For new Sanyo projector, short is better

(Credit: Akihabara News)

In our remote-driven society, distance is often considered a good thing. The farther away a gadget can work, the better.

So in this sense, a new projector from Sanyo is somewhat counter-intuitive: Its biggest selling point is how close it can be positioned to the image it's projecting. The LP-XL40 has an "ultra-short-focus lens" that can project the equivalent of an 80-inch screen from just 3.15 inches away, according to Akihabara News.

Why is this a good thing? Think about all the tight spots where it can work--such as mounted on a wall directly above the presentation (as pictured here), without worry of irritating shadows from big heads blocking your beautiful PowerPoint slides. On second thought, maybe it's not necessarily a good thing after all.