PlayStation 4 Projector PS4 MPCL1 1

Even under the much more conservative leadership of former PlayStation president Kaz Hirai, Sony can't resist the odd pointless gimmick. Take this pocketable projector, which is about the size of a couple of smartphones and is being marketed alongside the PlayStation 4. Due out in October, the MPCL1 isn't exactly cheap at $350, but it will allow you to beam some of your favourite games onto virtually any wall. Apparently, it doesn't even matter if the surface is flat – the fancy-pants laser technology inside the unit will focus the image anyway.

The downsides are that it's not full HD – it runs at the rather odd resolution of 1920x720 – and is actually quite dim, packing a brightness rating of just 32 lumens. To put that into perspective, Sony's top-of-the-line 4K image-slinger projects 2,000 lumens – but it also costs $50,000. The portable version does have an HDMI input, and is also capable of streaming video from a phone, tablet, or laptop via Wi-Fi. You can even use its 3,000mAh battery to charge your phone, which is a nifty little extra if you find yourself without access to a plug socket.

Of course, we can't imagine that there's going to be much of a market for this – much like many of the gizmos that the Japanese giant puts out. Wired hypothesises that it may simply be a case of Sony experimenting with the technology, as it prepares for a potential future in which all smartphones come equipped with a projector as standard. Seeing as the organisation makes a lot of its money from iPhone components these days, that's not a bad shout. For now, though, just think of this as a portable display which you can project onto your bedroom ceiling.

PlayStation 4 Projector PS4 MPCL1 2
PlayStation 4 Projector PS4 MPCL1 3

[source wired.com]