The Zero is available in several different configurations, ranging from a wall sconce to ceiling lamps to floor and table models. The lamps also come with color filters and perforations that create an other worldly ambiance with LED lighting effects. It's worth checking out Punto's other products as well—their self-titled and Linea lines are equally as impressive. [Punto via Trendir]

The only problem is that Robolamps have not gone commercial, but if they did, I have no doubt that they would sell. Well, maybe not the robot that looks like it's admiring its own giant wang, but other than that...[Robolamp on Facebook via Pocket-Lint]

Flickr user kmkelley617's bacon lamp is real and it's (mostly) edible. The shade is made out of 99% handwoven bacon which was then baked as a mold in the oven, probably so kmkelley617 wouldn't find himself violently ill should he get mouthy in the middle of a spontaneous-yet-inevitable man-on-lamp lovemaking session.

The only room we see for improvement is to replace that lightbulb with something of a higher wattage so the lamp becomes a dual bacon idol/bacon cooker, rather than solely the former. [flickr via Oddity Central via The Presurfer via technabob]

Frederik Krebs came up with this combination of solar panels and LED lights which, while definitely a work-in-progress, could bring cheap light to some of the world's poorest regions. I call the lamps a work-in-progress because despite being durable enough to last several years, they run at a mere 1% efficiency. But with the expected final cost of $7 a piece, they're full of life-changing potential, despite that low efficiency.

Some prototypes of the lamps are currently being tested in Zambia. As seen in the picture, the solar panels are left laying flat during the day and then rolled up (and secured with snap-button) into a cone-shaped lamp. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the results of the prototype tests and a final product, because no one should go without artificially lit nights. [IEEE Spectrum via Pop Sci]

The reissued design originally debuted in 1972, and consists of a simple wire frame topped with a plastic dome (available in four colors!!). And if it weren't for the $1200 price tag, we might consider making one ours. (Ha! You thought this thing would be cheap? Since when is mass-producible metal and plastic cheap?) [The Lollipop Shoppe via Unplggd]

This lamp is of a similar mindset.

Wrapped in its own cord, the lamp will rarely be out of reach from the nearest socket...pending a little deconstruction. Buy yours for $150, or bring your own cord for $75. Or, and I'm sure you're mind has beaten me here, build your own entirely for like $5. [Craighton Berman via CoolestGadgets via OhGizmo!]

The Spoticam security lamp, available in white or aluminum, elicits the feeling of being monitored while simultaneously providing a convenient, bendable light source. Your friends and family won't trust your assertions that it's just a lamp, of course, and it won't be long until everyone refuses to visit your apartment. But that's OK. The thrill of exploring your own nasal cavity with CCTV is more than enough entertainment on a Friday night to balance out a general lack of company. [Antrepo via MoCo Loco via DVICE via OhGizmo!]

SHADE brings new life to an iconic form with a formal, tuxedo-like appearance with its terminations to the bulbs referencing bow ties and the stainless steel button head cap screws alluding to silver studs and cuff links.

SHADE is a low voltage fixture using its aircraft aluminum body to conduct electricity to 28, 12V/10W high efficiency, long life and high color rendering Xenon Festoon bulbs. Finished meticulously with catalyzed acrylic enamel, SHADE is available in three colors: torch red, white and silver metallic.

Okaaaaay, I'm not feeling "tuxedo" here, but it does look damn good in whatever it's wearing. [Christopher Moulder via MocoLoco]

Still, Office Space comparisons aside, for me the simple dimming of the four-square OLED, and the fact that these lights won't rape and pillage the environment like those nasty mercury-containing fluorescents we see everywhere today, were cool enough to warrant the wait.

Unfortunately, just like OLED HDTV screens, these lights are starting small and expensive (the prototype shown here is just 24-inches). Hopefully the $2 million Department of Energy grant awarded to manufacturer UDC in July 2008 (it's their prototype) will hasten the process, if only slightly. [YouTube via OLED Info]

The lamp is intended to spend most of its time on a wireless charging stand, which not unlike the Palm's Touchstone or, more precisely, Sanyo's wireless eneloop Wiimote charger. There, it can be switched between the brighter white light mode and a low-draw blue, or "Healing Light," mode. The stand feeds power into the unit's two AA batteries, which power the lamp when it strays from home. Sanyo's press release says it'll switch modes when it's turned horizontal, mentioning that there's some kind of accelerometer, although it seems like a simple activate-on-disconnect system would work just fine.

At first, I had trouble imagining too many uses for a lamp/torch hybrid, but then it hit me: midnight pooping. For that, this lamp is genius. No price or domestic availability info is available yet; Japan will see a launch on September 11th. [Akihabara News]

Oh wait, yes I can. Say I'm downstairs reading and my wife is upstairs reading, and I'm all like, damn, this light is too dim! And then she's like, no, my light is now too dim. Pretty soon you'll either have a strobe scenario to rival the heyday of Club MTV, or you'll have two people yelling at each other in the dark.

But maybe that's it, the point of Share Aware and the other Aware products conceived by designers Karin Ehrnberger and Loove Broms (not "Love Brooms") of the Interactive Institute in Sweden is to bring this sort of thing to our attention: We do all share a finite amount of electricity, whether our lightbulbs show it or not. Still doesn't change the fact that I would be labeled a "light hog" in no time. [Dezeen]

Hand drawn using paper and a pen first, the designs were then carved out of a single, thick piece of watercolor paper, and rolled to create a floor-standing lampshade. Tabbed designs were then carved to keep the tube's shape without other sources of adhesives or fasteners. Whether or not these lamps are fire resistant is unknown, but admittedly, seeing one of these go up in flames would also look pretty cool. [Levent & Romme via Inhabitat]

Although the lamp is powered solely through one block, twisting on additional blocks onto the original one will cause the array to light up. For $104, the TwistTogether comes in a set of four blocks, but was designed so that multiple sets of lamps can be added together to create an almost infinite number of possibilities. However, because these low-voltage LEDs consume less power than a standard night light, don't expect this lamp to help you actually see anything more than a colorful glow in the dark. [Design Public via BBG]

Indeed, there are 49 examples of the small table "Hooo!" version with a price tag of nearly $12,000. On the other hand, there are only 9 of the 6-foot "Haaa!" lamps, and each one of those will set you back around $120,000. I think I will forgo the crystal and wait for a plastic version with the guts of one of those cheap LED wands you find on impulse buy tables in men's clothing stores embedded in it. [Waldemeyer via Born Rich]