Ring is branching out from its usual doorbells and security cameras to produce truly connected lighting, although it's probably not going to replace your corner table lamps any time soon. An FCC filing has revealed that the Amazon-owned firm is prep...
UC Santa Barbara has had enough of retailers selling its patented LED light bulb technology without authorization. This week, the university filed a lawsuit charging Amazon, IKEA, Walmart, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond with infringing its patents....
With more and more smart devices in our homes, the need to occasionally reset or troubleshoot them comes along with that. But how do you interact with a device that has no keyboard, mouse, or other input mechanism when it can’t connect to your network? Well, don’t do it like GE did with its C “smart” lightbulbs.
This video which is designed to show how to reset your C by GE bulbs is like a textbook lesson in what not to do in user interface and usability design. I could explain it first, but it’s way funnier to watch the video for yourself:
Apparently, they couldn’t be bothered to include some kind of reset switch, or a simple on/off sequence, and instead, resetting your C by GE light bulb is more complicated than learning the Konami code. Seriously, these are the OFFICIAL directions posted on their YouTube channel:
Your bulbs are running on firmware version 2.8 or later (you can find your bulb firmware version by tapping on the device in your C by GE app).
We recommend counting with Mississippi (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, etc.).
Start with your bulb off for at least 5 seconds. 1. Turn on for 8 seconds 2. Turn off for 2 seconds 3. Turn on for 8 seconds 4. Turn off for 2 seconds 5. Turn on for 8 seconds 6. Turn off for 2 seconds 7. Turn on for 8 seconds 8. Turn off for 2 seconds 9. Turn on for 8 seconds 10. Turn off for 2 seconds 11. Turn on Bulb will flash on and off 3 times if it has been successfully reset.
TIP: If the factory reset above was unsuccessful, you might have an older version of the C by GE bulb. Please follow the instructions below to reset.
Bulb Reset Sequence – for firmware version 2.7 or earlier: We recommend counting with Mississippi (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, etc.).
Start with your bulb off for at least 5 seconds. 1. Turn on for 8 seconds 2. Turn off for 2 seconds 3. Turn on for 2 seconds 4. Power off for 2 seconds 5. Turn on for 2 seconds 6. Power off for 2 seconds 7. Turn on for 2 seconds 8. Power off for 2 seconds 9. Turn on for 8 seconds 10. Power off for 2 seconds 11. Turn on for 8 seconds 12. Power off for 2 seconds 13. Turn on Bulb will flash on and off 3 times if it has been successfully reset.
They forgot to mention the part where you just toss the bulb in the trash and buy a Philips Hue bulb instead.
“Filo is not just a light bulb, it’s a platform.” What Filo does is allow you to integrate various modular elements into the light bulb socket, giving you something that is capable of much more than illuminating. A variety of inserts allow Filo to be not just a light, but also your AI assistant, your Fire Alarm, or even your Baby Monitor, just to name a few. These modules fit directly into the lightbulb (which stays screwed in the socket). Just plug a module in and you’re set!
While this truly is quite a nifty idea, it isn’t particularly new. However, it’s still innovative. Let me explain. Think of the Filo bulb as our modern day USB. The USB port as we know today can do amazing things apart from data transfer. One USB port can charge your phone, power a keyboard, harness Wi-Fi, connect and power audio equipment, and even do crazy things like run this USB fridge. One port powering gadgets of multiple natures is the old idea. However the innovative bit with the Filo is that it uses this to solve a problem with today’s tech. Planned Obsolescence. While good lights usually last 10000 to 12000 hours, our gadgets aren’t programmed to. They break, or get updated very rapidly, resulting in us throwing the entire product away just to buy the ‘new version’. Filo doesn’t change that practice because tech will always upgrade. It however does the deed of reducing the footprint. Which means when your fire-alarm module goes bust, you just switch the module, you don’t throw the entire electronic/IoT hub.
The Filo comes with many such modules that allow an innocuous looking bulb and electric socket to absolutely transform your house into a smart home. Plus, aside from being so multi-talented, it does so with a green, eco-friendly soul. Much love!
Set the mood just right with these colorful LED light bulbs from SingHong. Each bulb can display millions of different colors, all controllable directly from your smartphone.
You can control up to 10 bulbs using the app, create light scenes, and set schedules for them to turn on and off. Each 7.5-watt bulb provides up 25,000 hours or more of runtime, so you won’t have to change them any time soon.
Head over to the Technabob Shop now, where you can grab one of these color-changing LED bulbs for just $19.99 (USD) each.
Pretty soon, drones and other robots will be doing all of our chores. Marek Baczynski is trying to usher in a new era of drones performing our menial tasks, which is no doubt why he spent hours figuring out how to get a drone to change a lightbulb. Eventually he succeeded, but it did take many tries.
It took Marek an entire day of experimentation to get a slightly modified, but dirt cheap Eachine E30W drone to unscrew a lightbulb and then screw a replacement back into the socket. It was not working, so Marek and his pilot Sven switched to an equally cheap Syma X5C-1 and that did the job in only about ten minutes. You can watch the struggle in the video below.
Now if only the drone were autonomous, that’d be another chore that humans could hand over to the robots. Hopefully we can get drones to do some more tasks around the house.
Give your home a colorful accent with these the SMFX Bluetooth Smart Bulb. Each of these high-tech light bulbs can display over 16 million different colors, and uses just 10% of the energy of an incandescent bulb.
The companion smartphone app lets you not only choose light colors and turn them on and off remotely, but set timers, or even enter “disco mode” to have the bulbs change colors based on the music you’re playing.
Each bulb is designed to last up to 40,000 hours, so you won’t have to worry about changing them for about 27 years.
Each SMFX bulb normally sells for $40, but you can grab them for just $29.99 over a the Technabob Shop for a limited time.
What could a ruler, light, and watch possibly have in common? In this case, the answer is IMPERFECTION! The “Reasonable Imperfection” collection of common objects explores the uncommon connection (and surprising functionality) of being imperfect.
Take the light for example – it’s absolutely irregular to our preconceptions about a what a light bulb should be. However, the “slice” taken from an otherwise suitable shape actually makes it more functional. Now, with the cut out section, it can be placed stably on any surface without any external assistance.
As for the watch, the perception is that it runs regularly by mechanical movement. However, what we feel is often different. Sometimes it runs slower or faster, influenced by situations and moods. This watch lets you feel this difference with a bezel which is not concentric. By turning the bezel in the position you want, you can dictate the time (at least visually).
Last but not least… the ruler. A ruler is normally straight, parallel and perpendicular. But in many cases, it is used to create imperfect divisions to a flat plain paper by improvised strokes. This skewed ruler helps to divide a rectangular with slanted lines, creating imperfection by using imperfection.
Part of the latest generation of Philips LED bulbs, the SlimStyle LED 60 W bulb leverages its uniquely flat surface to conduct heat away from the LEDs, eliminating the need for the heavy aluminum heat sinks associated with LED bulbs. This innovation helps to reduce the cost of the bulb, while still delivering the same high quality, omni-directional, dimmable light consumers desire. Providing a soft white light helps to create a comfortable and relaxing environment, and the SlimStyle bulb is the same size as a traditional A19 light bulb but with a new, sleek, flat design.
Description: First came the incandescent bulb. Then the CFL light, then the LED bulb, and then the Smart LED bulb. What’s the next step of innovation in the field of illumination? The LED Audio bulb! Sony’s got it all figured out. If you’re going to connect your smartphone to your LED bulb in the first place, you might as well give it something to boast of apart from the usual ability to change the brightness and colors and whatnot.
Here’s the LED Light Bulb Speaker; a light that will also allow you to broadcast music to it through Bluetooth. The most hilarious thing to do would be to listen to LED Zeppelin!! Get it??
Ring is branching out from its usual doorbells and security cameras to produce truly connected lighting, although it's probably not going to replace your corner table lamps any time soon. An FCC filing has revealed that the Amazon-owned firm is prep...
UC Santa Barbara has had enough of retailers selling its patented LED light bulb technology without authorization. This week, the university filed a lawsuit charging Amazon, IKEA, Walmart, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond with infringing its patents....
