Hasta La Gadget!

Not like Congress has anything more pressing on its plate right now, but the suits on Capitol Hill have somehow found time to poke their noses in yet another minute aspect of our personal lives — lighting. All jesting aside, it was starting to look like those old, power-hungry incandescent bulbs wouldn’t have a second chance at life. If you’ll recall, a bill was passed way back in 2007 to kill ’em off by 2012, but Republicans were attempting to reverse things in order to give Americans a bargain option in the years ahead. Despite a 233 to 193 vote in favor of the repeal earlier this week, the necessary super majority wasn’t reached. Not willing to be left in the dark, those adamant about getting it turned around shoved it into something else as an amendment late Friday, which did indeed get the oh-so-coveted stamp of approval. Translation? GE has a production line to reactivate, STAT.

Light bulb efficiency passes through US House, incandescent bulbs flicker in celebration originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Last month, Switched On discussed two of the Android expansion initiatives announced at Google’s I/O conference — the relatively easy to execute Android Open Accessory program and the relatively difficult to execute Android@Home initiative. In support of the latter, which would seek to wedge a new home networking standard among wireless systems such as Zigbee, Z-Wave and Insteon.

In making the case for Android@Home, Google showed off a new LED light bulb from Lighting Science Group that included the necessary data radio embedded in the bulb. The advantage versus traditional lighting controls is that it removes the requirement for an electrician (or at least advanced DIYer) to build the radio into the wall plate. NXP Semiconductors has also shown off both compact flourescent and LED bulbs that can be controlled wirelessly via smartphones and other devices. But in a quest to tackle two staples of the smart home in one flip of a switch,, speaker house Artison has teamed up with lighting company Sylvania. to create MusicLites. As its name suggests, MusicLites combines lighting controls and multi-zone distributed audio in in a single product, but is it an approach you’ll buy into?

Continue reading Switched On: Light music

Switched On: Light music originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Men have struggled for millennia to find the most immediate visual signifiers for their wealth and status. Adafruit Industries has now added to their list of choices with a set of iCufflinks that disposes with the metaphors and speaks of power literally — by featuring a pair of power buttons. It’s not enough to merely cast some Mac-inspired On / Off switches out of aluminum, however; Adafruit has also inserted LED lights within the iCufflinks, which can be programmed to pulsate to your chosen rhythm. Because keeping it classy and LEDs go so well together. If you’ve got $128 to splash out on a pair of eminently prestigious shirt adornments, the source link is where you’ll want to head. And keep an eye out for the upcoming necklace version — it’ll be available to suave ladies and gents everywhere in the summer.

Continue reading Adafruit’s iCufflinks pulsate with the power of your Mac love

Adafruit’s iCufflinks pulsate with the power of your Mac love originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look closely at that blue blob up above and you’ll realize it’s made up of 500 butterflies, each one meticulously cut from photovoltaic cells. The hundreds of insects collect the sun’s rays as they flutter around a giant glass bulb that turns into a churning mass of light after dusk. The Virtue of Blue chandelier is a stunning work of art by Dutch designer Jeroen Verhoeven that draws connections between the beauty and power of nature and the importance of sustainable energy… or, you know, just something trippy to stare at while you sip a few cocktails at the Blain|Southern gallery in London.

Solar-powered butterfly chandelier is a fluttering mass of art and light originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 07:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite the looming IPv4 apocalypse, a new lighting system coming out of NXP Semiconductors promises an “IP address for every light bulb.” The GreenChip “smart lighting solution” incorporates NXP chipsets into both LED and compact fluorescents to enable dimming, extended lifespans, quick start times, and IP connectivity — via IPv4 or IPv6. Proprietary network software allows users to control their bulbs from smartphones, PCs, and other devices, enabling them to fiddle with mood lighting — including adjusting color — via a specific IP address. So at least when IPv4 doomsday finally descends someone will have their lighting just right. Video and PR after the break.

Continue reading GreenChip lighting lets you flip the switch remotely, thumbs nose at IPv4 depletion

GreenChip lighting lets you flip the switch remotely, thumbs nose at IPv4 depletion originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 01:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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