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In the age of Chromecast and other over-the-air streaming methods, folks aren’t exactly yearning for a portable pico projector. Going one step shy of putting said projector into a phone (looking at you, Samsung), Sprint today introduced the LivePro, a combination mini projector and mobile hotspot powered by Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Sharing YouTube clips with your friends and family while on the go just got a little more weird.
Sprint is calling it a “world’s first,” but we’re left wondering if it was even necessary. Sprint has us asking that question quite often, so it’s nothing out of the usual. The projector portion features a “10-inch to 10-foot projection display” and the 3G/4G hotspot can offer up to 8 WiFi connections simultaneously. A 4-inch touch display gives access to that Jelly Bean user interface and the gadgets 5000mAh battery can even be used to charge a smartphone. Sprint (by way of ZTE) really thought of everything with this one.
The most ironic part? The projector support WiFi Miracast to wireless broadcast video content to the projector. OK, we get that this could be useful when there is no compatible TV nearby, but let’s be real. I suppose we get the angle that this could be a useful business tool, but most modern offices have more than enough equipment on hand to make easy work of showing slides at a meeting.
In short, the LivePro is a device that attempts to do everything you never needed it to do, and it doesn’t do it cheap. When purchased via a Sprint Easy Pay plan, the LivePro will run $18.75/month for 24 months, or $450 total. Welcome to the framily, LivePro!
Ouch! And it’s on Sprint.
As for use case though, movies while car camping! Well… if it is even bright enough for that. Most pico projectors aren’t though.
BUT…. Can it play flappy bird???
Alternate title: How many ways can one device drain a battery?
I’ll stick with the Chromecast that just got mirroring support enabled. I know it’s not a projector but I already have a TV and an N5… no thanks Sprint
Have you tried using your Chromecast outside of your home or your coporate network. Kind of tricky and clunky. Stick your chromecast into this device and now your casting everywhere.
I’ll give you guys that but for the price they’re asking for the only way I’d get this is if my job bought it for me
Chromecast won’t work when doing a presentation in a hotel business meeting room that has no TV’s installed.
FYI it projects @ 1080p
Oh, Sprint. I hope ZTE paid you to market it for them, not vice versa. I really do hope the merger goes through, so that John Legere can take over the nonsense executive decisions being made currently, to offer stuff like this. If Sprint actually paid money for this, then I’ll be upset because rather than wasting that money on this ish, how ’bout putting that money towards getting the network steady and right in L.A.!
This is a great collaboration tool for a group of people across different companies who can throw a chromecast into the hdmi and they all connect to wifi. People can take turns sharing screens, etc. I would really like to have a portable wifi router so my chromecast works in these circumstances. There is a huge need to simplify the conference room projection/slideshow scenarios. Let’s not pretend that it’s solved. Very clunky currently.
So like, I have over 4 devices that I actively charge each night. Now I would need to add one more? Bah!! My surge protector be sad. =.[
I Get it’s Sprint….but its no reason to diss this device. Who else has a 120″ TV? Anyone?
So it is a projector with 2g/3g Hotspot