder: “What's up with no SHOW at the Displayland of laser based Pico Projectors?”

Here's the latest scoop and thinking based on some consumer feedback...

1. Fifteen lumen bright Pico projectors, regardless of the brand name or the underlying technology, are a toy as a standalone device... but the market is quite receptive to such devices in the $99 to $149 range. However, anything better than 15 lumen is definitely a differentiating improvement and worthy of $149 to $199 price tag.
2. Fifteen lumen bright Pico projectors, using panel or DLP/LED technology, use too much battery power and need constant focusing... and they will also have other gating [like size and heat] issues making into the mobile devices. If panel/DLP/LED technology gets past the mobile platform gating issues; but at fifteen lumens they will still be considered a toy.  However, the market is quite receptive to such devices in the $99 to $149 range... especially when someone else [like AT&T or Verizon] is paying for it. 
3. Fifteen lumen bright Pico projectors, using MEMS/DGL technology, present a more favorable solution to the battery power issues and do not need constant focusing... and they will have far fewer mobile platform gating issues.  However, at fifteen lumen such laser based devices will still be considered toy... but market is quite receptive to such devices in the $99 to $149 range... especially when someone else is paying for it.

Bottom line is...

“... Can MicroVision make 25 or 30 lumen bright DGL based HD IPMs [High Definition Integrated Photonic Modules] for embedded Pico projectors in millions; and make them cheap enough to be able to sell them in the $149 to $199 range; and manage to stave-off the financial death spiral by showing some net profit on each sale?”

A few dollars profit on each unit sold could easily translate into millions of dollars in profit when adoption rates in handheld devices accelerate into hundreds of million units in the next 3-5 years.

In my opinion, the answer, with some qualifications, is an astounding yes.

Here’s why…

Sony, Sumitomo push laser projectors forward with a new, more powerful green laser diode

By Richard Lawler

Posted June 21st, 2012 7:47AM

Sumitomo Electric and Sony Announce the Joint-Development of the World's First True Green Semiconductor Laser Diode with over 100 mW Output Power at 530nm

Achieves Twice the Luminosity of Conventional Gallium Nitride Green Laser Diodes

Here’s the link to the Press Release from Sony…

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/21/sony-sumitomo-green-laser-diode/

This is the best news in the history of MicroVision. Because Diode Green Laser at over 100 mW in the true green region wavelength of 530 nm and at 8% wall efficiency…

“… Will allow MicroVision to produce 25 to 30 lumen bright HD IPMs that will take less energy and can be scaled to millions at much reduced cost.”

Now here’s the question for the CEO and BODs of MicroVision...

“After five years of financial orgy─ that produced insignificant amount of sales [of anything] but involved dozens of highly paid managers [and support staff] in the PR, IR, Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Administration, Global Product Management, etc─ can you deliver, now that you have efficient DGLs that you always wanted?”

Or you have another excuse, like…

“… We have cut the fat so deep; it may be “slicing the bone” and caused structural damage to the integrity of the company.”

Investors of MicroVision want to know?

Better still…

“Why not all of you re-sign with some dignity and let competent management team takeover from here?

The last hand is in play... and over the next 6 months it’s the do or quit time for MicroVision brass.

Anant B. Goel 

Producer CEO - RKNet Studios

Producer - Movie 'Pyar Mein Kyun'

 

Microvision: What Does 15 Lumens Mean to SHOWwx+ Projected Image Brightness?

Here's the news...

MicroVision Unveils Second-Generation Laser Pico Projector, SHOWWX+

Press Release
Source: MicroVision, Inc.
Monday November 22, 2010, 1:00 pm EST

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MicroVision, Inc. (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), the leader in innovative ultra-miniature laser display technology, today unveiled SHOWWX+®, the second-generation of its award-winning laser pico projector. With a 50 percent brighter display within the same slim size, SHOWWX+ enables mobile device users to break free from the small screen and project large, clear 16:9 widescreen content wherever they are, on any surface.

“We’re on a mission to eliminate the squinting and huddling that occurs when mobile device users share content,” said Alexander Tokman, president and CEO of MicroVision. “SHOWWX+ is designed to simply and quickly connect to today’s hottest new portable devices so users can display and share large vibrant images and video with ease.”

Taking the Mobile Experience Beyond the Small Screen
SHOWWX+ is the first laser pico projector to offer a big-screen, movie-length experience that easily slips into a shirt pocket. Boasting two hours of battery life, 15 laser lumens, a contrast ratio up to five times higher than competing products, and the shortest throw ratio of any pico projector on the market, the SHOWWX+ is the perfect accessory for expanding viewing experiences beyond a palm or pad-sized screen. Its category-leading 5,000:1 native contrast ratio ensures the SHOWWX+ produces the deepest blacks and most brilliant whites.

Continues…

*****

Here’s the link to the news…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/MicroVision-Unveils-bw-4077703968.html?x=0&.v=2

In all fairness, this is excellent news as it shows progress in the right direction to achieving a brighter and improved quality image from the tiny laser based PicoP Display Engine at the core of MicroVision’s second generation product SHOWwx+.

We have seen the first generation pico projector SHOWwx… and are really impressed by the 10-lumen brightness and the quality of projected image.

However, with the second generation SHOWwx+ there are lots of speculations and misinformation about what does it really mean to have 15-lumen brightness from the new PDEs?

Consider this in its utmost simplicity…

Lumen:
A lamp [LED or a laser diode] produces a certain amount of light that is measured in lumens. The lumen is the globally standardized SI unit of "luminous flux"--meaning that it measures just how much visible light is produced by an object such as, for example, a light bulb.

Typical indoor lamps have light outputs ranging from 50 to 10,000 lumens. You use lumens to order most types of lamps, to compare lamp outputs, and to calculate lamp energy efficiencies.

The luminous flux is a weighted sum of the power at all wavelengths in the visible band. Light outside the visible band does not contribute. Luminous flux is the total perceived power emitted in all directions. However, luminous intensity is the perceived power per unit solid angle… like as directed and projected on a screen and seen by the eye.

[Note that lumen output is not related to the light distribution pattern of the lamp. A large fraction of a lamp’s lumen output may be useless if it goes in the wrong directions… like as in diffused light from a lamp or LED source]

Luminous intensity:
It is a measure of the wavelength-weighted power emitted by a light source in a particular direction per unit solid angle, based on the luminosity function, a standardized model of the sensitivity of the human eye. The SI unit of luminous intensity is the candela (cd).

We are interested in the measurement of visible light as perceived by human eye; the human eye can only see light in the visible spectrum and has different sensitivities to light of different wavelengths within the spectrum. When adapted for bright conditions (photopic vision), the eye is most sensitive to greenish-yellow light at 555 nm. Light with the same radiant intensity at other wavelengths has a lower luminous intensity. For instance, the measured responses of the eye to violet light varied by a factor of ten.

Luminous intensity should not be confused with another photometric unit, luminous flux, which is the total perceived power emitted in all directions. Luminous intensity is the perceived power per unit solid angle.

Lux:
Lux is the unit that indicates the density of light that falls on a surface. This is what light meters measure. For example, average indoor lighting ranges from 100 to 1,000 lux, and average outdoor sunlight is about 50,000 lux.

One Lux, for example, is measured as one lumen per square meter. The general term for lux is “luminance”.

Lux versus lumen:
The difference between the lux and the lumen is that the lux takes into account the area over which the luminous flux is spread. A flux of 100 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square meter, lights up that square meter with a luminance of 100 lux. However, the same 100 lumens, spread out over ten square meters, produce a dimmer luminance of only 1 lux.

Now consider this…
A person looking at the screen sees different areas of his visual field in terms of levels of brightness, or luminance, measured in candelas [the measure of luminous intensity] per square meter.

With that clarity on the difference between lumen and lux; conversion between the two is simple.

Lux is a measure of how many lumens are present in a given area. It's essentially a measure of "photon density" or "light concentration." A "denser" cloud of photons [like a 10 lumen laser light pixel] means there are more lumens present in a pixel space… producing more brightness and higher lux as perceived by the eye.

A "lighter" cloud of photons [like a 10 lumen LED lighting the one square meter of the screen] means fewer lumens are present in a pixel space… leading to dimmer conditions and lower lux as perceived by the eye.

To achieve a desired lux level in a given space it may be necessary to use brighter bulbs with higher lumen rating or use many light bulbs, each producing a given number of lumens.

Do the Conversion…
Measure the dimensions of the space that you wish to illuminate, and write down how many square meters of surface area it has. In case of SHOWwx with 10 lumens, it is 10 lumens over the size of a pixel. In case of 10 lumen LED based pico projectors, it is 10 lumens over the one square meter of the screen.

The fundamental ratio of conversion from desired lux level to required lumens is:

1 lux = 1 lumen per square meter.

Since perceived brightness corresponds to a logarithmic function, depending on the shape of the function's graph, close to the x axis (where pico projector brightness is now), you would tend to see more difference from smaller amounts of change. That's because close to the axis, the curve is relatively steep. The technical projector literature, the ANSI definitions and viewers personal experience says…

“… In case of pico projectors, as you double the ANSI lumens you double the brightness."

However, as the lumen numbers get bigger─ like 2,000 to 4,000 lumens for lamp based projectors, the curve flattens out, so you need relatively more change in lumens to get the same perceived change in brightness.

"For pico projectors, depending on where you are on that curve, it might even be possible to get a “more” than double brightness increase from a smaller than double lumen increase."

In summary…
Lumen for lumen, the laser pico projectors have higher perceived brightness as compared to those using other light sources… and as you increase the ANSI lumens by 50% [going from 10 lumens to 15 lumens] you more or less increase the brightness by 50%.

Anant Goel

Microvision: Hyper Growth in 2011

Rapid Development in Native [Diode] Green Laser Technology Sets PicoP™ Projector into Hyper Growth for Year 2011

In the emerging market for pico-projectors, as well as, other display techniques such as head-mounted display (HMD) or head-up display (HUD), the ideal light source would be a laser due to its capability to deliver highly saturated colors in the widest possible gamut.

Additional desirable features include focus-free operation, improvement in wall-plug efficiency─ reducing power consumption for battery operation, lower cost and high production scalability. The great advantage of laser projectors is a consistently sharp, always-in-focus, true-color, high-contrast image irrespective of the projection distance and projection surface

As we all know too well, the availability and cost of green lasers, both diode and SHG, has held back the progress in ramping-up production of laser based PicoP projectors.

However, there are three pieces of news, two from this morning and one from a year ago, that put the commercialization of laser based PicoP projectors from Microvision on steroids… for hyper growth in the year 2011.

First the old news from August 2009…

“Success in the laboratory: direct emitting green InGaN laser with 50 mW

OSRAM has set a new milestone for mobile laser projection

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has achieved a major breakthrough in the laboratory with its direct emitting green indium-gallium-nitride laser. It already achieves an optical output of 50 mW and emits light in true green with a wavelength of 515 nm. Compared with semiconductor lasers based on current technology that operate with frequency doubling, direct emitting green lasers are more compact, offer greater temperature stability, are easier to control and have higher modulation capability.”

*****

Here’s the link to the Osram web site…

http://www.osram.com/osram_com/News/Trade_Press/LED_OptoSemiconductor/2009/090813_PM_R%26D_gruenerLaser_en.html

Over the last one year there have been several articles and white papers published indicating rapid improvement in the development of diode green lasers getting out of the lab approaching commercialization.

Today’s news from Corning confirms that…

Press Release
Source: Corning Incorporated
Monday November 1, 2010, 7:00 am EDT

CORNING, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - News) today announced its results for the third quarter of 2010.

In the press release Corning stated…

“In other matters, Corning has decided to discontinue its development and commercialization of synthetic green lasers. Given the rapid development of native green technology, the company concluded that the market for synthetic green lasers is limited.”

*****

Here’s the link to the press release…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Corning-Announced-bw-2268286162.html?x=0&.v=1

This piece of news further confirms that rapid progress has been made with diode green lasers. And Osram, for example, has overcome the previous limits of the InGaN material system. At the pre-development stage─ in August 2009, the company succeeded in manufacturing the first direct emitting green laser diode from the InGaN (indium-gallium-nitride) material system with a high optical output. The diode emits a “true green”, which is defined by the spectral range of 515 to 535 nm. In this range, efficient high-quality semiconductor lasers have been commercially available only as frequency-doubled versions. In the medium term, however, direct emitting green lasers could replace frequency-doubled lasers for numerous applications. They are easier to control, and also offer greater temperature stability, a smaller form factor and higher modulation capability at several 100 MHz.

Now we come to the last piece of the news that confirms the rapid development of diode green lasers… and that puts the commercialization of laser based PicoP projectors from Microvision on steroids for hyper growth in the year 2011.

Here we go…

Press Release
Source: Microvision, Inc.
Monday November 1, 2010, 7:00 am EDT

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), a leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display technology, today announced it has successfully integrated the first “direct green” laser samples from two leading manufacturers into pico projector benchtop prototypes. This achievement represents an important first step toward the commercialization of PicoP® display engines using direct green lasers. The PicoP display engine utilizing a direct green laser is expected to offer significant commercial advantages in price, size, power, and performance.

“We are very pleased with the performance of these early direct green laser prototypes,” commented Sid Madhavan, Microvision vice president, R&D and Applications. “These encouraging results give us confidence that direct green laser diodes will be capable of meeting the performance requirements for integration into our PicoP display platform.”

Simplicity leads to lower costs
Microvision’s current pico projection engine uses red and blue laser diodes and a frequency-doubled “synthetic” green laser to create a full color image. Synthetic green lasers are infrared lasers that are manipulated to reduce their wavelength to produce a green light. This conversion process creates a complex system of multiple components held to tight tolerances making manufacturing more challenging.

Direct green lasers are capable of producing green light natively, greatly simplifying laser design and manufacturing processes. Direct green lasers are expected to be manufactured in a manner similar to red and blue lasers available today, facilitating lower cost and rapid scalability to commercial quantities. The combination of smaller size, lower power, and lower cost make direct green lasers an attractive alternative to synthetic green lasers for Microvision’s mobile display solutions.

Historically, availability of synthetic green lasers has been constrained due to their complexity and the existence of only two manufacturers. Today, there are at least five companies worldwide that have announced they are developing direct green lasers for late 2011 to mid 2012 commercial introduction. Industry researcher Yole Development forecasts that the direct green laser market size will reach about $500 million by 2016 and should represent more than 45 million devices.

*****

Here’s the link to the press release…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microvision-Integrates-First-bw-2659567055.html?x=0&.v=1

Some would say that this press release from Microvision is damage control in view of Corning’s decision to discontinue its development and commercialization of synthetic green lasers.

But, I disagree… because of two simple reasons:

First: Corning has decided to discontinue development and commercialization of synthetic green lasers… but that doesn’t mean they will stop production of what’s on order and contracted with Microvision.

Second: Currently, SHG green laser diodes are available on the market from Corning, Osram and QD Laser… and each have their own proprietary solutions. Now if you take Corning out of the equation… you still have two other suppliers of SHG green lasers in the interim period from now to mid 2011.

The bottom line is…

“Next year, the commercialization of laser based PicoP projectors from Microvision gets into fast lane for hyper growth in the year 2011.”

We just have to wait and see how things unfold from here?

Anant Goel

Microvision: Ultimate in Mobility… Functionality… Cool Factor (update 9/2010)

It would be cool if Microvision's laser PicoP Display Engine was inside this cube…
http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html

Last year, there was so much speculation in the media [by designer YankoDesign] that it almost felt like the real thing would be on the market soon. Just look at the write-up on this “Nokia Pulse Projector” from last year…

“Nokia Pulse Projector is a tiny LED projector that also functions as an NXT speaker with Dolby Sound. This tiny projector uses Bluetooth and Pulse software to communicate with a mobile phone.

It’s meant to pair up with mobile phone, making a pair of perfect multimedia device and the user will be able to use the mobile phone to control this LED projector. The Nokia Pulse Projector relies on DLP Technology for high quality imagery. It’s able to project with native resolution of 1280×768 and 1500:1 contrast ratio pimps out crisp image quality, with picture sizes ranging from 15 inches diagonally all the way up to 60 inches at 7.87 feet. It even sports LED light technology with 1000 lumens of brightness plus 16.7 million colors.

It’ll be another great mini-sized projector that can be carried around anywhere you go for an impromptu presentation of those pictures, videos and slides on your mobile phone, and it lets the mobile phone to be used as the projector’s remote. Nice, but it should be just a concept at the moment."

[via yankodesign]

*****

Here’s the link…
http://askalexia.com/2009/05/23/nokia-pulse-projector/

Here’s some more on this Nokia Pulse with Microvision Mobile Projector inside speculation…

“The Nokia Pulse, a concept by Miika Mahonen, is similar to the soon to be released Microvision Mobile Projector. They’re both designed to be powerful mobile display systems that can use a mobile phone as the source of video and as a remote control. The Nokia Pulse also combines an NXT-speaker with Dolby sound processing into the compact device, which can (theoretically) project images up to 60-inches on any wall.”

Continues…
[via Yanko Design]

*****

Here’s the link…
http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html

One year later, however, the concept remains to be just that… a concept. But wait a minute… over the last year, a few developments have come together to bring us closer to this, or something similar to this, as a possible reality in the near future.

There are essentially three parts for this concept to work and they all seem to be in place now…

• Microvision laser based PicoP Projector SHOWwx: was released in the US in March of 2010… and that’s the major part of the puzzle now in place.

The award-winning SHOWwx, available for sale through a variety of distributors and at http://www.microvision.com/showwx, is a standalone laser pico projector intended for simple plug-and-play integration with mobile devices, such as iPod, cell phones, MP3 players, laptops and gaming devices.

• Samsung's new Wireless USB chipset: enables HD streaming with less power.

It's a beautiful combination, really… lower power consumption, and support for high bandwidth applications. That marriage is evident in Samsung's newest Wireless USB chipset, which was built around Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology and designed to enable high-def streaming between a mobile host device and a tethered device for viewing.

Ultra-Wide Band technology offers many advantages, especially in terms of very high data transmission rates which are well beyond those possible with currently deployed technologies such as 802.11a, b, g, WiMax and the like. As such UWB technology is gaining considerable acceptance and being proposed for use in a number of areas. Already Bluetooth, Wireless USB and others are developing solutions, and in these areas alone its use should be colossal.

According to Samsung, the two-chip solution will be aimed at cameras, camcorders, TVs, PCs, tablets, beam projectors, portable HDDs, Blu-ray players and handsets, and given that it can handle a theoretical high of 480Mbps with an average power consumption of less than 300mW, even the weakest smartphone battery should be able to stream at least a single episode of Family Guy to the TV or a pico projector. It's slated to hit mass production in Q4 and we'd say more details should be available right around CES 2011.

• Pulse Software: that controls communications between the pico projector and the mobile host device. This Pulse software could be part of the Samsung’s wireless USB chipset solution, or a company specific product like… Nokia Pulse [if there is such a thing]…or Apple AirPlay… etc.

“While the Pulse is still just an idea, Microvision is currently working with other companies to incorporate their PicoP Display Engine into devices such as phones, media players, and laptops. Is screen size on your mobile phone irrelevant if you can project onto any wall?”

Perhaps!

Just take a look…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZO6_7hcNQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQMmMzV3WD0

With Microvision laser PicoP Display Engine in-side; this cube could be the ultimate in mobility, functionality and cool factor.

Not only that, it is a productivity enhancing tool for business communications, as well as, a perfect product for personal and interactive entertainment… all in one cool package.

Everything that you need to put this cool product out there for the consumer to buy is here… all it takes, is the vision and the will to succeed before the next product cycle or someone else comes-up with a better mouse trap.

Anant Goel

Microvision: Investors Are Just Frustrated

Definition of “Frustration”…

• The act of frustrating or an instance of being frustrated
• The state of being frustrated
• Something that serves to frustrate

Let's add one more definition to the word frustration...

“waiting for definitive plans and answers to simple question from Microvision while being told that the management will disclose them soon by the next CC… or some other future event that has come and gone by the way side over the last 4 years.”

How dare we worry about where our investment dollars are going when it's such a small part of the big picture of: “the holly grail of embedded PicoP projectors in the billion unit mobile world?” What frustrates us now is another article about the Green Laser price and availability. It sounded like yet another warning, by those in the industry, why a laser based PicoP will fail because of Green Laser pricing issues. I’m sure Microvision brass has the answers, and has its reasons for keeping quite on the issue, but can somebody please throw some light on this 4 year old issue of GL availability, pricing and stability issues as they affect the profit margins and eventual success of laser based PicoP projectors.

Here’re some more thoughts on frustration…

• Having the wool pulled over our eyes is frustrating;
• Lack of communications in spoken English is frustrating;
• Waiting for straight answers is frustrating;
• Having legitimate concerns brushed aside is frustrating;
• Being told to take the pain and ignore the small stuff is frustrating;
• Watching the market price of MVIS drift lower and lower is frustrating, too.

There is enough dry powder on the sidelines to send this market [and MVIS stock price] significantly higher, even into the plus column for the year. But, would-be buyers continue to be stymied as each day brings more questions rather than answers and we keep hearing how off base our concerns are. While panic has become the permanent aroma that greets investors each day, I sense frustration could be moving the market more than any other feeling these days, and certainly over the last few days.

I'm getting emails and phone calls and I know that many folks just want to throw in the towel out of frustration and a lack of confidence. Day to day it's hard to see where it will end, but I think we are going to be just fine and at the end of the day [in mid 2011] Microvision investor will come out whole.

If you are wondering “why mid 2011”…

Here’s what I have finally figured out…

• Currently, the quantities of synthetic green lasers and the ASICs are too small─ like 5,000 to 10,000 units per month, and the cost is relatively too expensive… thus the negative profit margins. The key word is “relatively”… meaning product cost [in such small quantities] is more than the transfer price that can be charged to the OEMs at a suggested retail price of $549.

• To put it another way; if the retail price was increased to $649 and the transfer price charged to OEMs also raised by say $60… than the relative cost of product─ at such small quantities, may NOT be, relatively speaking, too expensive… thus the potential for positive profit margins.

However, the recent drop of $100 in the retail price of SHOWwx [from $549 to $449] mucks the waters yet again and that is frustrating. Does this mean that the price of synthetic green lasers has come down significantly to a point where Microvision can charge less for SHOWwx and still make some profit? Well, that is one thought… as in one side of the coin so to speak.

The other side of the coin could be; that Microvision needs to clear old stock at a loss in anticipation of second generation PDEs that are expected to be cheaper, smaller, more energy efficient and with higher 15- lumen brightness and 720P HD resolution.

We don’t know for sure one way or the other… and that is frustrating.

The current debate between synthetic green lasers versus the diode [direct] green lasers got so confusing at the 2nd Qtr earnings CC that Microvision CEO responded with a Blog post at The Displayground to clear-up the matter.

Here’s the link…
http://www.microvision.com/displayground/?p=1761#comments

Green Laser Diodes Are On the Way, In the Meantime If Done Right Synthetic Green Lasers Have an Embedded Play

What I find very interesting is the comment about…

“We have already begun to see availability of the first generation synthetic lasers increase. The next generation synthetic green lasers are expected to be more efficient and less expensive than their first generation cousins. We also anticipate that the direct green lasers targeted for introduction in the second half of next year may not reach desired performance and cost targets immediately. For these reasons, we believe that synthetic lasers could continue to remain a competitive alternative to direct green lasers for at least the first 4-5 years after diodes are introduced.”

From the CEO comments about synthetic lasers, it is now clear that they have 4-5 years as the economic life cycle… before the diode green laser mature and become cost competitive. Considering the potential volume sales of laser based pico projectors over the next 5 years, which could easily run into 200-300 million units, there’s enough incentive for the synthetic green laser manufactures to ramp-up production with corresponding drop in prices.

I see two opportunities for cost reduction, and a very strong possibility of profitable margins, in the near future…

• Next generation green lasers and ASICs should be coming out in the next three or four months and they are more efficient and less expensive… and that bodes well for positive margins.

• A significantly large order from an OEM, in the 50,000 to 100,000 units per month range, will not only motivate the synthetic Green Laser suppliers, Corning and Osram, to crank-up the production lines… but it will also help reach the critical volume in terms of quantities that would result in some dramatic price drop.

With next generation synthetic Green Laser supply continuing to improve over the rest of year 2010, it is just the matter of time that a visionary company like Apple will come waltzing down the aisle to embed Microvision’s PDEs in their smartphones, iPads or iPods etc. If it is not Apple or NetFlix initially, it will be someone else… you can bet on that.

It may not be quite apparent to the naked eye; but with a little diligence the negative profit margins issue is just a short term anomaly that should correct itself in the next three to four months.

In the meantime, we are just frustrated!

Anant Goel