When talking home automation, it's often a big and expensive undertaking. Currently on Kickstarter, Spark Socket is a wi-fi adapter that screws onto a dimmer bulb and then into your existing light sockets so that you can control the lamp from your smartphone. Perfect for renters and upgrading over time, you can start with one sconce or one room and add Sparks as you go. The campaign runs until December 13.
In other news, Shaq's new digs are surprisingly affordable, and a stone age home was found in Scotland. See the headlines after the jump.
• Kickstarting: A Wi-Fi-Connected Light Socket Connects Any Bulb To Your iPhone | Co.Design
• The Price Of Shaquille O'Neal's New Home In Florida Is Actually Reasonable | Huff Post Home
• Stone Age home found | The Independent
(Image: Spark via Co.Design)
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Maybe I'm missing the point? Is it really that difficult to get up and hit the dimmer switch?
Sounds like it also lets you time the lights or connect them to other devices (e.g. the lights turn on with the alarm clock). I would hope you could also control them outside of your home (from your smartphone)... then you could turn on or off the lights while you're on vacation.
Venia101 -- my intial reaction is to agree. But then again, we use a system in our apt. whereby you can control and dim lights using a single remote switch -- it's especially great for turning on multiple lights in the room as you enter (or off as you exit), and especially good for lamps plugged into outlets which are not controlled by a wall switch. Here's what it looks like:
http://www.x10.com/home_automation/remote_light_switch.html
On the other hand, the system we use is competitively priced, yet let's you control 3 lamps or fixtures, and doesn't require a smartphone. So while I get what this new product accomplishes, I'm not sure it accomplishes it well.
It's so you can dim the lights from your mid-century sofa, as you're trying to get crazy with some classy chassis in your souped up pad.
I love this idea.... Turn on the light(s) before you get home.. or turn the lights on and off when you are out of town...
My dream of having a totally smart-phone controllable house is slowly becoming a reality!
Chaos amoeba you reduced my exquisite cup of Intelligencia coffee to a very inelegant spit take. Well done.
Just get the Philips hue L.E.D. bulbs. You can control (on/off/dimmer) and light colors through your iOS and Android device or through internet. More info at www.meethue.com. Caveat, only available through Apple Stores (online and retail).
I bought the starter pack and 8 individual bulbs.
It is if you're physically disabled, but beyond that switches are so last century. This is about doing more than just adjusting the light. You could program the light to have realistic behavior while you're on vacation or even just turn the light on from the car so that you don't trip when you're entering the house with an armload of groceries.
Cool! Just ordered one, but they are backordered until February...
I see a strobe light app in my future...
Bruin,
Do I need to use the app every time I want to turn a light on or off?
I wonder how much that would jack up the wattage consumption for a lightbulb?
There are these boxes you can buy that you hook it up to a phone line and to your electric box and it allows you to control several sets of lights by using a phone line, and by now, I would imagine you could use a smartphone as well.
USR sells some of thsoe I don't know what they are called, but its what big box stores use to have their lights remotely controlled.