Beam is an Android-powered projector that fits into a light socket

We’ve certainly seen some awesome projectors in the tech world lately, but none quite like this. The Beam smart projector is powered by your Android device, and has a ton of functionality like waking you up in the morning with the latest news, showing you your social updates when you come home, and much more. But that’s not the most interesting aspect of this projector. Beam can screw into any size light socket so you can view your media wherever you’d like. Of course, you can use the included power cable to plug it into any wall outlet, but what’s the fun in that?

Why would you want a projector that screws into your light socket? The crowdfunding page has a few insights for you:

With Beam you can watch TV on your bedroom ceiling, play games using your phone or a Bluetooth controller, project recipes on your kitchen counter, stream content from your network drive, listen to music through its speakers, play projected board-games on your dining table, show a presentation or even use it in a restaurant to show the menu and turn the walls into digital paintings.

If you aren’t sold on this idea yet, Beam also runs Android. You can download any app from the Google Play Store to use on the projector, and it can all be controlled by your Android or iOS device. The projector is also borrowing a few functionality traits from the popular IFTTT service, allowing you to set up certain rules for the projector to follow. Take a look at the examples shown below:

Beam isn’t the beefiest projector we’ve seen on the market. It has a max brightness of 100 lumens, an 854 x 480 resolution, two 2-watt speakers, 8GB of storage, along with Wifi and Bluetooth capabilities. The company behind Beam will add a version with 16GB of storage if the product reaches $800K, new colored cables if it reaches $900K, a new Beam color if it reaches $1 million and the company will include Beam colored LED lights with the software control kit if it reaches $2 million.

Even for the specs, you’ll have to spend a pretty penny if you want to get your hands on one. Since all of the early bird specials are gone, you’ll have to pledge $399 to get yourself a Beam. They’ll even throw in a Beam hoodie if you spend $450.

This projector has been doing quite well so far. It’s already surpassed its goal of $200K with 31 days to go. If you’re interested in this smart projector, head to the Kickstarter page below for more info.