Microvision, a developer of display and imaging products, is getting ready to unveil at the Consumer Electronics show next week an advanced prototype of a handheld plug-and-play projector for mobile devices and applications.

The battery-powered projector, code-named Show, is based on Microvision's single micro-mirror laser scanning display technology and uses the company's proprietary ultra-miniature PicoP display engine.

The display engine that powers Show also can be embedded directly inside consumer electronics, according to Microvision. In fact, Microvision landed a deal with Motorola last year to incorporate its projector technology into Motorola's mobile devices, enabling users to project pictures and videos on large surfaces.

Show is the size of a PDA and can be connected directly to laptops, mobile phones, portable media players, digital cameras, and other mobile devices for projecting high-resolution images and video on different surfaces. The images can range from 12 inches to 100 inches, Microvision said. The projector's battery is expected to last 2.5 hours, enough for watching a full-length movie on a single charge.

The projector can display a widescreen, DVD-quality image, which translates into 848 by 480 pixels. Microvision claims that Show offers much better quality (five times the resolution) than competing products already available on the market, such as 2-inch display projectors.

"While mobile multimedia 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, high-resolution format instead of a 2-inch, Quarter Video Graphics Array display," said Alexander Tokman, Microvision's president and CEO, in a statement.

Microvision will make advanced prototypes of Show available to select equipment manufacturers and carriers in the first half of this year. Show is expected to be commercially available at the end of this year. CES attendees in Last Vegas can get a sneak peak of the product next week.