Speculation: The Palm Screen of the Future?

One of the largest problems handhelds face is the conflicting desires for a small form factor but a large screen. A solution for this dilemma may be coming soon. Later this Fall, inVisio will be releasing a pair of devices based around Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) microdisplays. These are displays about the size of a postage stamp that, when held close to your eye, create a virtual image equivalent to a 19-inch 800x600 desktop monitor viewed at 2.5 feet. One of their new products, the eShades, is a pair of goggles that is meant to be worn like reading glasses and plugs into a PC Card or Compact Flash slot and consumes less than 1 watt of power.

If there was some version of this for a Palm handheld, would you use it? Would you have a problem putting on a pair of goggles to use your PDA? Let us hear your comments below.

Another inVisio product, the eCase, is a device about the size and shape of a TV remote with a single LCOS microdisplay that is meant to be used as a PDA and runs WinCE. Unfortunately, the only way to see the display is to hold it a few inches from the eye, which might make Graffiti a challenge.

Would you use some future Palm handheld it it had one of these displays? Please tell us what you think about it.

Want to see a demonstration of the two devices to learn more? Here is one in Real Video format (low or high resolution).

Is there some other new technology you have heard of that might someday make a good screen for handhelds? If so, let us know about it.