Microvision stock got a lift today after the company announced a deal with Motorola to integrate its miniature projector into Motorola handsets. Microvision's PicoP projector has been a key product to test whether the company can successfully commercialize its technology and ensure its own survival.

The tiny laser projector works inside mobile devices to project content from the screen onto a larger surface, enabling big screen viewing of movies, videos and the like.

The companies announced a joint development agreement to integrate PicoP into a Motorola handset "for demonstration purposes." That sounded pretty tentative to me, so I asked Microvision spokesman Matt Nichols to clarify what the agreement means.

Until now, prototypes of the PicoP were not designed within functioning handsets, he said. This agreement takes it further by putting it into a real Motorola mobile device, validating the potential of Microvision's technology. As to what's ahead, "for competitive reasons" Motorola doesn't want to say what is beyond the initial test, he said.

However, Microvision is aiming to partner with a number of hardware makers to bring the projector to market, so it's no secret the company hopes its deal with the world's second largest handset maker will go a lot further than a demo.

The company's shares were up 12 percent today on the news, to $5.45.