Microvision to Unveil Handheld ''Plug-and-Play'' Pico Projector for Mobile Devices That Delivers a Home Theater-Sized Viewing Experience

Microvision to Unveil Handheld ''Plug-and-Play'' Pico Projector for Mobile Devices That Delivers a Home Theater-Sized Viewing Experience

Wednesday January 2, 6:29 am ET
Ultra-thin laser projector prototype with connectivity to mobile phones, PDAs, PMPs, digital cameras and laptops to be displayed during CES 2008

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), developer of light-scanning technologies for display and imaging products, will unveil at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week an advanced prototype of the first handheld, battery-powered, ‘plug-and-play’ projector based on the company’s single micro-mirror laser scanning display technology.

Code-named SHOW™, Microvision’s stand-alone pico projector intended for mobile device applications, is powered by the company’s proprietary ultra-miniature PicoP™ display engine. Microvision will preview the PDA-sized, fully self-contained, battery operated, full-color laser projector to select global OEMs, mobile carriers, content providers, development partners and members of the media.

SHOW connects directly to laptops, mobile phones, portable media players (PMPs), digital cameras and other mobile devices to project large, high-resolution images and video onto any surface. The images projected can range anywhere from 12 inches (30 cm) to 100 inches (2.5 m) in size depending upon the projection distance and are always in focus. The production version of the device is expected to offer approximately 2.5 hours of continuous battery life, sufficient to watch a full-length movie without a need for recharging.

Microvision says that SHOW can project a widescreen, WVGA (848 X 480 pixels), DVD quality image — offering a very different experience from the tiny 2-inch display solutions available today on various portable devices. Designed for viewing high-quality projected images in a variety of controlled lighting environments, SHOW offers more than five times the resolution compared with competing miniature projectors that typically only offer QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels).

At the heart of SHOW is Microvision’s PicoP display engine, measuring close to 5 cc in volume and approximately 7 mm thick (approximately the size of a thin mint chocolate candy). Microvision envisions the PicoP display engine being used not only in stand-alone accessory products like SHOW, but also embedded directly into mobile consumer products.

“Consumers want better display solutions that will enrich their experience in watching TV, videos and movies, in playing games, and in browsing the web from their cell phones and other mobile devices,” points out Alexander Tokman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Microvision. “While mobile multi-media subscription services are on the rise, handset manufacturers, content providers and service providers view tiny cell phone displays as a barrier to stronger consumer adoption of their products and services. With Microvision’s SHOW you could view and share everything ranging from YouTube videos, MSN newscasts, and Google search results to PowerPoint presentations, feature-length films, and family photos in a large, full-color, hi-resolution format instead of a 2-inch, QVGA display.”

“SHOW is a significant milestone for Microvision and is proof that our technology is maturing according to plan and is close to being market-ready. Microvision’s low-profile and low-power design, supported by leading supply chain partners, is very attractive to numerous mobile handset device manufactures, carriers and content providers. We believe that this milestone is meaningful not only for our company but for the industry at large,” concluded Tokman.

Microvision’s advanced prototypes of SHOW will be available in limited quantities to select OEM and carrier partners for customer feedback and applications development in the first half of 2008. The release of a commercial product is targeted for the end of 2008. Demonstrations of SHOW will be held during CES 2008, and again at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona in February 2008.

About Microvision (www.microvision.com)

Microvision provides a display technology platform to enable next-generation display and imaging products for pico projectors, vehicles displays, and wearable displays that interface to mobile devices. The company also manufactures and sells its bar code scanner product line which features the company's proprietary MEMS technology.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

Certain statements contained in this release, including those relating to product benefits and performance, timing of product releases, and product applications, as well as statements containing words like "expects," "could," “believes” and other similar expressions, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the Company's forward-looking statements include the following: our ability to raise additional capital when needed; our financial and technical resources relative to those of our competitors; our ability to keep up with rapid technological change; our dependence on the defense industry and a limited number of government development contracts; government regulation of our technologies; our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights and protect our proprietary technologies; the ability to obtain additional contract awards; the timing of commercial product launches and delays in product development; the ability to achieve key technical milestones in key products; dependence on third parties to develop, manufacture, sell and market our products; potential product liability claims and other risk factors identified from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in circumstances or any other reason.

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