New Technology Reviews!.: lights

Switched On: Light music

<img alt="" border="1" class="aligncenter" height="279" hspace="4" src="http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6650/musiclites.jpg" style="margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 4px; border: 1px solid black;" vspace="4" width="283" /> 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?

Switched On: Light music

Last month, Switched On discussed two of the Android expansion initiatives announced at Google's I/O conference -- the relatively easy t...

Christmas lights hack puts your IM contacts on the wall above your desk (video)

<DIV class=separator style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ieMlo6s1TuI8pSmXGyrvgkJ07wOBdguDH8beCYIIXwlJXbMhk-2Ed4yKfCXPLLavkHJ7UX_pBRyDxK6drhjKur2k8Irapa2NWnDwzBbFi6WNMG0kj2hANtYW5y2FDkhUFY4sel9N98I/s1600/101215-lights-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ieMlo6s1TuI8pSmXGyrvgkJ07wOBdguDH8beCYIIXwlJXbMhk-2Ed4yKfCXPLLavkHJ7UX_pBRyDxK6drhjKur2k8Irapa2NWnDwzBbFi6WNMG0kj2hANtYW5y2FDkhUFY4sel9N98I/s320/101215-lights-01.jpg" width="320"></A></DIV>As you well know, if it exists it can be hacked. And what better way to ring in the holidays than by taking a string of GE Color Effects G-35 lights and -- thanks to some hand-crafted drivers and a Microsoft .NET Micro Framework embedded controller -- turning it into a IM notifier? Of course, these aren't any old Christmas lights: between the ability to change colors and the preset light shows, these guys boast a feature set that Clark Griswold would die for. And that's where a Microsoft employee named Andrej Kyselica comes in: using the Microsoft Lync 2010 Office Communications Server, our man has rigged a system that allows him to assign each of his instant messenger contacts to a particular bulb, which changes color according to each contact's status (for instance, green indicates that someone's available, white means away, and purple means out of the office). Pretty sweet, eh? Check out the video after the break for a closer look.

Christmas lights hack puts your IM contacts on the wall above your desk (video)

As you well know, if it exists it can be hacked. And what better way to ring in the holidays than by taking a string of GE Color Effects G-...

Weird Tech: Forget street lights, use glowing trees instead

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/world%20of%20tech/images/tree-200-200.jpg"> What's got sixteen legs, four eyes and three rows of teeth? We don't know either, but it's right behind you. Only kidding! It's time for this week's Weird Tech, featuring things that don't exist, things you can't buy, things that are too expensive and dangerous to implement and things that might get you groped. Trees are rubbish. They just sit there, doing nothing, occasionally dropping things on your head. Wouldn't it be great if we could get them to do something useful, such as lighting our streets? That's what <a href="http://inhabitat.com/gold-nanoparticles-could-transform-trees-into-street-lights/">an accidental discovery by Taiwanese scientists</A> promises. It turns out that embedding gold nanoparticles in leaves makes them glow. For now, the necessary powder is ridiculously toxic and incredibly pricey, but in the long term "bio-LED could be used to make roadside trees luminescent at night. This will save energy and absorb CO2", Dr Yen-Hsun Su told Chemistry World. Money for nothing You'll recall that the entire global economy collapsed because people were spending money they couldn't afford on property they didn't need. Now, you can be even more irresponsible and spend money you can't afford on property that doesn't even exist. That's right! Virtual real estate is the next big thing! Just ask Yan Panasjuk, who paid $335,000 for a chunk of the entirely imaginary nightclub Neverdie, which only exists in the online game Entropia. </PARAM><PARAM value="true" name="allowFullScreen"></PARAM><PARAM value="always" name="allowscriptaccess"></PARAM><EMBED src=http://www.youtube.com/v/YGjJ4JnVfc0&hl=en&fs=1 width=420 height=315 type=application/x-shockwave-flash allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"> </EMBED></OBJECT> IMAGINE: It's easy to take the mickey out of Entropia. That's what we like. It's easy <a href="http://blogs.forbes.com/oliverchiang/2010/11/17/meet-the-man-who-paid-a-record-335000-for-virtual-property">Speaking to Forbes</A>, the 34-year-old Bostonian explained that it was a smart move because, um, "Avatar has grossed 2.7 billion dollars worldwide." He might be right, though: the club's previous owner was bringing in two hundred grand a year from selling virtual goods and services to idiots. Er, gamers. Wear your pants with pride Finally, if you're thinking of travelling in the US, you've probably heard of the increase in airport security, where you've got a choice between the pornoscanner – a scanner that sees through clothes – and invasive groping. <img alt="Cargoscan" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/world%20of%20tech/images/cargoscan-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG> THAT'S MAGIC: Wear magic pants. Use magic pants to give security a message. O noes! Rubber gloves! Technology comes to the rescue once again, though: <a href="http://cargocollective.com/4thamendment">4th Amendment Wear</A> uses metallic inks to display that particular bit of the US Constitution (it's the part about unreasonable searches) to the pornoscanner operator. And it's not limited to T-shirts: you can get the amendment printed on your underpants. Lights! Apple! Action! What do you buy the Apple fan who has everything? That's right – you buy them a Steve Jobs action figure, or at least you would if those killjoys at Apple hadn't <a href="http://store.micgadget.com/apple-toys-figures/212-steve-jobs-action-figure.html">sent a cease and desist letter to Micgadget</A>. <img alt="Steve jobs figure" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/world%20of%20tech/images/SJ%20Figure-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG> ONE MORE THING:This magical and revolutionary product had an unbelievable price of $79.90 before Apple's lawyers intervened Apparently a model of Jobs with stick-on speech balloons that you can scribble "Boom", "Magical" and "Amazing" on breaches Californian copyright law. That's our plans for Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Steve Ballmers buggered, then. Oi! Three eyes! If a man's got <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101123/ap_on_en_ot/us_the3rd_eye">a camera glued to his head</A>, it's probably art – and it certainly is in Wafaa Bilal's case. The New York University arts professor has had a small video camera implanted into the back of his head "as an allegorical statement about the things we don't see and leave behind". <img alt="Wafaa" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/world%20of%20tech/images/wafaa-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG> ARTY FARTY: This is Wafaa Bilal's website. We don't understand it, so it must be art Previously Bilal has encouraged people to fire paintballs at him 24/7 and created a video game featuring himself as a suicide bomber.

Weird Tech: Forget street lights, use glowing trees instead

What's got sixteen legs, four eyes and three rows of teeth? We don't know either, but it's right behind you. Only kidding! It...