LED startup Switch Lighting hopes to light the way in valley

Silicon Valley is known for computer chips, software companies and social networks -- but not light bulbs.

Switch Lighting, a San Jose startup, hopes to change that. Later this fall, the venture capital-backed company plans to release a new line of bulbs aimed at replacing the ones consumers typically use in lamps and other fixtures.
Switch's bulbs are among a new generation powered by light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, a technology that many experts bet will finally displace the incandescent bulb that Thomas Edison invented more than a century ago, in part because they're much more energy-efficient. Switch hopes to carve out a place in this emerging market by offering bulbs that look better than competitors', produce better light, are more durable -- and potentially cheaper, too.