Summer may be gone, but you can at least start planning for some fun next summer. Open Air Cinema has just released its new 16-foot inflatable projection screen that folds up easily into a 20-pound bag, making it very portable when traveling.

After the screen is fully inflated, it will remain in place and tethered using straps. Which doesn’t sound all that promising. It’s 220″ of widescreen heaven. So if you somehow survive this economy, why not have some fun next summer and fork over $999. Add some helium and give the whole neighborhood a treat.

Seems like every company is getting on the tiny projector bandwagon. So, it’s going to be hard for any of these to stand out. Adtec’s two new MP15A Series projectors certainly don’t look like they’re going to stand out from the crowd

As far as Specs, they’re pretty run of the mill,, with 15 ANSI lumens, a 200:1 contrast ratio, and VGA 640 x 480 resolution, they have an LED lamp with about a 20,000 hour life. The 15AW is white, while the 15AB is black. Other then the color, they are identical. Both will be available in December and January in Japan. No word yet on releases in other countries.

If you’re looking to fill your living room wall with HD video, here’s some good news. Epson just launched the PowerLite Cinema 700, a 720p home theater projector that retails for $799. It’s a decent deal, with 2,000 lumens and a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. It’s all ready to gift to yourself this holiday season via Epson’s online store, but at the moment it appears to be sold out. Hopefully they’ll have some more in stock soon. In this economy, that’s a great price to fill your wall with HD video.

Toshiba is delivering a new mobile projector which offers closed caption capabilities for those in need of this type of function. It is called the TLP-X150U and you’ll find it available for around $960.

The TLP-X150U, with its closed caption feature, allows the audience to read text or dialogue from a DVD player or television signal. It also offers what is described as a “PC-free” presentation, hosting a USB port so one can show a presentation stored in JPG format on a USB flash drive.

Many of us remember when projectors were bulky things the size of a suitcase. Not anymore. Now they are phone sized. NTT Docomo is getting into the act too. They unveiled a prototype cell phone that doubles as a video projector and demonstrated it at CEATEC JAPAN 2008. The projector would give you a 20-inch image from a distance of about 80 centimeters and roughly 100 minutes of viewing time, which is enough to watch TV shows, podcasts and short films, if not 2 hour movies.

Red, green and blue LEDs are used as the light source. Pixel count is 480 × 320 (HVGA), and its luminance is 7.5lm. The power consumption is about 3W. The company plans to have a working version of the device ready for market in about three years. The way the tech in these projector phones is shaping up, I wouldn’t be surprised if it took half that time.

NEC today debuted some new mobile projectors which provide what NEC says is easy setup and bright images. These new projectors are the NP41 and NP61, priced at around $1,000 and $1,400, respectively.

The  NP41 and NP61 offer up 2,300 and 3,000 lumens, respectively. Operation sound is said to be quiet at around 32dB in a select mode. Both are designed to fire up quickly, automatically detecting the source and projecting the image with auto input selection. Automatic vertical keystone correction is also included.

Meridian Audio is unveiling a serious new video projector and scaler which will definitely set you back a pretty penny or two. It is called the Meridian 810 Reference Video System and pricing is set around $185,000.

The Meridian 810 Reference Video System includes one serious projector capable of 4096 x 2400 pixels, or 10 megapixels, of display capability. That might not seem light much unless you consider, said Meridian, that a regular HDTV image at 1080i represents just 1 megapixel, while full-spec HD (1080p) is still only twice that. It also can deliver up to 4000 lumens and a contrast ratio of 10000:1.

SIM2 is showing off this week a new home theater projector for those who are a little more on a budget. It is still a little expensive, but if you have around $5,000 to spare the new Domino D60 can be yours.

The SIM2 Domino D60 is a single-chip DLP projection system is based upon the latest 1080p DarkChip3 0.95-inch DMD chipset from TI. It does all video resolutions up to 1080p and includes on-board processing for handling aspect ratios. The contrast ratio is said to be greater than 10,000 to 1.

Epson’s got a new fully-integrated, high-end home entertainment system ready for the marketplace just in time for the upcoming Olympics. It is called the Ensemble HD Cinema System and you’ll find it pricing around $7,000 for a 1080p system and $5,000 for a 720p version.

The Epson Ensemble HD Home Cinema System consists of a number of components. These include a PowerLite 3LCD HD multimedia projector, a 100-inch motorized screen which expands from the front channel, ceiling mounted speaker system, an A/V controller with built-in DVD player, speaker system, 150 watt subwoofer and a universial remote.

We all love our tiny devices, but what we trade off is larger screen size when watching videos. Here’s a nice compromise. Optoma’s Pico projector. It’s currently in the prototype phase, but Optoma plans to have a limited release in Europe this summer, followed by international availability in 2009.

It’s a projector for your cellphone or iPod, and can be used on anything of course. Whether it’s on a wall or some fat guys back, this device will have you covered. Because you wouldn’t want to not be entertained for even like ten minutes. Then you might have to interact with others.

InFocus is out with a new mobile projector reportedly small enough to hold in your hand. It is called the InFocus IN1100 and you’ll find it pricing around $1,300.

The InFocus IN1100 weighs around 2.75 pounds, making it a very lightweight projector. Key features include DLP BrillantColor technology, support for up to 2,200 ANSI lumens and integrated DisplayLink technology for connecting to a laptop via standard USB.

Toshiba is out today with word of a new small projector which weighs just under five pounds. It is called the Toshiba TDP-SP1U and prices at around $720.

The Toshiba TDP-SP1U, besides weighing 4.8 pounds, is noted for having 2,200 ANSI lumens, DLP BrilliantColor technology and an extended lamp life of up to 4,000 hours. Native resolution of the projector is SVGA (800 x 600).

BenQ recently launched a new dual lamp DLP projector. It is known as the BenQ SP920 and you’ll find it available come June.

The BenQ SP920 offers 280W dual lamps to output what BenQ says is the “same 6000 lumens as the competitions’ dual 300W bulbs for a 23.5% optical efficiency.” This lumen output is adjustable, including a special “Dual Brightest” mode, which employs the entire 6000 lumens for projection.

Though it likely won’t hold the title for long, Earth Trek has christened their new 90-805R projector the “world’s smallest”. It measures roughly 4 inches X 2 inches.

The device will give you a 22-inch diagonal image, though I have no idea from what distance. It sports an SD card slot and a 3.5 mm jack A/V input, built-in lithium battery good for 1-2 hours, MP4 player and built-in speaker. Nothing on price or a date yet, but expect it very soon. Not much else to see here, move along.

I always knew that the crystal skulls were powerful, but I had no idea that they were projectors. Actually. this far inferior replica looks like it had stitches and has had it’s skull elongated in back. Looks like lucite. Not nearly as attractive as the skulls Indy hunts for. But you have to do what you can when Indy merchandise is few and far between, compared to Star Wars merchandise.

Still, somebody in quality control should have put a stop to this cheesy thing. It comes with a set of slides featuring famous archaeological sites and scenes from the Indiana Jones films that can be projected on a wall when inserted into the Skull. You can pre-order it now for $39.99, and it’s expected to ship in October.