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| Sengled Voice bulb |
When
is a light bulb more than a light bulb? When it can change colors, play music,
detect intruders, respond to your voice, and maybe help you get a good night’s
sleep.
The boring old light bulb, a familiar fixture since the days of Thomas
Edison, is becoming a star performer in the push toward modern homes that are
more energy efficient and able to be controlled by computers, tablets and cell
phones.
Take,
for example, the Pulse bulb from Sengled. It combines a
dimmable LED light with a wireless Bluetooth speaker. The speaker bulb links to
an Apple or Android app to deliver music and customized lighting. A version
called the Pulse Flex works outdoors and can be controlled over a home WiFi
network.
The
LED Smartbulb from iLumi can change colors to match your mood. It
will mimic candlelight for a romantic evening or imitate a sunrise in the
morning. Syncing the bulb to a music playlist turns a room into an instant
disco. The bulbs can also be set to come on when you walk into a room and
switch off a few minutes after you leave.
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| Amaryllo iCamPro Deluxe |
Some
new bulbs can function as part of a home security system. The Sengled Voice,
due out later this year, combines an LED light with a microphone and speaker.
Like Amazon’s Echo, the Voice bulb can control digital devices by responding to
its master’s voice.
The bulb will also send a notification when it hears other
sounds such as breaking glass or a beeping smoke alarm.
The
iCamPro Deluxe from Amaryllo squeezes a high-definition
webcam into a bulb-shaped device that screws into any light socket. With a home
WiFi connection, the camera will store video in the cloud and be controlled
remotely using an Apple or Android app.
It
has motion and audio sensors, night vision and a speaker for two-way
communication. The company says the camera can detect motion up to 30 feet
away, even if the activity is outside of its video frame. When it senses movement,
it begins tracking the moving object and uses face-recognition software to distinguish
family members and pets from strangers
or intruders.
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| Beon bulbs |
Like
the Nest thermostat, BeON bulbs attempt to learn your daily
routine and adjust a home’s lighting to turn lights on when you’re home and off
when you’re away. They also turn on exit lights when they hear fire or carbon
monoxide alarms and they have built-in batteries that will provide up to 10
hours of lighting during a power outage.
Better
sleep patterns is one of the goals of the Hue lighting system from Philips. With the Hue app for iOS, users can set the bulbs to automatically
change color for different times of the day. Lights gradually brighten in the
morning and dim at bedtime.
Some
of these new smart bulbs can be expensive, but they don’t need a full
home-control and hub system to do their magic. And you can expect to see more
multi-purpose lighting devices being invented in the near future, putting the
light bulb in a whole new light.
z
Written by Ric Manning
Follow me on Twitter @ricmanning and read my technology columns at My Well Being.
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