LG has just revealed one of its little incursions into the smart home territory. Unveiling what it simply calls the Smart Lamp, these Bluetooth-enabled bulbs are designed to give a touch of automation and tech savvy into homes without the need to replace existing bulb fixtures.
Bulbs with smarts seem to be slowly on the rise. Last month, Philips gave a preview of its Intelligent Lighting technology which communicates with mobile devices via a combination of visual light communication or VLC and Bluetooth LE (Low Energy). While LG’s new bulbs are less exotic than that, after all, they’re meant to mostly be use inside residential spaces, they are no less capable.
Communication with the LG Smart Lamp happens through Bluetooth as well. All it needs on the smartphone side is a specialized app for Android devices running Android 4.3 or higher. iOS version 6 and latter are also supported, but the app is currently still unavailable. Functionality isn’t really that complicated and basically comes in two modes. Security mode turns on the lights at specified times, as if the owner was really at home while Play mode adds a bit of fun into the atmosphere by dimming or blinking the lights depending on the currently playing song. LG also throws in a pinch of notification, by flashing the lights when you receive a call. Perfect for times when you forget your phone in another room.
Perhaps the best part of LG Smart Lamps is that they don’t need a different socket and can simply be slapped into regular bulb sockets. It is also advertised to be 80 percent more efficient than regular light bulbs and can last up to 10 years on an average use of 5 hours a day. Naturally, it will also cost more than your regular light bulb, fetching a 35,000 won price tag in Korea, roughly converted to $32, per bulb. International availability is currently still unknown.
Is it an LED or is it a fluorescent bulb?
For this price, it’s better be LED or even better…