Interactive whiteboards for classrooms and offices cost around 2,000, not counting the complex set-up and projector maintenance. A cheaper alternative is the 500 Touchjet Pond. The manufacturer claims this portable pico projector can turn any flat surface into an interactive Android touchscreen.

This promise inspired hundreds of backers on crowd-funding site IndieGoGo in 2014, with Touchjet managing to raise nearly $900,000 in presales for the Pond, and the projectors are now shipping to customers.

The most impressive thing about the Touchjet Pond is the sheer amount of technology the company has been able to pack into such a tiny case. The body of the main unit measures just 3x11x10cm and it weighs just 300g. The white plastic shell has a little flex to it, but it survived a few minor drops in our testing. Its miniscule dimensions also make it an ideal travel companion if you are in the habit of giving presentations in rooms without projector installations.

Touchjet Pond: Android and touch controls

What really sets the Touchjet Pond apart from other projectors is that it has a built-in computer running Android 4.4, so the interface will be very familiar to Android users. Touchjet haven't made any big changes to the way KitKat works, so its interface will be instantly familiar. This also means there aren't any extra features to assist with the slightly unusual input methods. This isn't a big problem, though, as the low resolution of 854x480 pixels means buttons and icons are very large and easy to prod.

In the box with the projector you get two styluses, which are the key to turning your projection into a "touch screen". The styluses take two AAA batteries each which should last months as they communicate with the projector via IR.

Press the stylus onto your projection surface and its IR transmitter will activate (with a visible red light). This signal is read by the IR receiver on the projector, which turns this signal into a touch input. After you've calibrated the receiver using a pre-installed app on the projector, taps feel incredibly responsive. Using apps that rely on accurate touches such as a whiteboard or drawing software feel as if you're genuinely writing onto the projection surface, which is an impressive feat.

The only slight setback is that the IR receiver relies on line of sight, so you can't stand directly in front of the stylus when drawing or writing onto the projection surface. This means you have to stand off to the side, which can be a little awkward and uncomfortable.

If your projection surface is rough, like a textured wall, you can still draw without having wobbly lines caused by rough plaster or gaps between tiles by pressing a button on the stylus. You can then use the stylus by it hovering just above the surface without touching it.

You also get a remote control, which Touchjet calls the Airmouse. This works both as an IR remote which emulates keystrokes and a Bluetooth remote that controls an onscreen cursor. The latter works well and is particularly useful when you're not standing by your projection surface; you can still use Android in a relatively efficient fashion without having to leave your seat. We'd recommend avoiding the standard IR remote control mode as Android is poorly suited to arrow key-based controls; many apps don't work properly and you'll find some actions - such as playing videos from a YouTube search - impossible to select.

You can also control the Pond using your own Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, or you can plug in a regular USB keyboard or mouse into the microUSB port via a supplied microUSB to female USB adaptor.

You can also use this adaptor to move files from a regular USB flash drive onto the internal storage. There's 18GB of internal storage that's oddly divided into three partitions. Regardless, you download apps from the Google Play store just as you would with any other Android device.

Running on a dual-core 1.66GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, games such as Jetpack Joyride, SimCity BuildIt and video streaming programs such as YouTube and Netflix all ran relatively smoothly. It should be noted, however, that the device itself and its controllers do not have gyroscopes in them, so any apps that rely on movement controls won't work.

Touchjet Pond: image quality

Inside the casing is an 80 lumen LCD lamp. 80 lumens isn't a lot, but you only need to darken a room slightly to get a usable image. We placed the projector at varying distances from different surfaces and were able to nail down adequate image quality on all of them. You'll want a flat, white, shiny surface like a whiteboard for the best image quality, but we found metal cupboards, tiled ceilings, textured walls and dark-coloured carpets to all be usable projection surfaces.

Lamp life is rated at 20,000 hours, which is four times as long as many larger projectors that use conventional lamps. The maximum image size before image quality and brightness starts to deteriorate is around 80in, which can be reached from about two metres away. Unsurprisingly, at this size and distance, you'll definitely need to switch the lights off to get a viewable image.

The projector has a built-in battery that can run for up to two hours in an economy mode that sets the lamp to 50 lumens. This is extremely useful if you need to give a short presentation without being encumbered by wires.

It's therefore a shame the resolution is a rather tiny 854x480 pixels. While colours are perfectly acceptable, the small pixel count means images don't hold up to close scrutiny particularly well -obviously blurry edges between onscreen objects, backgrounds and text are a particular problem.

The projector has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity along with a MicroUSB port, Mini HDMI port (cable not supplied, disappointingly) and a 3.5mm audio jack. You'll definitely want the latter (or a Bluetooth speaker) as the internal mono speaker isn't very loud. The internal fan is thankfully fairly quiet, whirring at a volume that doesn't overwhelm the speaker.

Touchjet Pond: Conclusion

There's a lot to like about the Touchjet Pond. Its flexibility is restricted by its relative lack of brightness and limitations with its IR-linked stylus mean it can be awkward to use. Given the price however, which is so much lower than a traditional interactive whiteboard system, we're willing to forgive these faults.

It's also worth remembering that the Pond is at its best and most portable if there are Android apps that meet your whiteboarding and other productivity needs. If not you can get around this by connecting a Windows or Mac laptop via HDMI. Even so, the Touchjet Pond is a worthy alternative to far pricier interactive whiteboards.

Verdict

Not perfect, but the Touchjet Pond is still worth considering for conference rooms and classrooms alike

Lamp type: 80 lumen LED

Display type: 1cm DLP

Resolution: 854x480 pixels

Lamp life: 20,000 hours

Battery life: 2 hours (eco mode)

Dimensions: 3x11x10cm

Weight: 300g

Processor: Dual-core 1.66GHz ARM Cortex-A9

Storage: 18GB usable

Wireless connectivity: 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Ports: Mini HDMI, microUSB, 3.5mm audio out

Operating system: Android 4.4 KitKat

Handheld projectors have been around for several years, and Philips' new PicoPix is a third-generation LED-based device. With a rated brightness of just 20 lumens, it isn't the brightest we've seen, but is just about on a par with its competition, including Samsung's SP-H03. Although the resolution is relatively low at 800x600, it's a step above most pocket projectors. The PPX1020 is convenient, too, since it requires only a USB cable for power and data.

It's about the size of a coaster and only 22mm thick. There's no keystone correction, which is odd considering the flip-out foot for raising the front up slightly. The resulting image is only marginally skewed, but you're better off attaching it to the bundled mini tripod using the screw mount underneath since most tables or office desks are too low to project an image high enough.

Unlike the Samsung SP-H03 and other pico projectors that have a DMD (digital micromirror device), the PPX1230 has a Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) chip. It relies on the same red, green and blue LED light source which cycles quickly between the three colours to create the impression of a full-colour image.

Unfortunately it isn't quick enough, and the resulting rainbow effect was the worst we've seen from any projector. It wasn't noticeable just in high-contrast scenes (where many single-chip DLP projectors show their weakness), but also occasionally in full-colour images. This became highly irritating and the relatively slow cycle speed also made the image appear to flicker.

Colours were very oversaturated, and as there are no image controls whatsoever, there's nothing you can do about this. Although you're unlikely to notice it, the backlight is uneven and our test unit had a bright spot in the top-right corner.

Showing static images is no problem, and there's very little lag via the USB cable. Videos, however are another matter. As with other USB display devices we've seen in the past, attempting to display video at 30 frames per second stretches the bandwidth to its limit, and even standard definition YouTube clips showed tearing when there was significant motion in the image. This is where it appears the video has been split horizontally and is out of sync. Relatively static clips looked passable, but if you want a projector for showing videos, don't choose the PPX1020.

Since the projector operates via USB, you first have to install the drivers which are conveniently stored on the internal memory. Each time you connect the PPX1020, you have to click on the PicoPix Viewer to duplicate your laptop's desktop. As Windows doesn't see the projector as a secondary display, mirroring is the only option. Plus, you'll have to set the resolution to 800x600 to obtain readable text, and back to your usual resolution afterwards. This is far from convenient.

Under normal office lighting, the LED is bright enough for a 20-30in image, but you'll need a surprisingly long throw distance to achieve this. At 7ft, for example, the PPX1020 projects only a 52in image.

The PicoPix is competitively priced at 162 ex VAT. However, the rainbow effect is pronounced, and video is pretty much out of the question. Unless you'll only use it for PowerPoint presentations, we simply can't recommend it.

So what's our verdict?

Verdict

Reasonably cheap compared to the competition, but it also lacks features and can only be used with a PC or laptop. Image quality isn’t bad, but it’s ruined by flicker, the rainbow effect and severe tearing in videos. The Samsung SP-H03 costs a little more, but is superior in every other way.

Display Size: 5-81in Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels Display technology: LCoS, RGB LED Brightness: 20 ANSI lumens Contrast Ratio: 500:1 Connections: mini USB2 Adjustments: N/A Dimensions (W x D x H): 87 x 87 x 22mm Speakers: N/A Security: none Warranty: one year RTB Part code: PPX1020 Power consumption: Bus powered

Most of the pocket-size projectors we've seen so far have had serious flaws that prevented us recommending them. However, Samsung's latest attempt, which is around the size and weight of a Rubik's cube, goes a long way to making a pico projector a credible option.

Unlike some of its competition, the SP-H03 has a battery. This means you don't need a second power supply if you're hooking it up to your laptop to make a presentation. The battery lasts around two hours, so should be enough for at least a couple of meetings before you have to connect the power supply.

Another highlight is the built-in media player, which means you don't even need a laptop to show a PowerPoint slideshow, some photos or a video. The 1W mono speaker is surprisingly loud, and is good enough for the odd promotional video soundtrack, but you wouldn't want to use it for a feature-length movie. The media player has a music section, but we can't see many people using this.

As well as PowerPoint decks, the SP-H03 supports a wide range of formats including DOC, XLS and PDF (plus the Office 2007 variants) but oddly not RTF. Plus, it can handle plenty of video formats including MKV, M4V and MP4. It played some of our MP4 test files, but not others. While you won't have to re-encode most videos for the SP-H03, you will have to resize photos, at it can't handle JPEGs over 1,200 pixels wide.

The media player interface looks slick, and you can also play files from microSD cards up to 16GB and USB flash drives of any size. Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, it doesn't support portable USB hard disks. Our test disk refused to work at all unless we plugged in the SP-H03's power supply, and even then, it would play only the first few seconds of videos.

Compounding the problem are the touch-sensitive controls on top of the projector. These are all but invisible until you touch one: they then light up, but your fingertip still has no way to feel for each individual control while your eyes are concentrating on the information on screen. Physical buttons would have been a far more sensible choice.

Image quality is a little better than we'd expected, although still far from that of a full-size projector. The widescreen resolution of 854x480 is not only low, but it's also not a standard resolution in Windows. When you connect a laptop using the VGA adaptor, you'll likely have to settle for 800x600, which makes text look fuzzy and can occasionally play havoc with aspect ratios. The odd resolution does more closely match that of high-end Android smartphones, but of those models with video output ports, almost all have micro HDMI ports so they won't be able to connect to the HDMI-less SP-H03 anyway.

Colours are fairly realistic, though, and contrast reasonable. As we've seen with other pocket projectors, it's impossible to get perfect focus across the entire screen when the top is in focus, the bottom is slightly out; the corners are fuzzy when the centre is pin-sharp.

The LED is rated at 30 ANSI lumens, which means it can project a slightly larger image than most rivals in similar ambient lighting conditions. However, you can only get away with small sizes under normal office lighting, only increasing to around 60in (5ft) in near darkness. Achieving a screen this size requires an 84in (7ft) throw distance.

Currently, there's a fairly wide choice of these ultra-portable projectors, and the Samsung SP-H03 is one of the best. It isn't perfect but it's fairly quiet, can show videos and PowerPoint slides without needing another device, and it's not too expensive either. The battery means it really can act as a standalone device, which is perfect if you need to turn up to a meeting and give a presentation immediately. Once you're finished, you can use it to watch a big-screen movie in your hotel room. As long as you don't want it to do anything else, it's a good choice.

So what's our verdict?

Verdict

While flawed, this is the best pico projector we've seen so far. If you're planning on using it for PowerPoint presentations, bear in mind there's no remote control for the internal media player.

Display Size: 9-80in Resolution: 854 x 480 Display technology: DLP, RGB LED Brightness: 30 ANSI lumens Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 Connections: D-Sub (via bundled adaptor), composite video and stereo phono audio (via bundled adaptor), mini USB, 3.5mm headphone Adjustments: N/A Dimensions (W x D x H): 70 x 70 x 38mm Weight: 210g with battery; 630g with accessories Speakers: 1 x 1W Security: none Warranty: Three-year RTB Part code: SP0351VBX/EN POWER CONSUMPTION 0W standby 12W active

As mobile devices become increasingly capable, their biggest drawback is their tiny screens. Stick a pico projector inside, though, and the screen can be far bigger than the device itself.

There are various stand-alone pico projectors on sale from around 200, and Samsung is leading the charge for projector-phones. Meanwhile, Nikon is doing the same for cameras with the S1100pj. This second-generation model is both brighter as a projector (up from 10 to 14 lumens) and can take higher-resolution photos (up from 12 to 14 megapixels). More importantly for business users, as well as projecting photos and videos taken with the camera, it can connect to a PC or Mac via USB and duplicate the computer's desktop on the projector.

Ignore the projector and this is a typical mid-price camera that we'd expect to sell for around 150. There's a respectable 5x zoom range but the f/3.9-5.8 lens captures around half as much light as f/2.8 lenses. Meanwhile, the excessive 14-megapixel sensor resolution means that very little light hits each pixel.

The upshot of these two factors is noisy images. Outdoor shots were a little grainy, with an indistinct haze to subtle textures. Indoor shots were smudged and blotchy. The automatic mode restricted the ISO speed to 80-400 to avoid the worst excesses of noise, but this meant that suppressing the flash in low light resulted in blur due to camera shake.

We didn't warm to the touch-screen interface, either. The layout is simple enough but it was a little unresponsive. Worst of all, the camera sometimes took a second or two to respond, but after repeated prods, the menu suddenly flew off in unexpected trajectories.

Ironically for a Nikon product, the S1100pj is a better projector than it is a camera. The 14-lumen brightness is useless in daylight but under household artificial light it produces a useable 20in image from about a metre away. Focus is a little soft and colours are washed out but it's good enough for sharing snaps or videos. The supplied IR remote works elegantly and saves stabbing at the touchscreen, and a cheap mini tripod makes an effective stand to position it.

Picture quality was the same when connected to a laptop, and installation went without a hitch. However, business meetings are a more demanding environment than showing off your holiday snaps; here the projector's limitations become more significant. There's no mains socket and it can't draw power over the USB connection. The 60-minute battery life is cutting it fine for the average meeting. The resolution of the projected image is limited to a cramped 640x480 pixels, although this is a common limitation of many pico projectors.

The main problem is the image brightness. Even with the blinds drawn, the usable screen size isn't much bigger than a laptop screen, and far dimmer. We can't imagine many situations where the SP110pj would be a better choice than a laptop either by itself, or paired with a standard projector.

It is possible to export PowerPoint presentation as JPEGs and load them onto an SD card, which means a laptop isn't necessary. The process should be much easier than it is, though the PDF manual describes a convoluted folder and file name structure that must be adhered to in order for the JPEGs to be recognised. Users are left to find a batch-renaming utility for the files, or rename each one manually.

However, as convoluted as this process is, it might just come in useful in situations where a conventional projector and laptop aren't feasible. Impromptu presentations in a bar or restaurant come to mind, albeit with a shudder of self-loathing at having contemplated the idea.

Verdict

A combined digital camera and pico projector is more likely to appeal to teenagers than business users, but it does have its moments in the workplace. We’re not convinced by the ability to use the projector with a laptop, as the dim image is likely to be overpowered by even a small laptop screen. The option to play PowerPoint slides – saved as JPEGs – from a SD card makes more sense. The camera function is a disappointment, though. We’d be more inclined to go for the 3M MPro150, a dedicated pico projector that’s almost as expensive but that can read Office documents straight from a MicroSD card.

Photo resolution: 14.0 megapixels Video resolution: 1280x720 pixels, 30fps Lens: 28-140mm (5x), f/3.9-5.8 LCD: 3in, 460,000-pixel touchscreen Connections: SDXC slot, USB and AV ports Power: Li-ion battery Projector brightness: 14 lumens Projector resolution: 640x480 pixels Accessories: USB and AV cables, IR remote

This year has seen several technologies move from being new kids on the block to becoming firmly entrenched in the mainstream. Netbooks have established themselves as essential business tools, smartphones have become de-rigueur for the business professional and the browser war moved to new heights of competitiveness.

Operating systems

We also got new operating systems from Microsoft and Apple and new flavours of Linux.

In fact, the first review of the year was a first look at Windows 7 beta, which gave us our first clear hint that Microsoft was working hard on righting the wrongs of Vista. Even at this early stage, the improved interface, the easier navigation and genuinely useful new features were apparent to see.

In the world of operating systems, Microsoft didn't have it all to itself, as Apple launched its Snow Leopard update in September. Though controversy raged as many decried it as no more than a service pack for Leopard, though at 25 at least it wasn't outrageously priced.

This was followed in November by the latest flavour of Linux, in the guise of a Karmic Koala, the interesting name for Ubuntu 9.10, which for a free OS proved to be really very good indeed, and certainly worth a look for any company thinking about divorcing Microsoft.

The best tech We later saw some interesting tech in the form of the Linotop 2, a very small, very cheap Linux PC, and also an early pico projector, though we weren't too impressed with the image it delivered.

Asus's Eee PC range was still doing the business for netbooks with the 1000HE model offering an effective mix of a decent keyboard and good battery life.

Apple gave its venerable white MacBook a refresh, giving it a unibody shell just like its more expensive Pro siblings, albeit in white. Apple also upped its iMac screen size to a very impressive 27in. We also drooled at the sleek but expensive new lines of the Dell Adamo.

Search and online

Microsoft also brought its Bing search engine out of Beta, claiming that thanks to a large amount of local optimisation, the UK version was ready for prime time. Bing now even integrates the results from super clever calculation engine that is Wolfram Alpha, but we'll have to wait until next year to see whether Microsoft has made any serious dent in Google's market share, though as it pretty much admitted, it would take what it could get.

Microsoft also impressed us with the heavily revised Internet Explorer 8, which not only laid on the features, but actually made concessions to true internet standards, instead of foisting Microsoft's own upon developers. We liked it at the time as it was a polished product that was a great improvement on its predecessors, but as the competitors have ramped things up in the speed stakes it once again looks dated.

Google for next year?

Next year though could be all about Google, as we got a taster of next year's big event, in the form of Google Chrome OS, which is set to be, at the very least, a disruptive force in the world of netbooks.

The life of the road warrior has never been a glamorous one. Lugging briefcase, laptop and projector around from sales meeting to sales meeting is enough to get even the most doughty of professionals down, especially when each item in that list can weigh in excess of three kilos.

With the advent of more affordable laptops at least one element in that equation has changed in the past year or two, but the projector has lagged behind. Even portable models tend to weigh more than 2kg, and once cables, bags and power adapters have been taken into account, the weight can escalate pretty quickly.

But things are about to change and mobile professionals now have a new breed of projector to choose from: bringing glitz and gloss to the world of mobile presentation is the pico projector.

Championed by several big companies at CES at the beginning of the year, they're the next must have. At the recent Mobile World Congress show, there were even some built into mobile phones."

Of the stand alone models, Aiptek and Dell were the first to offer them for sale; now 3M has come to the party.

The best things...

Let's not beat about the bush here: the MPro110 is a miniature marvel, in every sense of the word. It measures 50mm in width, 115mm in length and is 22mm thick. To put that in perspective, its footprint is smaller than that of an iPhone and its height from the table no more than a slim novella. Its weight is equally inconsequential at a mere 160g less than some of the beefier Windows smartphones we've seen and its built-in 1,050mAh lithium ion battery means the only extra you need to carry with you (other than your laptop) is the VGA cable.

It's a simple thing, too, and apart from the lens at the front and focus wheel, control switch on the left hand side and input ports at the rear, there's very little story to tell. You simply plug the MPro110 into your laptop and off you go. There are no settings at all to fiddle with, other than the focus wheel.

There's more to get excited about under the hood, though. Unlike the majority of portable and installation projectors, which are based on either transmissive LCD or Texas Instruments' nano-mechanical reflective DLP technology, the MPro110 boasts an 11.9mm LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) chip. This works in a similar way to DLP, but instead of millions of tiny mirrors it uses liquid crystals directly applied to a silicon chip. These then reflect light just like the mirrors on a DLP chip.

In use

It's all very exciting, but does it make sense practically? Can you really use such a tiny projector to make that all important sales pitch? Well, you'd certainly make a big first impact, and when you're searching for the finest edge over the competition that can be worth something. But that, alas, is where your client's positive inclinations would begin to turn negative. The reason? It's simply not very good.

The first big problem with the MPro110 arises from its tiny size, low weight and, to a lesser extent, the short length of the VGA cable supplied in the box. Where standard projectors have enough mass to remain where you put them, the 3M moves if you so much as sneeze in its general direction.

As well as being incredibly light it has no rubber feet, which makes it very difficult to position accurately. The result is constant fiddling and refocussing, and the stumpy VGA cable means you'll have to move your laptop as often as you move the projector. The only bright spot is a standard threaded tripod mount on the projector's underside a small tripod is an essential accessory.

The projector's optics prove the second hurdle to practicality, and here the small size begins to impinge more seriously on its usability. There's no vertical shift built into the lens arrangement, so you either need a tall tripod or a very low screen to make the most of your projected image. The throw ratio of 0.53 (width/distance) is also a problem. In order to project a picture larger than your average laptop screen, this means you need to be at least a metre away from the surface you're projecting onto.

The quality of the glass struggles to keep up too. Though it's straightforward to get a sharp, image at the MPro110's native resolution of 640 x 480, which is more than we can say for some other pico projectors we've seen, there are dark patches evident in the corners (vignetting), and pincushion distortion on all sides.

But the final, and most problematic of this projector's foibles is its lack of brightness. The manual claims it will project images up to 70in in size from a distance of 1.8m, but to see anything you'd have to tape blackout material to your windows and project in complete darkness. At closer range, lights need to be dimmed in order for readability to be achieved, and even when you get a bright, watchable image, colours are subdued and highlights bleached out.

It's a shame, but if there's anything the 3M MPro110 clearly demonstrates, it's that pico projector technology is not quite ready for mass market, or even niche, consumption just yet. The idea is a good one and 3M has done its level best to make it an attractive proposition with its rechargeable battery, VGA input and impossibly tiny size.

It's surprisingly cheap too, but the bottom line is that it's simply too impractical to consider splashing 220 on. Adventurous early adopters may be tempted, but unless you want an expensive toy cluttering your shelf after a couple of outings, we'd counsel caution.

Verdict

Impossibly small and with some neat touches, but the MPro110 shows that pico projector technology is not yet ready for the market.

Specifications: Chip technology: 0.47in LCOS chip Resolution: 640 x 480 resolution Bulb type: LED lamp, Throw ratio: 0.53 throw ratio Connectivity: VGA and composite input Features: tripod mount, Warranty: 1yr warranty Dimensions: 50 x 115 x 22mm (WDH) Weight: 160g