New Years Gets a Makeover (the Times Square ball at least!)

Editor’s Note– Happy New Year, GearCravers!  We’ll be back in action on Friday, January 2nd– we hope to see you then.  In the mean time, have a happy, safe night tonight and a prosperous, fruitful new year!

If you plan on watching the ball drop in Times Square this New Years Eve, you’ll be looking at 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs. The ball got an LED makeover last year for it’s 100th anniversary and will sport all those LEDs again this year (along with a shopping 2, 668 Waterford crystals) when it drops come midnight.

The massive 12 foot wide, 11,875-pound ball can display “16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns.” The energy efficient LED’s also cut the overall power use of the New Years fixture 20%! [via DVICE]