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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Gotham Gadgets: Philips Celebrates 10 Years of Lighting Times Square Ball

2010 Numerals for Ringing in the New Year Outfitted in New LED Bulbs

Philips Electronics proudly announces that the 2009-2010 holiday season marks the company’s 10th anniversary as the official Lighting Partner to the world-famous Times Square Ball. Over the past decade, Philips’ unmatched investment in solid state lighting has helped to marry the Ball’s powerful combination of time-honored tradition with innovative technology. And the trend continues as, for the first time, Philips has converted the companion Times Square Ball Numerals (2-0-1-0) to all LED technology.

Philips led the historic conversion of the Ball’s light source from incandescent and halogen bulbs to its LUXEON® LED technology in 2007-2008 as well as its subsequent upgrade to even more energy-efficient LUXEON LEDs in 2008-2009. Now, in 2009-2010, Philips will complete the final step in its conversion of the entire Times Square Ball application to a powerful and highly sustainable LED platform. The 545 custom-designed Philips scalloped LED flood bulbs lighting the Times Square Ball Numerals use just 9 watts each, compared to the 40 watts consumed by the incandescent and halogen bulbs previously used, representing a 78 percent energy savings. The new LED bulbs are designed for outdoor use and are rated to last for 25,000 hours based on the unique usage factors in the Times Square application.

Professional lighting users can enjoy the benefits of the world famous Times Square Ball LED technology in their own end use applications, as a commercial version of the LED bulb used to light the Times Square Ball Numerals – the Philips EnduraLED™ PAR 30 Longneck - is now available for purchase through professional channels. And for the first time, a consumer version of this bulb - the Philips AmbientLED™ PAR 30 Longneck - is also available for residential users through The Home Depot stores nationwide. Ideal for recessed lighting applications and consuming just 11 Watts, this energy efficient option uses 78 percent less energy than the 50W halogen bulbs it replaces, delivers over 400 lumens of light output, and has a rated average life of 25,000 hours.

“Following our landmark upgrade of the Times Square Ball to LED technology over the past two years, we are very excited to deliver yet another innovative LED solution that helps to elevate the impact and sustainability of the Times Square Ball through the use of our powerful new LED flood bulbs in the Numerals,” said Ed Crawford, CEO, Philips Lighting North America.

"Global icons like the Times Square Ball are not the only applications that can enjoy the benefits of LED technology. In addition to offering a wide range of professional LED solutions, we are delighted to offer a broad line of LED retrofit bulbs to consumers for the first time, enabling everyone to enhance their life with light through high performance, energy efficient and long life LED lighting."

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