PicoPro
$349

A small and handy projector

If you've ever wanted to show a movie outside during the summer — or be prepared for a work presentation in any space — but haven't because of the hassle, the PicoPro projector from Celluon might be the answer.

The PicoPro (amazon.com) is small, as you might guess from the name. It's about the size of an iPhone 6 but about half an inch thick, and weighs just 6.7 ounces. Instead of a bulb, it uses red, green and blue lasers to pro­ject the movie.

The lasers are fairly bright, and as an added bonus, the image is sharp at any distance. The PicoPro's image gets better if you turn off the lights (or wait for the sun to set), especially if you want to project onto a large surface. As with other projectors, the screen can make a big difference. A white sheet or wall is a good choice, but a portable screen makes a big difference in brightness.

The projector can display video sent wirelessly via the Miracast technology used in many Android or Windows devices or from a mini-HDMI port, which I used with my iPhone and MacBook Pro.

The pros? It's very small, quiet, focus-free and has a good battery life. The cons? The speaker is weak, and there's no wireless support for iOS. Overall, it's a very handy projector well worth the cost.

DALLAS MORNING NEWS

anker phone charger
$25.99

Be prepared for fast charging

So you're leaving for an all-day outing in 30 minutes and your phone has only 22 percent of its battery left.

What do you do? Plug it in, of course, but is there anything you can do to maximize the amount of charge you'll get in such a short time? Sure, if you are prepared.

First, don't use the phone when you're charging it. Also, putting your phone in airplane mode will turn off all the radios, so your phone isn't searching for a Wi-Fi signal or even available to take calls.

Use a wall charger that can provide as much power as the phone can take. Anker makes one that has five USB ports and can charge quickly from every port.

Look for a charger that's designed to give at least 2 amps per port, which is what most tablets need to charge. Phones charge faster on the 2 amp ports.

DALLAS MORNING NEWS