Just what we need

[derekleffew]

Philips Hue: The Light Bulb You Can Control With Your Phone - ABC News

How does it all work? The starter kit, which starts at $199, comes with a smart bridge, a gadget that plugs into your home’s WiFi router. That bridge connects to the LED bulb and then the 600 lumen LED bulb connects to the hue app on your phone. The bulbs screw into your existing fittings, just like any normal light bulb.

Coming October 30 to Apple stores.

 

[derekleffew]

I've had four of these light sources http://meethue.com/ for just over a year now, and can highly recommend them. They are a fun toy. Mine are programmed to turn on/off at different times of the day. Using https://ifttt.com/ , one turns blue if it's raining outside (I think that's happened three or four times in the past year). Another will flash when I get a text from my sister. My only complaint with them is that there is no direct RGB color control, only the color picker. After years of begging console makers to add a color picker, now I want the opposite.

Yes, it feels slightly peculiar to have to grab a laptop/phone/tablet just to turn a light on or off (I don't want to use the switch and interrupt the programming), but at least one of these items is always nearby anyway. (Cycling power brings the lamp to full in open white.)

On at least two occasions, they have freaked out, flashing off and on for no discernible reason. It's kind of interesting, and never lasts very long. I picture some adolescent hacker in China laughing at my distress.

In my house there's this light switch that doesn't do anything. Every so often
I would flick it on and off just to check. Yesterday, I got a call from a
woman in Madagascar. She said, "Cut it out." -- Steven Wright