Philips, Cree Team Up To Light Up Our World

Filed in archive Gadgets , Wired Home General on July 11, 2010

Philips has always been known as a champion of healthcare, and this can be seen in its products. One of its more promising environment-friendly products is LED lighting. Cree shares this passion for, in its own words, "setting the stage to obsolete the incandescent light bulb through the use of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly LED lighting.

So it's really no surprise that these two corporate powerhouses, Royal Philips Electronics and Cree Inc., have banded together by signing a cross-license agreement aimed at fast-tracking the growth of the LED lighting market.

"Philips and Cree have significantly invested in innovation in LED lighting solutions. The wide-ranging IP portfolios of the respective companies reflect the outcome of this effort," said Rudy Provoost, chief executive officer of Philips Lighting. "We wish to see the accelerated adoption of LED lighting, and are therefore delighted that Cree will be joining our LEd Luminaire Licensing Program."

What does this bode for wired home fanatics? Well, LED (or light-emitting diode) has a wide range of applications, the least among which is making sure you know when your television, stereo, or any other electronic equipment in your automated home is turned on.

© Philips

One of its most recent uses is, of course, in lighting technology, and this is where Philips and Cree excel.

Here are some of the qualities that make LED lighting better than your run-of-the-mill incandescent bulb:

• Energy efficient. LEDs are more efficient in consuming energy than incandescent bulbs because they produce more light per watt. This efficiency is also not affected by the shape and size of the LED.


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• No need for color filters. LEDs can be made to emit different colors without the use of filters, unlike incandescent bulbs. These filters often dim the light coming from bulbs or tubes.


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• Look, Ma, no heat! Well, this isn't entirely true. LEDs still emit heat, but it's almost unnoticeable because what little heat it generates dissipates at its base and not the part that emits light.
  
  


• Long life. LEDs have longer life spans compared with incandescent bulbs which translates to more savings.
  

This is only a partial list. Discover the other wonders of LED lighting and what it can do for your wired home at the Philips LED website or Cree LED lighting website.