Shame this uses WiFi rather than Power line networking; I'm sure it would be more efficient and future proof.
This "just works". Power line networking would require a wireless device plugged in the wall in order to control the lights from a phone.
The lightbulb reinvented
41–50 of 138 posts
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#42I was pleased to see that you can use your existing switches. For the majority of cases I can't imagine anything more irritating than having to get my phone out, open up an app and find the right light control, just to turn the light on. It would definitely be convenient to switch all lights off when I go to bed though. Coloured lighting seems a bit naff but maybe there are more subtle ways to use it than make your l…
Your existing switches still work assuming you just want to turn the lights off. Of course then you have to flick the switch back on before they can be controlled by the app again.
And what about turning the lights back on when they were shut off with the app? Perhaps cycling the switch will make them come back on.
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#43This would be great for connecting up to a CI server or monitoring system. If a build breaks, flash red or maybe if the site goes down go to solid red.
My previous company used to use this:
http://www.patlite.com/product/category0002_000000.html
For instance, you can use yellow for "warning/important" level and red for "critical" level, and lights-only for staging environment and light & sound alarm for production environment, for instance. Pretty expensive, though.
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#44Wouldn't it make more sense to make the actual lightswitch wi-fi controllable rather than the lightbulb?
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#45Shame this uses WiFi rather than Power line networking; I'm sure it would be more efficient and future proof.
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Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#46Shame this uses WiFi rather than Power line networking; I'm sure it would be more efficient and future proof.
I was thinking the same. Could it be to do with the lighting circuit being separate to the wall-socket circuits?
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#47So, how would one go about connecting it a password protected network?
I'd guess that initially, an ad-hoc network is created, through which the bulb can be configured with the Wi-Fi password.
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#48Wouldn't it make more sense to make the actual lightswitch wi-fi controllable rather than the lightbulb?
I think a big part of the pitch of this thing is that it's ultra-easy to install, even in places where you can't change the electrical stuff.
If the wifi stuff was in the switch, you'd have to turn off the electricity, unscrew the faceplate, unwire the current switch, take it out, wire in the new switch, fix it in place, screw on the faceplate. Then, unscrew the current bulb and screw in the LED one. And if you move, you'd have to do it all over again.
This thing, you just unscrew the current bulb and screw in the new one and you're done.
Works in a dorm, even a hotel room, too.
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#49The home automation market has been an utter disaster for decades. I hoped the "green" movement would nudge it mainstream. Not yet, and Google even killed off their home electricity monitoring projects. Here's a similar product: http://www.smarthome.com/2672-222/INSTEON-LED-Bulb/p.aspx No color change capability and requires some other stuff as part of the system, but once you start turning on lightbulbs you quickly…
> And the systems currently suck.
The stuff that gets pitched to consumers for self install is pretty terrible.
When I was in high school I used to work as an electrician for a security/fire/cctv/home automation company. I remember doing a brand new summer house for a CEO of some large corp in roughly 1999-2000 time frame. Even then everything in the house was controlled via low volage relay. Outlets, lights, dimmers, curtains, everything. Each room had a iPad like touch panel on the wall that controlled the entire thing.
There are actually some really good systems out there, they just require that you considered it when you built the house to wire for it ahead of time or go through a costly retrofit. Also the 'best' systems were not that simple to setup. They weren't designed for the user to install so the configuration would often involve punching hexadecimal codes into a controller down in the basement to get the initial setup correct.
Re: The lightbulb reinvented
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm assuming the LIFX did their due-diligence and attained "freedom to operate" before undergoing this venture - or is "assumption the mother of all f-ups"?
I prefer 'assume makes an ass of u and me'.
I've never understood why it makes an ass out of the "me" in that context. I can only imagine scenarios in which the person doing the assuming is making an ass out of themselves, not where their assuming is making an ass out of other people.