leds

This designer LED lamp isn't quite egg-shaped enough to qualify for the evil ovum empire, but it's close enough. Just look at this thing--it's like a spherical spaceship opening up to reveal its alien passengers or a battery of death rays (most likely both).

The "Barry" fixture from Sweden's Flux has a mirrored upper interior that reflects about 70 white LEDs from the bottom half, according to OhGizmo. But the real offense here isn't alien domination of Earth; it's the price--$1,100.

If that's not enough to start a War of the Worlds, … Read more

After seeing more than our share of watches and clocks that make no sense, we're glad to cite one that we can actually read--in several time zones at once, no less.

The "World Time Clock" displays the time in 22 cities around the world in red LEDs, according to Uber-Review. The $264 price tag may be a bit steep for what it does, but the retro design--red LEDs against a black-and-gray world map--give it kind of a Dr. Strangelove feel for those times when you want to play Cold War.

A gadget that projects colored lights may seem pointless to many people, especially when it has no raver or laser effects. But for us it conjures memories of our childhood when, every Christmas, our cheapskate dad would pull out a silver aluminum tree that came with a rotating lamp to give it "festive colors." How depressing.

As best we can tell from the description on TechEBlog, Philips' "LivingColors" is basically just a multi-hued LED lamp that can be dimmed or intensified by remote control to match your mood (see the YouTube clip below). Why anyone would … Read more

Winter is fully upon us. Whether you have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or Winter Blues, the milder version of the disorder, you are probably yearning for the warmth of the sun and the hypothalamus boosts it triggers.

The Litebook Elite is a portable device that contains 24 LEDS that mimic sunlight minus the dangerous UV radiation.

As the Gadgeteer (who suffers through Indiana winters) points out, many of us get to work and arrive home in the dark, leaving no opportunity for what little natural light is available during the winter day.

The Litebook Elite for $30 is intended to … Read more

A lot of the energy-conserving lamps we've seen look like something out of a Cold War-era Soviet office building. But the "Lightening Stick" (sic) by "green" home designer Oliver Heath is a refreshing exception. This steel fixture has "a row of color-changing LEDs down its spine" that can be set to your preferences, according to Shiny Shiny. But do be careful not to mistake it for the "Lightning Rod."

Given our circuitous posture, we sometimes wonder if we're even descended from the homo erectus species. If it were up to us, we'd spend every waking moment in the supine state that we find most natural.

But society doesn't look kindly upon those of us who assume this position in public places, so we're forced to address the dreaded posture issue. Brando may make this slightly easier, according to Uber-Review, with its "USB posture reminder," an LED sensor that sits atop the monitor and flashes irritatingly if you get too close to the screen.… Read more

It's touted as a disco enhancement, but it looks a lot more like raver chic to us. Whatever it is, Hammacher Schlemmer's "Dancing Light MP3 Synchronizer" will funkify your party with 33 multicolored LEDs bouncing off a concave mirror to the beat of whatever tunes you choose. It can even be set to four programs, "Andante, Moderato, Allegro and Presto." But if we were going to take this route, we'd just as soon go for the full retro effect with a home laser show. And remember, don't bogart that Nano.

In my opinion, the Happy Fish Speakers don't actually look anything like fish--more like trilobites turned on their side. But I digress. These inexpensive ($16) USB-powered speakers, sold by Hong Kong manufacturer Brando (also known for the Wii Sports Pack), contain LEDs that will cycle through a range of colors. We've seen plenty of animal-shaped speakers, from pigs to my beloved penguins, but these are a tad more abstract. Kind of late-'90s-iMac-ish, actually.

Personally, I think it could grow a tad annoying to have something like this flashing its multicolored lights next to my computer all the … Read more

The future of light is plastic, says Cyberlux.

The company, which specializes in light emitting diodes (LEDs, will come out with prototypes of a new type of white light LEDs in about four months that will cost substantially less to manufacture than conventional LEDs and provide more light at the same time.

In conventional white light LEDs, a semiconductor emits blue light. The blue light passes through the phosphor and becomes white light. The phosphor is thin film on a substrate; the substrate has to be placed in intricate proximity to the semiconductor. Positioning the phosphor is one of the … Read more