Philips Predicts that LEDs Will Replace Lightbulbs

We knew that the OLED technology was announced as the replacement of the LCDs and PDPs (plasma display panel), the speed at which the high-end technologies are changing not being surprising anymore. Still, the silent witness to all these transformations imposed by the new technologies was the common lightbulb, which has remained practically unchanged for the past 100 years.

But Philips has some plans for Edison's creation, and if you are to believe the Dutch representatives, soon, instead of saying "turn on the lights", we might be saying, "turn on the LED".

In a recent speech, Mr. Frans van Houten, CEO Philips Semi, talked about some of the technological trends for the digital world. He predicted that the industry of classical lighting devices will be transformed into a LED producing one, which will benefit from an intelligent system able to generate de colors pointed out by the user.

Philips has also included colored LEDs in textile material, the company showcasing a prototype of a pillow which contained a display made of colored LEDs that was able to display messages sent through SMS or Bluetooth.

Philips is spending annually $1 billion for research and development, and over 80% of that sum is invested in Europe. Still, for the years to come, important investments are expected, especially for fields like nanotechnology.