Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus now shine brighter than ever

After adding the LED lightstrips to the Hue familiy, Philips finally answers the most common criticisms and suggestions with its new Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus.

cPulse LED cover for Android smartphones

As big fans of LEDs and decorative lighting, there would be no way not to talk about a project that has popped up on Kickstarter: the - literally - flashy cPulse.

LED Lamps drop below $10 at Walmart

At last, we're finally able to get decent quality LED lamps that we can use to replace traditional light bulbs, at an affordable price. At Walmart you can now get a 60W equivalent LED lamp for under $10 - and we're talking about a dimmable version. A non-dimmable version is even cheaper (although we're talking about a $1 saving). Although we're talking about a 800lm 60W equivalent lamp, this LED lamp uses just 11W, providing considerable savings over the years (and hopefully, this time we're talking about realistic long term lamp life, as LEDs shouldn't have trouble handling on/off cycles.)

I don't have Walmart here, but we do have IKEA, and we also have similar lamps at around 10€ (I've bought a bunch last time I went there - though I still haven't had the time to do the intended proper review - I definitely need to become a "pro-blogger" and have the time for that sort of thing! :)

As a quick note, these LED lamps light is quite enjoyable, and they don't heat up as much as some earlier generations I've had. As for the dimming models, the only weird thing is that you get a quite narrow dimming range. Meaning, you can't get these lamps to "barely lit"; it's more like a 50-100% range of lighting power, and even if you go below the 50% on the dimmer, the light level stays constant (will be nice to see if you're using less power while providing the same light output! :)

I've place one in the most stressful place at home - a corridor with a motion sensor triggered lamp switch that can kill any lamp in under 6 months due to the frequent on/off cycles (and I do have the on cycle extended to prevent faster killing on CFL lamps - I know, they shouldn't be used like that.) If a year from now the LED lamp is still there, I'll consider it to be a success.

Philips Hue adds LED strips and Portable Bloom Lamps to the family

Philips is about to expand its family of Philips Hue smart LED lamps with other kinds of LED illumination that will certainly be welcomed by everyone that has a special attraction for decorative lighting (such as... me). After the regular styled LED light bulbs you can install in any regular lamp socket, Philips now brings us Philips Hue LED strips, and also a Bloom portable lamp you can place anywhere without concern about having a power socket nearby - which you'll be able to use to create great color scenes whenever the need arises.

Just like the original Hue LED lamps, the major thing in favor of this range of products (over those that come with a simple remote control) is that you can easily control them in a variety os ways. Besides being able to control it via a smartphone app or via preset scheduled routines, you can also create complex patterns and alerts using services like IFTTT (you can, for instance, make one of these lights flash when you have an incoming urgent email - or change its color if it's going to rain; or any other number of things you might come up with).

The only thing between you and all this is... it's price. At $89.95 for a 2m LED strip and $79.95 for the portable Bloom lampm it isn't exactly cheap - and you'll still need the Hue Hub ZigBee gateway that comes with the original Philips Hue pack ($199.95). I'm still glad to see Philips pushing this technology forward and making it available for consumers... but I hope it won't take long for it to come down in price so that every LED lamp can have this sort of control included, without any noticeable increase in price.

Lumigrids LED Terrain Illuminator for Bicyles

As you've probably already noticed by now, when you're looking at something directly from the point of origin of a light source, things kind of look "flat" (take a look at whole of those pictures you took with the flash on). The same effect applies to cars and bikes, making it harder to notice bumps and irregularities on the road - but of course being more problematic to people riding a bike, as it may cause a nasty fall.

This Lumigrids isn't a real product (at least not yet) but considering you can already have something similar with some laser pointers, I guess it wouldn't be that hard to actually make it. By projecting a grid pattern on the floor, the rider can easily notice any and all terrain change instantly. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if car companies would begin using similar systems for their predictive suspension systems (although they would probably opt for invisible infra-red light so it wouldn't interfere with regular lighting nor serve as a distraction for other drivers on the road).

I can't really say if such a system would be able to completely replace regular lightning (I imagine not all riders would be happy to drive around looking just at a grid of light in front of them), but maybe it could be used in tandem with other lighting systems: the regular lights illuminating things farther away, the light grid alerting for more imminent "threats".

In any case... even if it had no real useful purpose... it would certainly make our bicycles and streets look way cooler at night! :)

Philips Hue Intelligent LED Lamps on Apple Store

It's kind of sad that nearly two years after promising us intelligent, smartphone controlable, high-efficiency LED lamps with the Android@Home project, Google (and its partners) has so far failed to produce a single lamp.

So, I wasn't too surprised when I saw Apple now has intelligent lamps in their Apple Store. (You can only delay things so much, until someone else jumps in to fill the void).

These aren't Apple lamps, but that's for the best: These are the Philips Hue LED lamps.

Thes Philips Hue are "intelligent" LED lamps that you can control remotely via your iPhone or iPad (an Android App is expected for December).

The starter kit comes with three LED lamps and a ZigBee gateway you connect your home network. As for the lamps, just put them wherever you see fit.
After the initial setup (pressing a button), you'll have remote access to all your Hue lamps, meaning you can dim/brighten them at will, and even change their colors to suit your mood. You can also use preset scenes (or make your own), as well as create timers and scheduled events.

You can even set it to notify you in case someone doesn't turn on a light in a specified time frame: meaning you can receive a notification in case an elderly person did in fact get out of bed - or maybe a sleepy youngster trying not to get to  school on time.

The starter kit costs $199 with the ZigBee gateway and three Hue lamps, and you can buy extra lamps for  $59 each. It isn't cheap, but at least you're buying lamps that are using an open standard that will certainly be helpful in case you want to integrate it in a more powerful home automation system.

LED Reading Lights for Books

Tablets and eBook readers may be on the rise, but there's still a lot of people out there that are unwilling to let go of their old (and new) paper books. And unlike their digital screen counterparts, when it gets dark... you can't really see whats printed on its pages.

The time of reading holding a flashlight are long gone, and today we have more comfortable ways of reading books during the night like this Philips bok reading LED light which uses light guides technology similar to the ones used on LCD screens, allowing the LEDs placed on the frame to evenly light a larger area.

Unfortunately, its price isn't that cheap (nearly 40 euros) so... here's a similar, but cheaper alternative:

This LED book reading light isn't rechargeable via USB like the Philips above, but costing under 5 euros, I guess most people won't mind that.

Dotklok LED Clock

If there's a LED clock worth displaying in your living room, this is it. The Dotklok turns passing time into much more than simple numbers passing by.
Now, every minute will pass by with a cute transition/animation inspired in games like Pong, Tetris, Pacman, and Space Invaders.

You can build your own dotklok, as everything you need is publicly available. But, if you don't have the time/patience to spare, you can also buy a fully assembled one.
Of course, in that case, you'll be missing most of the enjoyment of building it yourself and saying to your friends (and yourself): "I made it!"


DOTKLOK: Game Time from The Latest Artists on Vimeo.


DOTKOK rev. 1.0 from The Latest Artists on Vimeo.

High Power 500 LEDs Flashlight

If you love LEDs and have some free time in your hands, how about putting it to good use and do something like a... 500 LED flashlight?

Watch the following video:



Truly impressive, though it looks more like a "light cannon" than an actual flashlight - and at 50W, I don't get you'll get much time of battery life out of it at full power (and those leds sure are bound to heat up considerably.)

Never the less, it's worth the watch.

Now... anyone up to making a 1000 LED flashlight? :)

Do It Yourself LED LCD Projector

When you talk about home cinema, no one can deny that: the bigger the screen the better!

Unfortunately, big screen TVs aren't usually within our desired price range; but, what if you could build your own LCD LED video projector?

That's exactly what you can find, with detailed step-by-step instructions at Instructables. A really creative project that will surely appeal to everyone you invite to see a movie with. :)

Manipulating Time with a Time Fountain

High-speed cameras are in. Lots of you have been playing around with digicams able to record video at 300fps (or even faster) which allow for super-smooth slow motion video playback.
But, what if you want to achieve the same effect in something occurring in real time, something you want to interact with?

That's why Nate True created its Time Fountain, a fountain where - thanks to the stroboscopic effect of LEDs - you can freeze water droplets in mid air, and even "go back" in time.

I know it sound weird... better see it for yourself.



Really impressive...

USB LED E-mail, Twitter and Pidgin Notifier for Eee PC

Not for the faint of heart, but... how do you feel about adding a multicolored LED notifier to your Eee PC netbook that can signal you whenever you have new emails, instant messages, or twitter messages?

It's one of those thing that should come as standard in every netbook, but as it isn't, you'll have to take care of it yourself.

Using an ATtiny microprocessor, a USB port and few extra components, it isn't that complicated - though it requires you to know what you're doing (as most other mods.)

But, considering many of you bought your netbooks to play around with... this might actually be a nice project for you to try it out.

Alienware Psychadelic Keyboard

It's no secret I'm really fond of LEDs and illuminated keyboards... But I guess some manufacturers are taking this a but too far.

Just check the keyboard for the new Alienware M17X:

Of course, you don't really have to use it like that; the keyboard has four separate lighting areas you can adjust independently.

So, you could use it all with the same lighting colour - or, as seen in the photo, as an 80's disco lighting ground.

Nothing you wouldn't expect from a laptop that costs nearly $5000 USD fully loaded.

Kitchen Cabinet LED Lighting

I've been looking for alternatives to replace my fluorescent lighting in "under-cabinet" kitchen lighting, and I wanted to share what I've been doing. My option of choice were -of course - LEDs, and I finally seem to have found just the right ones to do it. :)

Here's some photos.

They come covered with a flexible rubbery-like plastic that keeps it safe from moisture and dirt, and makes it easier to clean.

And last, the first test to assess its lighting prowess (as I wanted it to indeed light up the kitchen, instead of using it just for "decorative lighting".)

It sure provides more light than I was expecting - no doubt due to the 600 leds strip (120 leds per meter) twice as much the regular LED strips.

It uses less than 5W per meter, which is less than I was expecting.

And I'll keep you updated once I make a final installation and take some more photos.

Led Lighted Smiles

Smiles will neve be the same:



I just hope people don't think this will save them from having to brush their teeth! :)

OCZ Iluminati Keyboard

Make all the fun you want... but for a "lighting-maniac" like me, these LED backlit keyboards are a real treat. Check out this OCZ aptly named Iluminati with rubber coated keys which you can easily toggle between red and blue lighting.

... and all there is left to know is how much it will cost when it gets to the stores.

Heat Powered LEDs

You've probably seen electronic candles using LEDs; but watching a LED powered by a candle, that's an entire different story.

This system uses waste heat from any source to create electric energy, which - as you might imagine - would be extremely helpful in a world where most of our machines and equipment (from the CPU inside your computer to the engine powering your car) create an insane ammount of wasted heat.

But even stranger, is the heat-to-sound energy transfer shown on the following video.

LED Wall

One day (soon, I hope) we'll all have these kind of wall-sized LED displays; meanwhile, it's restricted to those willing to pay more than $20 million for it.



It's Comcast Center in Philadelphia, which can make you drool over their new measures 27 by 87-feet 10 million LED display.

Those pseudo-3D animation do work rather well...

via [engadget]

Seekway 3D LED Cube

It has LEDs. It changes color.

That alone would be enough to interest me; but after seeing it in motion I think everyone will be mesmerized by this 3D LED Cube from Seekway capable of playing 3D motion sequences.

This particular cube is made of 16x16x16 RGB LEDs (that's 4096 LEDs if you don't want to do the math yourself) which - though they look nice on photos - look even better on video:



Seekway is already working on the next models, which will have up to 48x48x48 LEDs (that's over 110 thousand LEDs.)

I'll sure be looking forward to seeing it in action.

via [Gizmodo]