Lenovo Smart Cast Phone Projects Touchscreen Keyboard Onto Virtually Any Surface

Who knew keyboards could be so exciting? Hot on the heels of KFC’s Tray Typer comes a decidedly cooler keyboard from Lenovo. The company used the spotlight at Tech World today to announce the Smart Cast smartphone, which has a projector that can create a virtual keyboard on just about any surface. Tell me that isn’t way more exciting than a keyboard food tray. 

Lenovo released a YouTube video demonstrating the Smart Cast phone, but it hasn’t provided many details. The laser projector can output an image on the wall by projecting from the end of the phone when the device is lying flat. But swivel the phone’s projector (and then flip out a kickstand near the phone’s camera) and you can display a keyboard on your desk.


Although having support for projecting images to walls seems like the kind of feature that will come standard on phones three years from now, it’s the keyboard that would make a difference for many of us. How often are you halfway into thumbing a message and find yourself wishing you could just switch over to a keyboard to finish the missive and get on with life? The video also shows a user playing a game projected on the table, with the Smart Cast able to read his finger swipes.