Philips to Sell iOS-Controlled LED Light Bulbs Exclusively Through Apple Stores

[iSee]

I decided to do some calculations to see if LED is worth the cost. Assume that the bulb will be used for six hours every night, for a total of ~2200 hours per year. Prices taken from bulbscanada.

$0.55 for 60w incandescent, rated 6000 hours
$2.45 for 13w CFL, rated 6000 hours
$16.00 for 6.9w LED, rated 40000 hours

LED life is 18 years, meaning I would use 7 incandescents or CFL for every LED.

Purchase price over 18 years:
$3.85 incandescent
$17.15 CFL
$16 for LED

I pay 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour (we have "time of use" rates in Ontario, this is the off-peak rate), so the energy rates per year are:
$8.58 incandescent, $154.44 for 18 years
$1.86 CFL, $33.48 for 18 years
$0.99 LED, $17.76 for 18 years

Total cost of ownership for 18 years:
$158.29 incandescent
$77.58 CFL
$33.76 LED

Conclusion: you will pay $43.82 more over the life span of an LED bulb if you use CFL. Over the life span of these three bulbs, you would pay $131.46 to own and operate equivalent CFL bulbs. The Philips bulbs in the article have a $102 premium price. It is actually cheaper to buy these "expensive" Philips LED bulbs than any other bulb type!

Yep... Although the high-quality LEDs I've found are somewhat more expensive and are higher wattage than your assumptions, the are still cheaper than CFL (and a lot less than incandescent). The have some other advantages over CFL... CFL contains mercury, so they are a pain to dispose of correctly (and if they break, it's too late). They need to be replaced a lot less often. CFL don't come to full brightness immediately (even the instant-on dont when in cold environment--like my basement). Also LED needs a bit less ventilation (though watch out -- When LEDs dont get enough ventilation it affects life).

Decent quality LEDs are a no-brainier (note: I'm not necessarily talking about "Hue", which is expensive and low-power, but appropriate LEDs) for most applications.

(I am slowly converting my house -- I never buy more LED bulbs than I need at the moment because the technology is improving as fast as the prices are dropping). EarthLED is a good store for this stuff.

 

[macs4nw]

You can buy single bulbs like this with a remote for $11 online. Same basic thing with colors and different blinking modes, etc.

This is a different 'animal', way more sophisticated and integrated. See also Small White Car below.

Ugh. I hate the tendency of Macrumors posters to take every cool new things and deride it because it's not instantly cheap and instantly everywhere. As if those factors will never change over time. Image
Only one passenger? Super slow? Less space than a Nomad. Lame.

shouldn't this be posted on April 1st?

These guys have been around for over 120 years, with world-wide revenue (2011) of over 22.5 Billion Euros, so I'd say this ain't a joke.

i think this is going to be novelty item than seeing actual usage.

it's totally Hue-seless huge lack of innovation from Philips.....

Disagree. PHILIPS is a very innovative company, that keeps a relatively low profile in North America. They are the world's largest lighting manufacturer, not to mention their medical equipment.

.....recently being LCD TVs to just to create fake ambiences, it was a huge failure, now pricey bulbs...

Personally, I really liked their AMBILIGHT tv's, and was sorry to see they didn't catch on in a bigger way. It really expanded whatever you were watching, and made it look more impressive/dramatic.

It actually sounds like a cool thing but I'm not sure I'm ready to fork out that kinda cash for novelty lighting.

That was sounding great until the price.

You guys all can hate, and talk about how over priced they are, but I want it. I'll pay that for lighting that can be put on a sleep timer, adjusted to a color I select from a picture or color picker. I'll take 1 kit please.

Wake me up in a year when this kit includes 75-100w equivalent output at a lower price..

I also think/hope it will catch on but, Yeah, fast forward a couple of years.

We're still waiting for regular LED bulbs to come down. They couldn't be keeping them high, so they won't get stuck will all that inventory of mercury containing CFL bulbs, could they? CFL bulbs were supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. I would love to replace them all with LED bulbs, if it wasn't for the prohibitive cost.

 

[SandynJosh]

Wow! $59 light bulbs. They're practically giving those things away!

Truthfully, LED bulbs will outlast most people's lives. You'll probably see them in wills... "And to my nephew, Johnny, who is always burning the midnight oil, I bequeath all my lightbulbs."

 

[ttexxan]

I saw some postings about the Nest...I have one and highly recommend. We have already saved approx $100 on our Electrical bill each month since install. Easly control from Iphone. Its great!! Cannot recommend enough

 

[swindmill]

Needs version for 6" recessed lighting.

Exactly what I was thinking. I'm ready to replace my bulbs with LEDs anyways, so I'd like to have this as an option in certain rooms.

 

[Drunken Master]

This will be great for people who are in wheelchairs, bed-ridden or very old.

Otherwise, get up, walk across the room and turn off the damn lights you fat slob.

 

[Gasu E.]

I can't count the number of times where I was wishing I had a way of changing the color of my lights using a phone.

Clearly, there needs to be an App to count the number of times you wish you had a way of changing the color of your lights using a phone.

 

[macUser2007]

Philips actually makes what are in my experience the best LED lightbulbs i the industry.

But at 600 lumens these are unfortunately useless for anything other than accent lighting -- if they had used the 800 or 1000 lumens versions Philips makes, I would have been tempted.

 

[weing]

Bring these up to 1200 lumens and halve the price and then maybe...Maybe, we can talk.

 

[thekev]

I wonder if the next big thing isn't going to be connected mobile devices but connected domestic devices. Thermostats would be another good place to start - provided they are affordable.

There are domestic and commercial systems available that give you an incredible amount of control in controlling lighting in different rooms, allow programmable presets, etc. This isn't a new concept. It's just potentially new as a mass market concept. If those bulbs last long enough, they could be viable. I'm assuming a portion of the price is related to software development and support over the life of the bulb, given the long lives of modern lightbulbs and frequency of IOS changes.

 

[Kwill]

Just in time

They can be installed on the Jobs Yacht and a few other places.

 

[SatManager]

Can't seem to find a price (including installation costs) or whether it is available in the UK.

See www.nest.com for more details.

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My only compliant is why are they exclusive to Apple stores? Why not Home Depot or Lowes who both sell Phillips bulbs already?

 

[Nicklaus]

Available Online at apple.com NOW! I had to get it!

 

[usptact]

Incredible. Now Apple is selling light bulbs. For 199$ I guess! And revolutionary as usual

 

[TheFlashGuy]

Anyone know if these are going to be available in the UK store?

 

[Tech198]

yikes

Apples going into the Lighting business.

Change of heart

Why are these being sold through Apple Retail Store... It has to least to do with computers... Their light bulbs.

Just have the app on the app store like everyone else, who wants to "use this app for x,,,, control" type...

Why does Apple need to take this up ?

Next, you'll see "everything else, including the kitchen sink" being sold in Apple Retail Store "just because there is now a handy app you can control with an IOS device"

Does this make it technology ? No....

(rainbow colors are good though)

 

[jpadhiyar]

Amazing innovative

Mindblown!!! This is one really innovative stuff from Philips. I'd love to have the entire house connected to these bulbs. Amazing concept!

 

[gabicava83]

Check this guy out. He's the creator of LIFX, I discovered him via kickstarter.com

his project will be funded in 16 days from now.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/limemouse/lifx-the-light-bulb-reinvented

I offered to fund him a reasonable amount of money , contacted him directly through kickstarter. The guy wasn't at all bothered if I invested or not in his business (rather early stage) and was somewhat arrogant so I didn't bother investing.

Loved his product, but seems like many other manufacturers are jumping on the same idea. Prices need to be reasonable and I am sure they will over time.

 

[doctor-don]

Get it down to $5/bulb and I'm in.

5-watt LED with remote control to change the colors is $4.17 right now at Amazon plus $1.99 shipping. That's a power rating for an LED, so it might be equivalent to a 40-watt incandescent in light provided.

 

[wizzerandchips]

future is coming... but i want my ios device to...

shuts doors after kids haven't.
close toilet seat after kids haven't
start my car in winter
run bath

....thats it for now

 

[gabicava83]

future is coming... but i want my ios device to...

shuts doors after kids haven't.
close toilet seat after kids haven't
start my car in winter
run bath

....thats it for now

Let me please contribute to that list.

Stop wife complaining/moaning.

 

[prowlmedia]

it's totally Hue-seless


huge lack of innovation from Philips

they've been trying to put lights everywhere, recently being LCD TVs to just to create fake ambiences, it was a huge failure

now pricey bulbs...

You mean the millions of amblight TV's they've sold around the world and all the awards they won for best TV's - Yup huge failure. And as for the effect. It works very well. I have a 47" and it really does draw you in to movies.

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These phillips bulbs are not the best ones out there. They are not instant on and cannot be dimmer.

I bought the ones are costco for $5 a piece and there are far superior.

I guess if the x10 is built into the bulb maybe...

These are instant on. you are thinking of CFL

It's not X10 it's Zigbee - x10 is fromthe 1970's

 

[Felix01]

Now showing up in the Apple Store:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/HA779VC/A/philips-hue-connected-bulb-starter-pack

http://store.apple.com/us/product/HA780VC/A/philips-hue-connected-bulb-single-pack

 

[prowlmedia]

Looks like Phillips poached LIFX's idea. (Their bulbs are supposed to be $69)
Bulb price is too high, but should come down with higher production numbers.

Well Phillips have been making Remore Colour changing LED for about 7 Years... no no not really. And given the LIFX was launched on sept 16th - I am guessing the Hue has been in progress for a lot longer than that. And there have been request for their living colours system to be controllable by smartphone for 3 years on the forums.

Bad timing for LIFX is all.

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Anyone know if these are going to be available in the UK store?

Yup £179 apparently - Not sure when though

 

[prowlmedia]

Nuts... I have 54 downlights in my house... that would be...

1 Starter Pack @ 199.
51 * 59.95

$3257.40 !!!

Not that I could they are all 12v MR16 Units.

This is the main problem I see only one fitting - no bayonet or GU10's etc. Oh and the cost - if these were half the price they would more than make up for it in sales. I'd certainly replace all my lights.

I do think these need a sperate remote / Colour Changer / switch other than the iPhone though. So you can have a wall mounted holder next to your on switch - I am sure they could Zone them in the same way as the Units

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future is coming... but i want my ios device to...

shuts doors after kids haven't.
close toilet seat after kids haven't
start my car in winter
run bath

....thats it for now

Auto Toilet Seat

Auto Car start

Auto Door closer

Run a Bath

or how about an iPhone controlled shower?