http://tags.gizmodo.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gizmodo.com.png http://gizmodo.com/tag/waterfordcrystal http://gizmodo.com/tag/waterfordcrystal At first glance, the new ball set to drop over Time's Square this New Year's Eve looks a lot like designs from years past. However, the updated ball is twice as big as previous versions (12-feet tall, 11,875 pounds) and it will be the first to be a permanent year-round fixture atop One Times Square. Besides its size, the ball is decked out with 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS that are capable of generating more than 16 million distinct colors and billions of patterns. Essentially, it's a giant LivingColors lamp kaleidoscope for the world. [Times Square NYC]

]]> http://gizmodo.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5084805&view=rss&microfeed=true I'm nostalgic for some things, but it's about damn time they replaced that raggedy old New Year's Ball in Times Square. It had 600 bulbs and looked like it came from the prop room of The Day The Earth Stood Still. The new and improved model boasts 9,576 LEDs, renders 16 million colors and displays video, all without using more electricity than 10 toasters. It costs $1.1 million, but lest you think it all went into tech, those sparkly things are Waterford crystals—the only thing that trumps Swarovski. [Sci Fi Tech]

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