Hasta La Ideas

Remember Philips’ futuristic-looking EnduraLED lightbulb? Roughly two years after they pulled the wraps off of it, the bulb has now passed the U.S. Department of Energy’s 18-month testing period and won the DOE’s L-Prize, a competition designed to spur innovative, viable replacements for the venerable 60-watt incandescent. Philips will get $10 million for being the first to clear all of the technical hurdles and field testing.

Philips is no longer referring to the bulb as the “EnduraLED” in press releases, so a name change is probably in the works. But whatever they end up calling it, the LED bulb puts out an amount of light consistent with a standard 60-watt, yet sucks up just 9.7 watts of juice. Consumer release dates are vague, with the company reporting the bulb “could arrive in stores as soon as early 2012.”

(more…)