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Velve OLED lighting panels cover a broader spectrum (video)
The University of Michigan may boast the best blue, but Mitsubishi subsidiary Verbatim is showing off OLED lighting of a different color; several of them, actually. Demonstrated this week at the Fuori Salone show in Milan, these 14 x 14 cm Velve-branded lighting panels are amongst the first color tunable OLED light panels, giving off what Verbatim calls "colourful lighting with a luxurious feel; as smooth and as rich as velvet." Velve. Velvet. See what they did there? Sample Kits will be available in Japan later this month for ¥90,000 ($1,063), and Verbatim hopes to see the technology put to use in consumer products by the end of the year. Suddenly white light OLEDs look positively old hat -- here's hoping the price comes down before we burn through our incandescent stockpile.
Charlie Bucket creates fantastic lighted dress with knitted tubing and a pump, Veruca Salt demands ten
Charlie Bucket is a household name in some parts, and not just because he's a Roald Dahl character. No, the one we're talking about creates fantastic creations with tubing and light. The above Fluid Dress is composed of 600 feet of knitted tubing and it's powered by a pump which is worn as a backpack. Now, we don't know how heavy said rucksack is, and the dress is a bit short for our tastes, but we hear that Kate Middleton is searching far and wide for the perfect threads for her nuptials, so... can we make a suggestion? Honestly, we're just glad that the art of knitting hasn't died off in the high tech era. Check out the video below.
Flexible, implantable LEDs look set to start a new body modification craze
LED lights are cool, you're cool, why not combine the two, right? We doubt that's quite the reasoning that led to this international research project, but it's certainly an appealing way to look at it. Our old buddy John Rogers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has headed up a research team with participants from the US, China, Korea, and Singapore, who have together produced and demonstrated a new flexible and implantable LED array. Bettering previous efforts at inserting lights under the human skin, this approach allows for stretching and twisting by as much as 75 percent, while the whole substrate is encased in thin silicon rubber making it waterproof. Basically, it's a green light to subdermal illumination, which could aid such things as monitoring the healing of wounds, activating light-sensitive drug delivery, spectroscopy, and even robotics. By which we're guessing they mean our robot overlords will be able to color-code us more easily. Yeah, that must be it.
Razer Tron Mouse leaves light trails in our hearts (video)
We don't really expect that the actual Tron movie will be any good, but boy, its officially endorsed accessories aren't looking half bad. The $100 laser mouse from Razer has snuck out for a quick pre-release video demo where we get to see it tracking gloriously on an accompanying "precision" mousepad. There's hardly much to be learnt about the mouse's ergonomics or 5600dpi accuracy, but it does glow with that mighty inviting shade of blue (cyan?) and the mousepad reacts to the laser's illumination by leaving dreamy light trails after your movements. It's cyber-poetry in motion, available after the break.
Lumiotec's OLED lighting panel gets video reviewed, throws down versus a bright group of competitors
Those of you waiting for a hands-on evaluation of the Lumiotec OLED lighting development kit before cranking up the Bieber, throwing on some acid-washed overalls, and converting your bathroom into Club 54 can now rest easy. That's because the folks at OLED-info.com have thrown some light on the situation via a video review of the device, and even managed to cobble together a battle royal with other disco-worthy OLED options including the Philips Lumiblade and Osram Orbeos panel. Key points made in the review include that the 15 x 15 cm Lumiotec panel, "feels good to touch" and "is much brighter, [than the competitors] but you know it's a lot bigger". With such decisive words like those, there shouldn't be anything stopping you from snagging a few $934 kits in anticipation of your homebrew Mo' Money Mo' Problems video reenactment. If you're still not convinced by our paraphrasing however, feel free to illuminate yourself by watching the entire review after the break.
iPhone-controlled LED suit is actually not going to Burning Man
Usually when we see apparel of this caliber completed around this time of year we can be sure it's headed to the Nevada desert, but no -- this exhilarating piece of wearable rave architecture is headed to DragonCon in Atlanta. Either way, dang! Video of the insanely-customizable blinkage after the break.
Brabus's iBusiness is a Mercedes-Benz S600 tricked out Apple style
We've seen the iPad implemented both at school and at work, but in your car? That's the idea behind the iBusiness, a Mercedes-Benz S600 that's been tricked out with Apple gear aplenty by Brabus. Get this -- you can see the two iPads and keyboards in the back seats, but there's also a Mac mini in the back and a 64gb iPod touch as well. The display above is a 15.2" TFT display, and all of the gear connects to the Internet via a high speed 3G system. The iPads can also control the car's multimedia system, navigation systems, and the built-in telephone system. And it's all built into a car that goes from 0 to 62 in 4.0 seconds, with a top speed of 211 miles per hour. Brabus has tricked out those interiors, too -- there's leather everywhere, power-operated curtains, wood trim, color-changing interior lighting, LED running lights outside, and anodized aluminum pedals under the sport steering wheel. Yowza. Brabus doesn't give a price for this made-to-order monster, but the car itself (without any options) starts around $150k, so the entire package runs into the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" range. What a set of wheels, though. [via Electronista]
How nutritious is your light bulb? (in lumens, of course)
No joke -- starting mid-2011, US light bulbs will have nutrition facts of their own. Backed by Congress, the FTC has mandated that light bulbs carry the label at top, allowing buyers to clearly compare brightness, life expectancy and energy cost. Of course, many manufacturers call out these facts already, but hopefully this will keep the rest from confusing potency with power -- by advertising that a mid-range LED unit that slowly sips energy, for instance, is "equivalent to 40 watts."
New Xbox 360 shows up in the wild, gets unboxed, torn asunder and modded
Hey, look at what we have here -- it's the new Xbox 360 that was just debuted a few days back -- and there's a lot going down with this one which has somehow made its way into the wild. We get the full unboxing treatment, a detailed teardown, and finish up with some delicious, light-paneled modding. While we can't really gather much beyond what we already know, the drive appears to be a Philips Lite-On DG-16D4S -- just in case you were wondering about that one. There's a video below showing off this one's new, modded exterior. [Thanks, Thomas C]
Graduation cap modded with LED array, steals show (video)
Yomo Gaocho, an enterprising young man about to graduate from Northwestern University, has put together pretty much the coolest grad cap mod we've seen. Not that we're experts on the subject or anything, but the array of 256 LED lights adorning his cap surely makes for one of the geekiest ways to bid adieu to one's undergraduate studies. He's taking it one step further too, by programming animation patterns into the white LED arrangement and offering advertising space -- we're not kidding -- for any unorthodox companies that may wish to have him as a walking billboard. See Yomo's creation on video after the break, or hit the source for a guide on how to make your own light-fantastic grad cap.
Philips' new LED light bulbs are brighter, more efficient, not cheap
Philips' Master LED bulbs may well have been forgotten in the US -- as far as we can tell, they never showed up for that hot date last July -- but it's hard to be miffed when the company's new bulbs, dubbed EnduraLED, are four times as bright. Due in the fourth quarter of the year, the 60W equivalent at left sucks down only 12 watts of electricity but emits a reported 806 lumens of soft white light -- a ratio green enough to save the world, Philips claims, if only you'll buy in. Problem is, people's generosity typically depends on price, and a company rep told us we'll shell out around $60 per bulb when the shiny silver socketables ship. Mind you, that's just an initial figure, but until we hear different we'll be going to Home Depot for our lighting needs, thank you very much. Press release after the break.
The Home Depot takes LED lighting mainstream with $20 bulbs
Slowly but surely, LED light bulbs have been getting brighter and more efficient, but price has always been a major factor staying their adoption. Back in 2007, a single 308 lumen bulb cost $65, and the more things changed, the more they've stayed the same. Now, out of the blue, The Home Depot has stepped forward with a cost-effective alternative. For $20, the new EcoSmart LED bulb promises a 429 lumen, 40W equivalent with a 50,000 hour expected lifetime, making it cheaper and nearly as powerful as the 450 lumen, $40-50 design industry heavyweight GE unveiled last month. Best of all, it's already available for purchase (though backordered) at our source link. Honestly, we're starting to wonder what the catch is. PR after the break.
Eco shocker: Turbine Light concept uses wind to light highways
Ingenious, eco-friendly concepts are all around us, there's no denying that. This one caught our eye because it's pretty innovative, seemingly well thought out, and good looking to boot. The Turbine Light concept (which is going to be a part of the upcoming Greener Gadgets conference in New York City at the end of this month) harnesses the power of the wind from cars rushing past to light up the ever-darkening roadways. The turbines use the wind collected to generate energy for the lighting, and while the concept lacks a lot of firm details so far, but we're sure to find out more about it soon -- we'll be sure to check them out at the conference on February 25th. Hit the source link to see more concepts, along with other people and companies who will be there.
Nanosys and LG Innotek agree deal for newfangled LED-backlit displays
For the nitty gritty of how Nanosys' proprietary LED backlighting technology works, check out our earlier coverage here -- what you really need to know is that the company promises a significantly wider color gamut from its displays, while reducing power consumption by up to 50 percent. Quantum dot LEDs have shown their faces before, but now there's the big hulking heft of LG Innotek -- LG's component manufacturing arm -- behind what Nanosys is offering, which indicates we might actually see the release of nanotech-infused displays within the first half of this year as promised. The early focus appears to be on mobile phones, which gives us yet another next-gen feature to add to our list of requirements for our next phone. Check out the full PR after the break.
ZEN Pinball's Ninja Gaiden table trailer slices and dices
Wondering what the official Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 table for ZEN Pinball looks like in motion? Wonder no more -- the video above will show you all of the Hayabusa-style bumper action you'll be able to find, complete with ramps, flashing lights, ninja spirits and... burning pagodas? Boy, those ZEN folks aren't really pinball traditionalists, are they? But it does look fun. The table will bring new gameplay modes and missions along with it to the PlayStation Store on Thursday, January 14, for $2.49 (€1.99). Of course, it's DLC for the original ZEN Pinball game, so you've got to have that, too. Wait, we just rewatched it -- did Ryu just slice the ball in half? That's pretty awesome!
Nanosys offers better saturation of LED-backlit displays with nanoscale coating
While we all wait around for larger-sized OLED displays to become feasible for the consumer market, Nanosys has stolen in and demonstrated a new LED coating technique that proposes to radically improve color saturation in LED-backlit screens. Based on standard blue LEDs -- the most efficient kind -- this works by applying nanoparticles to the light and thereby endowing it with the desired hue. While the nano-coating can make standalone LED lights far richer in color, the real potential is in its deployment in LED-backlit displays, such as those becoming dominant on laptops today. By employing a coated array of blue LEDs instead of the standard white stuff, this can deliver greater color saturation while fitting within the same energy profile of current LED tech. Products boasting Nanosys' new hotness are said to be coming out later this year, with some appropriate premium slapped on the price for the fancier output.
HexoLight brings light shows to your videogame concerts
If there's one thing we're missing when we're jamming "Cool for Cats" on Rock Band, it's a Squeeze-worthy display of lights. That's all about to change, with the introduction of Rock Gear's HexoLight LED-lighting system, a flashing display of lights to the beat of your tunes. If transforming your living room (or bedroom, or dorm room) into a place that even Jools Holland would be proud to step into is high on your list of priorities, the HexoLight -- which boasts an audio sensor to sync up to the beat and is compatible with nearly any stereo source -- is probably something you're going to want to check out. HexoLight is available today for prices starting at $30. Full press release is after the break.
DIY arduino Christmas lights spectacular turns bad taste into... art
We'll freely admit to having a love / hate relationship with Christmas lights and decorations. The sheer gaudiness of it all often turns our "bah humbug" nature inside out, revealing the awe struck "inner child" we hear so much about from people like Martha Stewart and Oprah. Regardless, an artful DIYer's taken the outdoor Christmas lighting game to the next level. Making use of an ioBridge IO-204 module, an Arduino Wave Kit, an Arduino Duemilanove board, solid state relays, and the Oracle Application Express for connectivity, he was able to get his internet controlled light and music show on the road. Check out the final results -- which feature 3,300 mini lights, 3 spotlights, an LED Rope, 4 LEDs, and one magical reindeer -- in the video after the break. Hit the source link for full instructions if you want to get in on the holiday action yourself.
Blinking LEDs to give QR codes a run for their (ad) money
We're still waiting for this so-called QR code revolution to hit North America, but our contemporaries across the Pacific are already looking to develop the next big thing. Reportedly, a smattering of mega-corps (including the likes of Toshiba and NEC) are joining hands in order to concoct a rivaling technology that requires even less effort to get content from billboards, books and posters to one's mobile. The heretofore unnamed system utilizes blinking LEDs to send data to phones, and so long as an ad has enough room for a minuscule light, consumers can come within five meters of it and receive the associated information by simply pointing their handset in the direction of the light. If all goes well, the technology will be ready for commercialization by 2013, or just after phase one of the Robot Apocalypse.
Dress lit up with 24,000 LEDs, perfect for your next formal rave
In general, we've found the whole LED dress craze to be kind of a snoozer -- after all, the results are usually pretty tacky, in our opinions. It seems, however, that all that has just changed -- with the introduction of Cute Circuit's Galaxy Dress, which is made of silk and has 24,000 LEDs measuring just 2 by 2-millimeters each embroidered onto its surface. As you can see from the photograph, the dress is also quite classic and beautiful -- not your usual raver's delight. To make the dress lighter and more flexible than your average light-enhanced couture, the designers used layers of organza crinoline and silk chiffon, and they power the dress with many small iPod batteries, which are light and easily hidden in the dress. The Galaxy Dress is currently on exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago -- but you can check it out for yourself in the video after the break. [Via Wired]
