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Lighting
Dosun J-1 LED safety pedal for bicycles
By Paul Ridden
16:25 October 28, 2009 PDT
Taiwan's Dosun Solar Technology has added a flashing LED bike pedal to its range of safety lighting gadgets. As well as sporting the familiar orange reflective plastic strips on the front and back, each outer corner of the J-1 Pedal Light holds four bright LEDs which start to flash when the rider begins to pedal. Read More
Memory chips could lead the way to gigapixel cameras
17:51 October 14, 2009 PDT
Image sensors embedded in digital cameras are expensive, and issues with their circuitry limit the quality and resolution in the pictures they produce. Now a research group from the Netherlands believes a cheaper solution could be right before our eyes - the team's "gigavision" technique exploits the high light sensitivity of memory chips to produce inexpensive gigapixel sensors that perform very well, especially in extreme lighting conditions. Read More
SurroundSense uses your phone's sensors to figure out where you are
17:02 September 30, 2009 PDT
Smartphones use GPS locating for a variety of functions but mainly they're used on the road where their accuracy - only within 10m - is basically a case of 'near enough is good enough'. But try using one indoors. They don't work! Nor can they distinguish between two adjacent environments, however different. And 10m can make a big difference inside a shopping complex or multi-roomed office block. In a research jointly sponsored by Microsoft, Nokia, Verizon and the National Science Foundation, a group of computer engineers from Duke University is working on achieving better indoor localization using a combination of sounds, lighting and accelerometer data picked up by a mobile phone. They hope it will supplement the use of GPS systems, which most users know, have their limitations. Read More
2009 BraunPrize shines a light on young design talent
By Gizmag Team
09:52 September 17, 2009 PDT
Young German designer Johanna Schoemaker was last night awarded the prestigious International BraunPrize during a ceremony at the company's headquarters in Kronberg. Schoemaker's elegant Clam OLED Lamp was among four worthy designs shortlisted by the jury from a field of more than 1000 entries from 54 countries. Read More
A colorful way to take note - the USB Moody Card Reader with Erasable Memo Pad
By Mick Webb
21:07 September 14, 2009 PDT
Ever found yourself staring wistfully into the distance while waiting for your memory card content to upload, only be struck with an ingenious brainwave and find there’s not a pen or paper in sight to jot it down with? Well, so you're ready whenever inspiration strikes, Brando has released the USB Moody Card Reader with Erasable Memo Pad. Read More
Kodak flexible OLED display gets its feet wet
By Darren Quick
20:20 August 30, 2009 PDT
Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode (FOLED) technology has opened the door to a range of new lighting and display applications, such as roll-up displays and displays embedded in fabrics or clothing. Unfortunately OLED displays are notoriously moisture sensitive, so underwater applications haven’t really been an option – until now. Kodak has dunked their latest FOLED displays under water to provide a virtual aquarium for a group of assembled Playmobil people. Read More
Arty sunflowers look good and provide power, too
By Paul Ridden
17:38 August 24, 2009 PDT
A boring and unattractive loading area at the rear of a retail development in Austin, Texas is now hidden from view by a collection of 15 huge blue sunflowers, the petals of which collect energy from the sun to power the artwork's LED lighting and generate funds to help towards costs. Whether driving past or walking through the Electric Garden, onlookers will be treated to an awe-inspiring panorama where art meets functionality. Read More
Gorillatorch shines light wherever you need it
By Alan Brandon
20:51 August 21, 2009 PDT
Joby, creator of the bendy Gorillapod camera tripod, has announced a hands-free flashlight called the Gorillatorch. Consisting of an LED lamp unit mounted on a Joby flexible tripod, the Gorillatorch’s design lets you twist and bend the legs around to position the light just where you need it. Read More
Off the grid street lighting: coming soon to a street near you
By Paul Ridden
23:12 July 21, 2009 PDT
It provides light where there is darkness, it gives a sense of safety and security, but it's also a power leech. The humble street light. Thankfully, the move away from the grid is already well underway with companies like Urban Green Energy busy transforming these familiar towers of light into self sufficient beacons that harness the power of the elements - in this case, it's a hybrid solution that uses both the wind and the sun. Read More
Eternaleds' liquid-cooled LED light bulb
By Darren Quick
18:10 July 21, 2009 PDT
Liquid-cooled PCs are a mainstay for PC enthusiasts looking to eek every last bit of performance from their beloved machines and now it seems this approach has reached the world of the LED light bulb. A company called Eternaleds has introduced the HydraLux-4 LED Bulb, the world’s first LED light bulb to use "liquid-cooling technology" to give a true 360-degree light like a regular incandescent light bulb. Read More
New GE LED outdoor lighting helps banish danger in parking lots
20:30 July 20, 2009 PDT
If you’ve ever crossed a parking lot at night and found yourself nervously hurrying from one reassuring pool of light to the next, you’ll be pleased to learn GE believes it has come up with a way to banish lurking shadows from large outdoor areas. The GE Evolve LED area light produces less glare and a more uniform level of light, reducing hot spots and dark spots. And, as an added bonus, it’s 30% more energy-efficient than traditional outdoor lighting. Read More
Bang & Olufsen's magical Beotime flute alarm
By Paul Ridden
07:19 July 20, 2009 PDT
Inspired by Mozart's famous Opera, the new Beotime alarm clock will, according to its creator Bang & Olufsen, turn the chore of waking up in the morning into an "extraordinary experience". As well as finding all the usual functionality of a standard alarm clock onboard, the elegant flute-like tube of aluminum can help you control all of your (compatible) audio/video gadgetry and even your room lights. As the suggested price tag of USD$375 indicates, this is no run-of-the-mill alarm clock. Read More
Incandescent light bulbs may have a bright future after all
By Alan Brandon
21:47 July 15, 2009 PDT
In the face of legislation being enacted around the world, the future of the trusty incandescent light bulb has been looking dim. Ireland has banned the sale of incandescent bulbs, and the United States is set to phase them out by 2012. And it’s no wonder - the apple of Thomas Edison’s eye is something of an energy hog, especially when compared with modern bulbs such as compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and LED-based lights. But now a new technology from Deposition Sciences Inc of Santa Rosa, California, is promising a brighter future for the venerable incandescent. Read More
Light Tape: bending light... and other applications
By Jeff Salton
19:48 June 30, 2009 PDT
Think of a light bulb you can wrap around your finger or roll-out to create a display that would rival the Griswalds' efforts in Christmas Vacation. Light Tape is an extremely flexible lighting strip that has seemingly more applications than LED or neon lighting systems. Thinner than a credit card, and with a bend radius of 2mm, Light Tape can go just about anywhere – indoors and outdoors. It’s even wearable. Read More
Solar powered LED Cap brims with light
By Darren Quick
23:58 June 24, 2009 PDT
New Zealand-based company 2C is selling a range of solar powered LED caps that charge up during the day to provide light at night. All the energy gathering, light-emitting technology is located in the semi-flexible pre-bent beak of the caps including the solar panel and the NiMH battery used to store it. Read More
Sharp introduces color changing LED light bulbs
By Jude Garvey
22:47 June 17, 2009 PDT
When it comes to choosing light globes these days, energy-conscious consumers have a multitude of choice. Both CFL bulbs and LED bulbs offer energy-efficient lighting and whilst they seem expensive at first, you realize they will save you money in the long term. However, a less appealing feature of LED globes is the bright, white light they emit, not particularly compatible with creating a warm, romantic feel in your home. That may be about to change. Sharp Corporation has just announced an LED globe that includes a remote-controlled, adjustable-color function and a dimmer. Read More
New OLED lamp shines on … and on
By Darren Quick
01:12 June 9, 2009 PDT
With their impressive energy efficiency, flat form and incandescent brightness, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) look to be a shoo-in as the next generation of lighting. Although the limited lifespan of the organic materials used in OLEDs has posed problems. Scientists around the globe have been toiling away to find ways to overcome this drawback and now South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has developed a white OLED lamp that has a lifetime of 10,000 hours – 20 percent longer than existing fluorescent lamps. Read More
PowerFlare LED safety lights offer safe alternative to chemical emergency flares
By Alan Brandon
16:44 June 3, 2009 PDT
PowerFlare’s PF-200 electronic LED safety light is not your average roadside flare. Invented by Ken Dueker, a former police officer and PowerFlare’s CEO, the PowerFlare PF-200 replaces chemical flares with a reusable, non-combusting alternative. Each PF-200 features a 360-degree LED array protected by a ruggedized plastic housing that can withstand the weight of a fire truck. Read More
Glowmark puts the green in glow-in-the-dark safety lighting
By Karen Sprey
15:56 June 1, 2009 PDT
It is a challenge to provide affordable safety lighting in dark and low-light areas. Glowmark is a new product that uses long-lasting, photo-luminescent crystal technology as an alternative to electric lighting. Not only does it not need electricity, it costs nothing to run, is environmentally safe, biodegradable and easy to install. Read More
Philips ColorReach Powercore LED architectural floodlighting
By David Greig
18:30 May 28, 2009 PDT
Billed as the first LED fixture powerful enough to illuminate large-scale facades and structures, Philips' ColorReach Powercor high-performance architectural floodlight can project light over 500 feet while using 70% less power than the metal halide fixtures... and producing more light. Read More
Philips brightens up the home with a range of LED-lit decor
By David Greig
01:39 May 23, 2009 PDT
Domestic bliss can get a tad dull from time to time – but you have to hand it to Dutch electronics giant Philips for trying to brighten the home front up with its range of LED-illuminated home accessories. The products include a vase, wine cooler, coasters and platter and have been designed so as to be used in various combinations to create different moods around the home. Read More
Lighten your workload with the LED-lit workstation
By Jude Garvey
06:47 May 17, 2009 PDT
A bright idea (pun intended) for lighting a workstation is one of the entries in this year’s Emotionalize Your Light competition. Andres4, the designer of the LED-enhanced workstation, has created a working prototype that features a band of LED lighting running around the desktop edge and additional lighting suspended from the ceiling. The disc in the middle of the upper panel is a “must for every Star Trek fan”, according to the designer. The colored lights of the desk can be changed using switches, but the designer is working on a way of switching the lights using a computer controller. Read More
Will nanocrystals dim OLED's bright light?
By Darren Quick
18:24 May 13, 2009 PDT
Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are just starting to appear in consumer electronics, such as Sony's OLED XEL-1 TV and the United Keys OLED Keypad, but barely have we been there five seconds and already scientists are talking up what could be OLED’s successor – a nanocrystal that constantly emits light, which may open the door to dramatically less expensive and more versatile lasers, brighter LED lighting and biological markers tracking how a drug interacts with a cell at a level never before possible. Read More
The (unfortunately named) Blight solar blind
By Darren Quick
23:09 March 12, 2009 PDT
Blinds are handy things. They give us privacy at night and block the sun’s rays during the day. But what if there was a way to capture the light from the day and give it back at night to illuminate the house? That’s the thinking behind Vincent Gerkens’ concept design which takes a Venetian blind and combines it with flexible solar cells and electroluminescent foil to produce the ‘Blight’ – that’s short for ‘Blind Light’, but I’d be tempted to give the name some more thought if I were Vincent given the images of pestilence and decay the word evokes. The Blight captures solar energy during the day and uses it to power the electroluminescent foil covering the blinds to produce light at night. Read More
LED street lamps deliver 88% power saving in Japan
By Mike Hanlon
16:20 March 9, 2009 PDT
The cost and energy-efficiency of solid-state lighting are driving many new applications, and the recent installation of the first LED street lights in Osaka Prefecture in Japan, has already been found to provide an overall savings of 88% in electricity bills over the older high-pressure mercury lamps used elsewhere in the region. Each of the LED-based street lamps installed at a park on the Kizu River utilizes 36 cool white LEDs. The LED array generates 30 lux at a pole height of 4.5 meters, comparable to the brightness of mercury lamps, while using just 25 W of power per fixture. Read More
Jonathan Cole
- November 6, 2009 @ 16:15 UTC
