Lenovo unveils phone with virtual keyboard
The built-in laser projector can be used to display a virtual keyboard or display and functions similar as the touch screen.
Chinese electronics giant Lenovo has unveiled a phone with a built-in laser projector that can be used to display a virtual keyboard or display.The interactive display can replicate the phone's touch screen, a full-size computer keyboard or even piano keys.The laser projector can also be used to beam images and videos onto walls.
The Smart Cast phone was unveiled at the company's Tech World conference in Beijing, where the firm also unveiled a new type of smartwatch. The smartphone with a built-in laser projector that allows users to project a "large virtual touch screen" onto a flat surface and do everything from stream video to playing Fruit Ninja. The laser projector measures just 34mm by 26mm by 5mm and, said Lenovo, does not need focussing to project sharp images onto walls or other flat surfaces.
The Smart Cast is not the first smartphone with a built-in projector. Samsung released the Galaxy Beam in 2012, followed two years later by the Galaxy Beam 2.The difference between Lenovo's new product and Samsung's previous ones is that the projected screen can be used as a touch screen.At Tech World, pianist Lang Lang played "The Entertainer" on the Smart Cast virtual keyboard with the full-size sheet music displayed from the smartphone’s projector, Lenovo said.
