A gift from my friends at Philips

[MiTT]

So, when I was in Amsterdam recently the business side of my trip included a very full day of meetings with Philips at their R&D facility in Eindhoven. Philips just recently bought one of our big competitors (Genlite) and are now a player in the US as a fixture manufacturer. This caused some concern on our part (Cooper Lighting), because they are also a key supplier for us. After a very good day of meetings everyone on both sides felt better about our relationship, and as a token of their gratitude they presented the 6 of us present with a very cool new lighting device that is currently introduced only in Europe. It's called the "Living Colors" and it's one of the coolest pieces of Industrial Design I've seen lately. The center "iris" looking cone is actually the heat sink for the color changing LED's at the front face of the transparent cone. This thing is VERY cool. Pretty much any color you can imagine is projected as a wall wash in whatever space you aim it. The remote control is very cool too, you simply put your finger in the proximity of the color you want and it changes the fixture to that color. White level and dimming are also controled via the remote. Apparently there are only the six units they gave to my traveling companions and I in the entire western hemisphere.

The pictures really don't do it justice, but it makes a great addition to my listening room! You should see the wall color behind the CLS's at night.

 

[nsgarch]

And it runs on 120VAC?

 

[MiTT]

And it runs on 120VAC?

Well the driver is "universal" meaning it'll run on anything from 120-347V, 50-60Hz AC in (pretty typical for the lighting industry actually), and the driver converts it to 12V DC. I did have to buy an adapter for the plug to covert it from the European form factor.

 

[Rich]

I want one!

 

[Joey_V]

Congrats on the present, Tim!

Dang.. those look real cool and I've been looking for some backlight for my Logans for some time now. Are these ever coming out in the US?

 

[nsgarch]

I want one!

I want two!!

 

[amey01]

Very cool - yes, I want two too....

 

[JonFo]

Hi TIMM, I want six please

That is just way too cool.

 

[MickeyVee]

Way cool.. I'm in for two when they become available in North America..
Maybe you should start importing them on your own

 

[MiTT]

I think Philips has more than enough Marketing horsepower to bring this to the States on their own, but I have no idea when they might do it. In general lighting color is a LOT bigger deal in Europe and Asia than it is here - outside of gaming and hospitality that is. Still, it's a cool product. It is VERY pricy though; I was told nearly 300 Euros, roughly $460 US at todays exchange rates!



It is a sexy beast though isn't it?

 

[Rich]

It is VERY pricy though; I was told nearly 300 Euros, roughly $460 US at todays exchange rates!

Actually, doing a little research, I found several places in England and Germany that sell it for the equivalent of about $230 each. Unfortunately, none of them will ship it to the States.

I think this is an awesome product and I hope they export them to the States soon. Congrats on acquiring one. Next time you go over there, bring back some for the rest of us.

 

[MiTT]

Actually, doing a little research, I found several places in England and Germany that sell it for the equivalent of about $230 each. Unfortunately, none of them will ship it to the States.

So that's about 150 Euro's - much more managable, though still not cheap. The price I'd heard must have been for a pair.

I'm in touch with the folks at Philips on a very regular basis. If/when they import them I see if I can swing a "prefered customer" rate on a few of them.