LED lights hit new ceilings
The day consumers buy long-life energy-saving LED lights to replace household bulbs has come a little closer with the launch of a product on Wednesday from Silicon Valley startup Bridgelux.
Its Helieon LED lighting module brings costs down to around $20 a unit in volume amounts for a light that will last more than 10 years and pay for itself in far less time in lower energy bills. Read more
Bill Watkins sees the light on LEDs
Bill Watkins, the former Seagate Technology chief executive, has chosen the lighting industry for his return to the CEO’s role.
Mr Watkins will lead Silicon Valley startup Bridgelux, which is driving down the cost and increasing the luminescence of LEDs with its technology.
“It’s the best thing I’ve come across in decades, this is how we felt about storage back in 1980, this is a $100bn market for general lighting,” he told me. Read more
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
