Hasta La Gadget!

One of the things you learn in the world of geekdom is that any time you slap some horizontally-chasing red LEDs into something, it’s instantly transformed into Cylon technology. But I always thought if you did it to the front of a vehicle, it’s a reference to Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T. Well, either way, this hack is pretty cool.

DIYer Chris Knight (no not Peter Brady) got his hands on a 25 “pixel” LED light strip and decided he needed a place to install it. What better place but the front grill of his silver Jeep Wrangler?

They’re controlled by Cool Neon’s new Total Control Lighting Developer’s Shield Box which is a fancy name for an all-in-one programmable Seeduino box. It took a whole bunch of drilling to get the lights installed in the grill, but it looks pretty slick now that it’s complete. Check it out in action in the video clip below:

As a bonus, the LEDs he used can actually change colors, so here’s his Jeep putting on a little light show:

Whether you think it looks like a Cylon or K.I.T.T., you owe it to yourself to check out the full build details over on Instructables. Now about that hood, Chris…

These days, it’s not uncommon for automotive manufacturers to use LEDs to replace light bulbs for some of the lights on vehicles. This is particularly common with taillights. However, until now, all of the vehicles out there still use incandescent light bulbs for some needs, particularly in the headlights and interior. Mercedes-Benz has announced that its new S-Class is the first car to use not one single traditional light bulb.

Everything from the tail lights to the headlights and every light on the interior of the high-end S-Class will use LEDs. Each headlight has 56 individual LEDs, each taillight uses 25 LEDs, and there are about 300 LEDs on the interior of the vehicle.

Another very impressive bit of tech is a suspension system that is able to scan the road ahead and prepare for any coming road imperfections for a smoother ride. The car also has a pair of 12.3-inch displays on the dash giving the vehicle one of the largest dashboard video displays of any car on the road. The left video screen is for vehicle instruments and the right is for the infotainment system.

One detail Mercedes didn’t offer was exactly how much the S-Class will cost. Considering that the vehicle is aiming at people who previously purchased incredibly expensive Maybach luxury cars, the new S-Class will undoubtedly be exceptionally expensive.

[via USA Today]

We have talked about the Philips Hue LED lighting system several times over the last year or so, in fact we reviewed the system late last year. The Hue is Philips’ LED lighting system that replaces the standard incandescent bulbs in your home with more energy-efficient LED units that also have some smart features. This means not only will you save money on electricity, but you can also remotely control the lighting in your home via your smartphone.

One of the coolest features of the Hue system at launch was that using an application Philips offers running on your smartphone, you can control everything from the brightness of the light to the color of the light. Philips has now announced that it has launched the next generation Philips Hue app adding in all sorts of interesting new features for users of the lighting system.

The updated application allows users to control the light bulbs using smartphones or tablets and the control is available with more flexibility than with the older app. One of the new and interesting features of the application is a new Philips Hue channel on If This Then That. That channel allows the light system to access any application programming interface on the Internet so the light bulbs can act as informational gateways.

That sounds very complicated, but what it means is that the smart bulbs in your home can be set up to give you visual cues on things such as whether, stocks, sports scores, e-mail, social media, and more. Think about how useful that feature could be. For instance, if the first thing your kids always want to know in the morning is if it will rain today, you could set up a bulb in their room to glow purple if the weather forecast predicts rain and yellow if the forecast predicts Sun. You can also set the bulb to glow your favorite teams color if they won the game last night.

Version 1.1 of the new application also includes a geo-fencing and recurring schedules capability. The geo-fencing feature approximates the location of the smartphone or tablet controlling your system and controls the lights as the user’s smartphone or tablet approaches and leaves the home. That means you get close to your house with your smartphone in the pocket, the lighting system in your home can automatically turn on. It also means that as you walk out of your house the morning on your rush to work, the lights will automatically turn themselves off.

The system also has a new synchronous scenes feature that works in the background to allow large batches of Hue bulbs to change scenes in a smooth an immediate matter. The recurring schedules feature also allows users to schedule timer settings so daily and repeated behaviors of the lights, like waking up or going to sleep are supported without having to reset the bulbs each day. The app also has a new randomized setting to turn the lights off and on an unexpected times while the owner is away from home. The new app is available as an easy to apply update for Apple and Android device users. Individual Hue bulbs can be purchased for $59.

SOURCE: Meet Hue

Philips updates Hue App with recurring schedules and more is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Sure, the novelty may have worn off years ago when it comes to those miniature USB-powered accessories that reside on your desk and suck power from a PC, but this nifty lamp from Satechi has a bit more going for it. The simply named USB LED Bottle Lamp consumes just 1.2 watts of power, and while it won’t likely have enough output to fill a room, it’ll probably do a fair job of bringing some warmth to your workstation. The kit includes only a lampshade, LEDs (rated for 50,000 hours) and a USB cable — that’s right, it’s BYOB (Bring Your Own Base). A heavy liquor bottle might be the best fit when it comes to support, but you can use a vase or any similar vessel to keep the lamp upright, too. The USB Bottle Lamp can be yours today for just 25 bucks. Hit the source link below to pick one up.

Filed under: Household, Peripherals

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Source: Amazon

GM-owned automotive manufacturer Opel hasn’t sold cars in the United States in decades. However, in Europe, Opel has been selling vehicles continuously for quite a long time. One of the vehicles that Opel offers that I’ve never heard of is the subcompact Opel ADAM.

Today, word of an unusual new option for the car has surfaced. People who buy the Opel ADAM will be able to purchase an optional headliner and features LED lighting elements that look like stars.

The Starlight Sky headliner is said to be a unique option for the entry-level automotive segment in Europe.

The special headliner allows for five different textile cover options with a variety of headliner designs. The headliners can be single color, autumn foliage, a checkered flag, stylized clouds, and other things. The Starlight Sky option is the one that gets the 64 LEDs as can single colored versions. The headliner weighs 200 g and consumes only 4 watts of power, and the LEDs can actually twinkle like the night sky.

Of course you could just get a skylight, and look up at the actual stars.