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The latest runaway Kickstarter success is the LIFX, "a WiFi enabled, multi-color, energy efficient LED light bulb that you control with your [smartphone]. Developed by San-Francisco-based inventor Phil Bosua and his support team, the LIFX is an iPod-like invention in that it combines several existing technologies into a novel and useful device that seems easy to use; apparently it's plug-and-play (though the demo video admittedly doesn't show how the initial set-up interface is handled).
I'm not sure how often I'd use the color-change feature, though bar owners are sure to love it. The nightlight/timer feature shown in the video looks pretty cool though, and I wonder if you can use it in reverse, slowly ramping your lights up in the mornings to wake you up.
If you think the LIFX looks amazing, you're not alone: The project easily smashed its $100,000 goal and is now up to $994,729 with 56 days left to pledge. At $69 a pop the bulbs aren't cheap, but they're meant to last for 25 years, and discounts are conferred for buying in bulk.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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The Amazing LIFX Smart Lightbulb
Thats a really well done presentation.
did you get a lot of feedback from IDSA?
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/09/18/kickstarter-vaporware-of-the-day-lifx-edition/
http://cargocollective.com/larryparkerdesign/Soluna
First... This is not a new concept. This guy is being credited with reinventing the light bulb.. Yet this concept and product has been around for over a year.
NXP - greenchip. Their video is oddly familiar to the video by lifx.
second...They dont have a real working prototype.. They show about 2 seconds of footage showing a lightbulb wired up and a laptop... All the images are just illustrations.
Do they even realize that the large heat sinks are going to effect the wifi?
I think this entire project has lawsuit and scam written all over it.