Everyone who knows me understands that I am a full-fledged sci-fi geek. I have no issues with the characterization…I wear the badge proudly. I’ve been pretty pumped up about James Cameron’s upcoming effects extravaganza “Avatar” that purportedly pushes the art of 3D animation to never-before-seen limits. It comes out December 18th. Yesterday, LG launched an interesting Avatar tie-in promotion for its eXpo smartphone.

Beyond giving me another reason to anticipate the opening of the film, the promo also showcases the eXpo’s “killer app”: a detachable mobile projector. As far as I can tell, it’s the first mobile phone I’ve seen that features a projector. It almost makes me laugh…wondering what thing they’ll think of next to stuff into a cellphone. (Remember the Pomegranate?)

There’s a campaign microsite that features some video spots showing product functionality with a healthy dose of Avatar drooling. Beyond that, LG’s working with video game manufacturer Ubisoft to sponsor content for the platform-based tie-in movie game. LG will enable registered Gamespot users to obtain secret weapon “add-ons” to the game on the Xbox and PlayStation platforms. Read more about it here.

The two promos combined seem a little shotgun in appeal. The microsite seems to appeal to 20- and 30-something cubicle workers who might ostensibly use the phone as a substitute projector. (I doubt InFocus is shaking in their boots over this “threat”.) The game tie-in would seem to skew younger in appeal. Either way, the promo personally gives me an excuse to watch Avatar trailers a few more dozen times. I won’t be buying the phone, but to the campaign’s credit, I certainly know WAY more about the LG eXpo than I did 48 hours ago (which was nothing.)

And, now, so do you.