LED Bulb Wirelessly Transmits Audio 0

Back in the late 90s, well-respected loudspeaker designer Cary Christie filed a patent for a "speaker light unit connected to [a] conventional electrical light socket." Seven years later, Kadence Designs referenced that patent when filing one for a similar-sounding product. In January 2010, Klipsch announced that product, the LightSpeaker, as "the first product of its kind to combine efficient LED lighting and wireless ambient sound into a single unit that installs like a light bulb." Although it was first to market and went on to win an award at the Consumer Electronics Show, less than two years later the whole LightSpeaker line is listed as discontinued on Klipsch's site. In the meantime, Artison -- which Christie founded in 2003 -- partnered with lighting company Osram Sylvania to create and recently release MusicLites, in some ways a 'newer' and improved take on the speaker-light.
Equivalent to a 65-watt reflector bulb, 10-watt MusicLites produce 500 lumens for an estimated 25,000 hours under "normal use." They contain a 70mm high-fidelity speaker with a frequency response between 50 Hz and 20 kHz, 25W of RMS power and up to 96 dB of output. Although they pump out good sound for their size, they're mainly meant to add ambient audio, rather than be primary speakers.
Installation is pretty simple: Screw the bulb into any standard light socket (including four-, five- or six-inch recessed lighting cannisters) and turn it on; plug a transmitter into the audio source (via USB, Apple 30-pin dock connector, 3.5mm mini jack or Toslink digital optical input); wait a few seconds for the two to automatically pair on the 2.4GHz wireless bandwidth, then press play and enjoy the tunes.
The handy remote can gradually dim the lights down to 10 percent. It also controls the audio of up to three different sources simultaneously playing throughout a system of five zones each containing twelve MusicLites. That's 60 light bulbs in all -- 61, if you count the one that appeared over your head when you pictured all the places you could put these.

Credit: MusicLites

Throwable Ball Camera May Revolutionize How We Watch Sports 0

We have the goal cam, the field cam, and the helmet cam. But the best may be still to come: the ball camera.
An initial prototype of the Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera has been developed by Jonas Pfeil, Kristian Hildebrand, Carsten Gremzow, Bernd Bickel and Marc Alexa. Consisting of 36 mobile phone cameras and a layer of advanced protective foam, a simple toss in the air gives breathtaking perspective to a ball's flight.
It's not hard to see potential in the sporting arena. What if this sort of camera was mounted inside the balls we use on the field in professional sports?

Can you imagine seeing Santonio Holmes' Super Bowl-winning catch against the Cardinals captured from the perspective of the ball, surrounded by a packed stadium and flying past some of the best athletes in the world? Or perhaps the moment just after Lionel Messi fires at goal, but just before the keeper extends to stop the shot?
"It would certainly be intriguing to try that," Pfeil told ThePostGame.com by email Thursday. "We only have a single prototype which we would rather not take into a basketball game. We did, however, take great care to build the prototype as durable as possible."
Of course it would take immense upgrades and immensely light cameras for such a concept to work in a regulation football or soccer ball, but you have to imagine an in-game version of the ball cam is coming. And after seeing this video, we can't wait.