LED Lightbulbs and London Olympics

GE's New $50 LED Lightbulb Pricey, but Future-Proofed?
A new lightbulb might not sound like the most exciting piece of technology in the world. Nevertheless, GE has unleashed a little monster of an LED bulb that does its best to imitate the common features (including brightness and lighting angles) of a conventional incandescent bulb. And since it's based on light-emitting diodes, rather than a heated-up filament, it will use one-fourth of the typical power draw of an incandescent bulb to output its 450 lumens—the brightness equivalent of a 40-watt incandescent bulb.

The kicker? Picking up the GE Energy Smart LED Bulb will set you back anywhere from $40 to $50. That's a bit pricier than your standard $1-$2 incandescent bulb. However, GE expects its LED bulb to last 17 years—or a 25,000-hour life—if run four hours a day, every day. That's 25 times the lifespan of a typical incandescent bulb and three times the availability of an average 8,000-hour CFL bulb. The GE Energy Smart LED Bulb fits normal incandescent sockets, which is a nice touch for those worried about having to replace infrastructure just to harness the power of environmentally friendly lighting.

General Electric strengthens team in London for 2012 Olympics
General Electric, a TOP Olympic sponsor, has announced that it has bolstered its UK corporate communications efforts ahead of London hosting the 2012 Olympics with two new appointments.

Mark Maguire, 36, has been appointed in the newly created role of communications director for GE UK.
He will report to Mark Elborne, the President and chief executive of GE Northern Europe with immediate effect.
Maguire will be responsible for the company’s corporate image and brand identity amongst external stakeholders - in particular through the media.
In addition to media relations he will be responsible for all internal corporate communications, as well as optimising sponsorship and corporate social responsibility opportunities for GE in the UK - in particular GE’s London 2012 Olympics sponsorship.