The light bulb has not had an upgrade for over 100 years. But things are changing. LEDs and CFLs have challenged the conventional bulb, and now Philips is giving the bulb a makeover. This time, flatter in design.

Dubbed the SlimStyle, it looks like someone rolled over it with a steamroller. The bulb emits light at a brightness equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb and is powered by an LED. It has a rated lifetime of 22 years.

The bulb is so slim but it will fit a normal socket. The light it produces is as warm as an incandescent bulb and it's extremely consistent, with no flicker. It feels more durable, too.

LED lights are considered to be the next best replacement to incandescent bulbs since they consume less power and don't have trace amounts of toxic mercury found in CFL bulbs.

"Right now we're at a really exciting point because LED bulbs have started to break the $10 mark, and fall well below it once you factor in subsidies," says Sal Cangeloso, author of LED Lighting: A Primer to Lighting the Future. "We're still not at the point of mass adoption — it's not entirely clear where that is — but right now we have two significant factors coinciding: dropping prices and the the phase-out of 40W and 60W incandescents going into effect."

The Philips SlimStyle bulb goes on sale January 2 exclusively at HomeDepot.com.