What a bunch of marketing fluff.
I had to read it a few times to come to the conclusion that the Life bulb is daylight only and Sleep is soft white only. To maintain a normal circadian rhythm, having bulbs that does all temperatures of white is essential.
I bought into the Hue system recently and I feel much better after having the right light temperature to wake me up and to put me to sleep. Philips also sells semi smart bulbs that change color temperature by quickly flipping the light switch. At $6 a piece it was a cheap effective alternative as filler bulbs.
Philips has a proven track record of HomeKit support, so I went with them after doing some research.
I think the limitation is due to heat.
The Life bulb is a medium-warm unit that can be programmed to turn off and on through a schedule set by the app.
The Sleep bulb has three different color temperatures. Very warm, medium warm, and daylight. It can also be set to turn off and on, but is also set to change from daylight, medium-warm, to very warm at different times through the day. It is intended for use in a bedroom, to promote the circadian rhythm you mentioned.
I was going to poke fun at the fact that you read it several times and still didn't get all this, but it isn't obvious if you don't actually own the bulbs, which I do. It is difficult, even under the best of circumstances, to sell a product that requires explanation. They have an uphill fight with this product, to be sure.
I will add that the vast majority of bulbs in my smart home are Philips Hue, with a few accent lamps sporting the GE Life bulbs. I like that they work on their own, without a hub, but they are clearly the exceptions to the rule.
I'm also somewhat surprised that GE is making big announcements around their lighting given that they've put that entire division up for sale. I would personally hold off investing in any of these until that matter is settled.
Sean
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I bought into the Wink, some time ago. Have about 10 bulbs, 2 nest, I schalage lock and a lutron dimmer. I have to say at the beginning it was a little wonky- but over the last two years it has been actually great.
I have all timers that work every day, all day. I can remote into my lock and add or remove codes, unlock and lock the doors- etc.
I like Wink personally. Still on the Gen 1 hub too, not sure why I would fix what is not broke going to Hub 2.
I have Wink, Smarthome, and HomeKit (not that it has a hub, unless you count the Apple TV).
The latest Wink is a nice piece of hardware - and software. Smarthome has too much bias toward their own products, but isn't bad, by any means. And HomeKit, while the one that came along after the others and has the least support, is the one I'm personally betting on. Why? Not just because they are Apple, though that doesn't hurt. It is the only platform that has well thought out security, with strong encryption between devices.
Today, it doesn't matter that much if your front door lock doesn't use encryption because they aren't widespread enough for criminals to invest in the black box that unlocks them. That won't last forever, and when that starts happening, you will see a large number of these current units in the trash as owners rush to replace them. It happened already with garage door openers, and it will happen again with "smart" deadbolt locks.
Any company that even pretends to care about security simply can't support these unencrypted, insecure protocols. And if they do, you won't want to own it long-term.
Sean
