LED

The solar-powered hat fan taught us how to survive the summer heat, but what about the winter doldrums? Enter the "Feel Bright Light" from Hollywood Gadgets. A set of LED bulbs affixed underneath the brim of a visor bathe your face in happy light to help ward off seasonal affective disorder, for a mere $200. Our take: We'd rather stay in a permanent funk.

LEDs are beginning to rival Swarovski crystals as overused (and unnecessary) accents for all manner of products--even handbags. They appear so often that we could even start a daily feature on them.

So for today's installment of Crave, The LED Edition, we be bring you into the home. The "Diamond Lite" mirror, from the UK's BC Designs, is a backlit, splash-proof accessory punctuated with small diamond-shaped LED clusters. But, unlike so the garish designs of so many other items we've seen, this one is actually done in a tasteful manner, as Gadget Candy says. Then … Read more

Some marketers will never understand the meaning of "enough." LEDs are everywhere, of course, having gone far beyond computing to everything from umbrellas and license plates to tables and your mouth. Well, not your mouth, necessarily.

So naturally, some brilliant designer (unintentional pun) had to come up with the "Illuminated Handbag" too. At first glance, we thought it was taken from some footage of a recent volcano eruption or perhaps a studio still from the '50s horror classic The Blob. But nay, it was just an unfortunate attempt at techno-fashion that Red Ferret says was priced … Read more

Lighted keyboards have become increasingly common, ranging from those that can fold away to ones that can withstand military conditions. But those might not be options if you have some kind of Tourette-like reaction to lights under your fingertips.

Enter this alternative from Korean inventor Spike Kwon (gotta love the name), which illuminates the keys with an LED bar situated just above the top row. Though still in the developmental stages, it seems to be farther along than most concept products because it's gotten approval from the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to Gizmowatch. The best part is … Read more

The weather must be changing, because we're seeing more items that actually involve the outdoors (and not snowplowing). Just yesterday, for example, we noted an anti-insect LED lightbulb to be used outside, but Gizoo's "Wind-up Magic LED Lantern" does it one better: It doesn't need any batteries or power outlets to work.

How is this possible? It's called a hand crank, Sparky. Just one minute of winding will get 30 minutes of light from the lantern's five LEDs, according to SCI FI Tech, and it can stay lit for up to four hours … Read more

It's one thing to have LEDs around the house or even on the head, but in your mouth? Um, no.

The "Ionic Teeth Whitener" promises to keep your pearly whites sparkling with a special blue LED that that "activates silver ions" in its accompanying toothpaste, according to Red Ferret. For $30, it promises to "remove stains from coffee, soda, wine, smoking and more."

More? If you've got more issues than these, you probably need more than a dental cleaner in your life.

LEDs continue to pop up everywhere, from music players to your head, and one company from Japan is taking them to new frontiers in the great outdoors.

Like all LEDs, Iwasaki Electric's "Bouhantou" is remarkably efficient--it can last for 40,000 and requires far less energy to operate than standard bulbs. But Gizmowatch notes that it has one important distinction: The Bouhantou doesn't emit ultraviolet light, which means it won't attract insects.

And that, in our entomophobic opinion, is the best thing about it.

We know that stranger things have happened, but let's hope that headlamps don't become a fashion trend. We're a bit worried after having just seen a 24-LED version a few days ago, only to find another fetching piece of illuminated headgear pop up on in the gadget blogosphere. Shiny Shiny rightly notes that "you'll look an absolute twit" wearing one of these items from the U.K.'s Millets outdoor store but, if you do happen to get lost or fall into a ditch, its flashing mode would probably come in handy. Or you … Read more

Now you have an alternative to your programmable VW bumper sticker if you want to communicate digitally with other road users. Roadmaster has unveiled two scrolling LED message systems that enable drivers to program up to 99 preset messages and five user-edited messages to share with other drivers. The system comes in two models: the Roadmaster Scrolling Digital License Plate Frame, and the Scrolling Rear Deck Message System, which sits on the car's parcel shelf; both are priced at $69.

Preset words and phrases can be called up using numbers on the systems' TV-like remote controls. According to Roadmaster, … Read more