The world finally lights up to LED Lighting.. well, at least the New York Times has..
Found this today on Digg, regarding LED technology. I mean, it’s only been what, 3 years since we started this blog, and at least 5 since we started getting interested in the technology, and we thought we were 10 years late to the game.. sheesh, guess this is a good indication of what it takes for the mainstream media to care about things like this, bad economy, bad energy, bad everything, so they run stories like this about conservation. It’s a great thing, but it’s just too bad we dont’ see stories like this on more major networks and news outlets.
Here’s the story from the NYT..
If you’re looking for the latest advancements in incandescent light bulb technology, one place you don’t want to go is to a lighting trade show. I learned that in about five minutes last week, while touring the aisles of Lightfair, the lighting industry’s big convention, held this year in Las Vegas.
In case you didn’t know it, Thomas Edison’s invention, in use for more than 100 years to illuminate virtually everything, is quickly heading for the exits. What will eventually take its place is the light-emitting diode (L.E.D.) bulb, made up of tiny light sources the size of a head of a pin that use a fraction of a regular light bulb’s electricity, produce little heat, and last for tens of thousands of hours of use.
L.E.D.This is not some comic book dream. The exhibits at Lightfair were filled with new L.E.D. products, many shipping now: standard-type room lights, under-counter lights, commercial spotlights, garden lights and huge L.E.D. displays designed to light the Empire State Building.
I saw L.E.D.’s controlled by a cell phone. Forgot to turn on your porch light? Just dial in a command.
L.E.D.’s are not widely used today because of their high cost: An L.E.D. bulb can run as high as $90. Even if they would save money in the long run, few people are willing to spend that much up front.
But costs will come down, and when they do, expect to see the end of what is in essence an interim technology: the compact fluorescent bulb. Fluorescents, while using much less power than incandescent light bulbs, are sometimes too bulky, often can’t be dimmed and produce light that is less pleasing than incandescents.
L.E.D.’s, on the other hand, can produce literally millions of colors, which you will be able to witness yourself at the end of this year, when Philips, the Dutch electronics giant, introduces its $199 Living Colors product into the U.S. market.
Living Colors is Philips’ L.E.D. Trojan horse, an electronic lava lamp that uses L.E.D.’s to project a palette of 16 million colors against a wall. Operated with a remote control, you change the projected color by touching a point on the iPod-like color wheel, then push other buttons to decrease the brightness or alter the color’s saturation.
The company has already sold 250,000 Living Color products in Europe; in the U.S., it will offer the regular model plus a $79 mini version that offers a limited palette and no remote.
I’ve been playing with one for several weeks, and after some initial resistance to its corniness, I’ve taken a liking to it. Every night, I set the color of one wall of our bedroom to a different hue, hopefully matching our moods. It’s a nice change from standard yellow light and gives some added dimension to the space.
Philips points out that you can set up a chain of Living Color units around a room and control them all with a single remote. For me, that’s just a bit over the top. I don’t fancy turning my house into a Las Vegas facade.
New LED Glasses Promise to Banish Jet Lag
Found this over on Vagabondish..
A new gadget promises to make jet lag a thing of the past. The Re-Time Jet Lag Glasses look like any other pair of glasses, but are fitted with LED lights that help reduce the effects of an altered body clock.
Developed by a sleep researcher, Re-Time uses no ultra violet radiation, and relies on the blue-green colors emitted by the LEDs to affect changes in the body clock or circadian rhythm, which causes jet lag. They’re portable, inexpensive and battery operated with a single 9-volt battery good for up to 20 hours of use.
It’s not just frequent fliers who can benefit from Re-Time. Those who work on night shifts or are battling winter blues can also use these to set their internal clock straight.
Plus, they look awesome. That is, if you’re into the “Tom Cruise in Minority Report” look or you like trying to convince fellow passengers on the red-eye that you’re from the future.
Audi R8 Isn’t shy about letting us know they use LED Lighting in their sweet rides
Found this on engadget, personally we love Audi’s looks and this doesn’t surprise us, Germany has always delivered great automobiles and features. But, is this just marketing, or a step in the right direction for the company?
Audi has already manged to work some LEDs into a few of its cars (concepts and otherwise), but the automaker has gone all out with its latest Audi R8, which employs LEDs for seemingly every lighting function. That includes the 24-LED running lamps the R8 had before, along with some brand LED high and low beam headlights, and LED turn signals, which add up to some 54 LEDs in all. Of course, given the prices that single LED bulbs demand these days, it should come as no surprise that this is quite the pricey option, with it adding a full €3,590 (or about $5,560) to the R8′s already lofty sticker price.
led gloves put lights at your fingertips
Found this on Technabob..
Just in case you’re still living in the early 1990s and heading out to a rave this weekend, you might want to add these to your outfit before you head out onto the dance floor.
This pair of battery-powered gloves have a set of bright LEDs built into the fingertips. In addition to a brilliant blue always-on mode, the gloves can also be set to epileptic flashing or disco chase-light mode — just in case your illuminated fingertips don’t draw enough attention on their own.
Thankfully, they haven’t yet caught on, but you better not let Kanye West know about these, lest he wear them to his next (oh so humble) award acceptance speech and start some kind of trend.
If you’re really ready to wear these out in public, you can find them from France’s Lux et Deco (get it, L.E.D.?) for €29 (about $45 USD) a pair.
Researchers tout spreadable, self-powered OLEDs
Found this over on engadget..
It looks like we could one day be buying our OLED displays by the jar or the bucket-full, at least if some researchers from Sumitomo Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical have their way. They’re now working on what they describe as “spreadable” OLEDs, which could either be spread or “painted” on virtually any surface, leaving an OLED screen that would be just 100nm thick. As if that wasn’t enough, the spreadable concoction would also double as a solar panel that’d keep the OLEDs powered, something that’s apparently possible due to the “similar, but opposite, principles” that OLEDs and solar cells work on. What’s more, while the two companies are apparently still in the early stages of research, they say they’re aiming to have usable prototypes ready within the next two years.
Nerds Rejoice! – LED Display shows you SMS and RSS alerts.
Found this over on geekalerts..
This digital shelf, developed by a French designer named Jean-Louis Frechin, was recently showcased at the International Milan furniture show.
WaSnake, as the product is called, is made from wood and an elastomer material. The shelf is capable of displaying SMS messages and news items from RSS feeds selected by the user.
Head over to Newlaunches.com for more information about the WaSnake.
Solar Keychain LED Flash Light
Found this on I4U…
Here is a little gadget to show your support for green energy. The solar powered Keychain LED light gives you light when you need if you expose it to some sun once in a while.
The Solar panel on this keychain is very small, but the 3 white LEDs just do not need much juice.
The Hong Kong based Gadget store Brando sells the Solar keychain for $9.50.
See also the Hymini personal Wind power generator.
New Pillow promises to wake us up with LED Light, instead of Annoying sounds.
I for one am greatful for this concept we found today over at technabob.. looks very interesting, i’d love to test one out.
Who among us really likes being awakened from a deep slumber by a jarring alarm buzzer? Sure, you could get yourself a clock radio or MP3 alarm clock and play some Enya or Kenny G to ease into the day, but who really wants to listen to that? This concept for a visual alarm clock could very well revolutionize the way we wake up.
This simple, yet brilliant pillow alarm clock is designed to gently wake you by exposing your eyes to a glowing cloud of illumination, gradually increasing in brightness over a 40 minute period. Created by Ian Walton of embryo, in collaboration with Eoin McNally, the glo Pillow uses a cutting-edge LED fabric substrate below the pillow’s surface to work its magic.
Once you’ve been roused from your sleep, just lift your head, and the pillow displays the current time using an easy-to-read dot-matrix display that lives beneath the pillow case. The design also incorporates convenient controls built into a soft flap on the side of the pillow.
At this point, the glo Pillow is only a concept design, but I’m hoping that embryo eventually manages to gear up production for these.
