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Project-a-Phone eponymous gadgets links the screen image of nearly any major feature phone, smartphone or handheld to a PC for group presentations, demonstrations, trade shows and webinars, by turning any of these devices into a video projector. Unlike other mobile projection products, Project-a-Phone do not read the image via a cable, so proprietary connectors aren't an issue like past handheld presentation products.

This week, the company introduced an upgraded version to the first Project-a-Phone with the ICD-5000, which delivers some advanced features over the previous ICD-300 model. These include a higher resolution camera for taking still shots and video recordings of the screen.

By comparison to the ICD-300 , the ICD-5000 features a 5.17 megapixel (2592 x 1944 pixel resolution) to the ICD-300's mere 307K (640 x 480 pixel resolution) camera sensor. This allows screen captures up to 3 megapixels in quality.

Jeff Hunt, Project-a-Phone President and CEO, explained, “After introducing the ICD-300 earlier this year, we were overwhelmed by the positive response. With the ICD-5000 we now offer an affordable solution that can be used to present in environments where high resolution is critical.”

With both Project-a-phones, devices securely clamp into place and a live video image is read directly from the screen itself by a video camera and sent to a computer via a USB connection. Picture and video can be displayed on a laptop's screen, a monitor, through a projector, or shared over the Web.

The ICD-5000 streams video at 30 frames per second (fps) to the ICD-300's 20 fps, both at VGA. It can display images up to 800 x pixels in resolution. The picture below shows the difference between how they two appear. The ICD-5000's image is on the left and the ICD-300's on the right.

Project-a-Phone can take still images individually or in a programmed sequence, and display multiple screens simultaneously; when two project-a-phone's are connected to the same laptop. Software also lets you adjust and optimize images.

The device weighs 1.2 pounds in its 10 x 9 x 2-inch carrying case.

The ICD-5000 costs $395. However, you can upgrade a ICD-300 to the ICD-5000's capabilities for $195 with a replacement camera and attachment arm.