iSuppli predicts that over the next few years shipments of embedded pico projectors, in mobile devices like smartphones, will skyrocket from a negligible number today to more than 3 million units in 2013.

So, according to the research firm, you may eventually no longer need your laptop or a full-size projection system to give a presentation. Rather, all that'll be required to get your point across to a roomful of people is a smartphone and white wall.

Despite their small sizes, pico projectors produce large displays, with some capable of showing bright, 50-inch diagonal images on a wall or other surface, according to iSuppli. As a result, they can overcome the limited screen-sizes of handhelds to allow people to use their mobile devices to give presentations or, it would seem, show a movie or slide show.

"Mobile electronic devices offer consumers and corporate users the portability they desire, causing an increasing number of users to employ products like smartphones and netbook PCs as their primary platforms for computing and Internet access," said iSuppli principal analyst Sanju Khatri in a statement. "However, a major obstacle blocking the use of mobile devices in this fashion has been their tiny displays relative to desktop PCs,” Khatri added. “Embedded pico projectors promise to enlarge these displays, making mobile devices more capable as primary computing and Internet-access platforms."

It is likely Pico projectors will find initial acceptance in the corporate market, allowing businesspeople to make presentations directly from their mobile PCs, smartphones or PDAs. However, they also have a strong allure to consumers, allowing large-sized display of video, Internet sites and applications.

In January, Samsung unveiled the first smartphone, call Show, with an embedded pico projector. This device uses Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing projection technology and is only available in South Korea. See video below for a video of the Samsung Show in action at January's CES conference and here to learn more about the Show.