Building smartphone connectivity into common home goods like a lightbulb was always a natural play. Philips was the first to successfully take it mainstream with its line of Hue products. Since then, others have followed suit as Apple’s HomeKit has developed into a viable service. For some, the problem of paying a significant upcharge for this capability is too difficult to overcome. Another issue is that consumers might prefer a certain style of bulb, Edison for example, which is not readily available with smart functionality.
That’s where iDevices comes in. The clever brand behind a variety of smartphone products has now released a new add-on that sits between your existing light socket and bulb to add this functionality to nearly any light. Appropriately named, Socket is HomeKit compatible and is available for pre-order today…
Socket screws into the majority of today’s common lighting fixtures. After connecting it with the app and installing a standard bulb, that old lamp or hallway sconce now has a bevy of new capabilities. Like other smart lights, you’ll be able to control power, dim and set a schedule for that socket. Additionally, users can group multiple bulbs together to create zones for automatically illuminating certain areas of a home. It uses Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity, so it is compatible in more scenarios.
Perhaps most desirable is the colored ring that is built-in to the product. It sits just below your bulb and can be customized to display hundreds of colors. You simple use the slider within the app to adjust the light to your specifications. Much like Hue, you can create scenes from pictures to match a certain color or look from a vacation or the like.
Because it has HomeKit compatibility, Socket can communicate with other devices in your home that work with Apple’s standard. Pricing continues to be an issue for many consumers when it comes to this type of product, as we mentioned above. The low-cost of a traditional lightbulb, even by LED standards, makes this a hard pill for some to swallow.
The iDevices Socket is available for pre-order today for $79. It is scheduled to ship later this year.
More New Toy of the Day:
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Source: iDevices
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