computerwoche.de

Archiv

This Bulb Lets Your Phone Control the Lights in Your Home

19.08.2012
If you're one for setting the perfect mood in your home by brightening or dimming the lights, you'll know how annoying it can be when you need to get up to adjust the light. Thanks to smartphone apps and Bluetooth, though, you can actually continue to recline.

The is probably one of the weirdest gadgets you'll install in you home. Like a typical bulb, you just screw it in to get it to light up the room. But this light bulb, as the name suggests, can be controlled from your phone via Bluetooth.

Not only does this light bulb-app combo let you adjust the brightness in a room from your phone,it also comes available as an RGB bulb, so you can pick a number of colors to light your room. Tinkerers can also easily change the chips (useful if it stops working, too) or play with the software, so you can have it do things like automatically switch off at a specified time.

Unfortunately, there is a small catch. The light uses Bluetooth 4.0, so only a small handful of phones or computers can work with support it. At present, you'd need an iPhone 4S, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S III, Droid RAZR, Mac Mini, or MacBook Air in order to use the Bluetooth Bulb. Also, the light can only be controlled within 164 feet--that's the length of an Olympic swimming pool.

If the above doesn't put you off though, or you think it'll make a great addition to your home automation project, the impressive-sounding bulb will be available within the next two months from 's online store.

[]