WowWee: Cinemin Swivel!

It's not often a new product makes a big splash at our house.  My kids are so jaded when it comes to electronics since they each have access to an iPod, laptop computer, Wii, and DS.  But when the new WowWee Cinemin Swivel arrived at our home, it was an astonishingly huge hit.

When it arrived, my 14-year old daughter was the first to open it up.  With barely a glance at the instructions, she had it charging up.  After about 3 hours of charging straight out-of-the-box, it was ready to go.

First of all, let me explain what the Cinemin Swivel is:  It is a multi-media projector for your handheld device like an iPhone or iPod Touch, and even your laptop with a few added accessories.  Size-wise, imagine the size of a small handheld flashlight, or a large candy bar, this amazing little device is what is called a "Multimedia Pico Projector".  At a mere 172 grams, this pico projector delivers HVGA (480x320 resolution).  HVGA stands for "half-size" VGA resolution, and other devices that use this include the iPhone, Palm Pre and Blackberry Bold 9000.   The Cinemin Swivel is designed by WowWee Technologies and is powered by Texas Instruments DLP technology.  It has a unique adjustable 90-degree hinge for ceiling projection, but your imagination is the limit to where you can project it.  Think camping and projecting it on the side of your tent, or outdoors by the swimming pool against a white sheet hanging by a clothes line. 

We only have one TV in our home, that is a rare thing these days.  So when this arrived, we set it up in my office where I handle all of my photography work.  This is the perfect device to show clients our work and to show the occassional slide show.  But it was impressive showing a movie my daughter saved on her iPod Touch.  She played "Iron Man" and it was really impressive with a great resolution and clarity, and about a 60-inch display.  There is a built in sound system, but I would  prefer a more robust audio system which shouldn't be too hard to configure.  Using my photography backdrop stand, we set up a white backdrop and displayed the show against it.  It was perfect. 

Currently one of the best places to get this on line is at Brookstone.com or Amazon.com - for $299.95.  The Cinemin Swivel is an in-demand gift for the holidays, so don't be caught short - get yours today!

Link here for more information on the WowWee Cinemin Swivel.