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

This is a pretty cool idea. I think its a great start but definitely nothing "revolutionary". Verizon Fios allows me to currently control my homes lighting, door locks, alarm, and many other features from my smartphone, computer or TV.

About the only "new" thing this does is allow me to create custom colors with the LED's. Pretty cool but I definitely don't want to be the early adopter. The price is still a bit too high for this, and I would like to wait for a service/standard to be developed that will allow me to control all aspects of my home. Essentially, I would like to see a company do what my FiOS system does now, except free for life and without monthly fees (the added functionality of changing colors, etc is pretty cool too).
 
dcorban said:
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!
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I would use CFL bulbs for 5 years and buy a hue for $29 then. :)
 
wilycoder said:
because at the first name drop of romney you're talking about george soros

who wants to talk about george soros except right wing CT nutbags
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Nah just an example of a rich person from the left, there are many on both sides and in the center.
 
honjoe said:
The pricing is what going to kill it. :cool:
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I don't think it will... unfortunately.

Apple's own products aren't quite as crazy overpriced, and I feel completely sane buying them. The idiot verdict comes from hopeful third parties who think that Apple's customer base is a portal to a money-is-no-object paradise full of suckers. Just take your regular crap and stick it in white Apple-esque packaging and triple the price tag.

- I'd like a stand for my smartphone.
- We have this one for $9.99.
- Is it for iPhone?
- Ohhhh, you have an iPhone. In that case we have this other one for... one million dollars.
- It's the exact same as the first one...?
- Oh, not at all, sir. This one is hand made from precious metals and flown in special from the Orient.
- Really? It says here... "aluminum" and "made in China".

I'm sorry Philips but you can take your perfectly ordinary LED-bulbs and stick'em where the bulbs don't shine.
 
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joe-h2o said:
Didn't I hear you say the same thing to the Wright brothers?

"Wake me up when you can fly further than a hundred feet and carry more than one passenger"

Sometimes the responses to niche product releases on here are hilarious.
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Why do people keep comparing this to the Kitty Hawk. For Godsake, this is a frigin light bulb, not the first iteration of a time machine. It's a light bulb and they have been around since the 1800's.
 
So each bulb has a wi-fi or similar radio chip built in to connect to the router/transmitter essentially?

so if you get individual bulbs will they connect to an existing transmitter?

this would be kind of cool when putting on gallery shows and hosting music related events, which me and a few friends do in our spare time.

im definitely a visual aesthetic person and this seems fun.


i hate how people will push this into the useless category because it may be used here & there..yet they hoard apple products and max out cto options and probably do nothingmore than sit on macrumors all day -.-
 
I have been replacing my incandescent floods with dimmable 60w LED's (as the old bulb burns out). I love them!. They are bright and the light temperature is as close to natural as anything around. And they will not burn out for as long as I am in THIS house. With the lower energy usage and how often I have to replace incandescents, it will only take 2-3 years to break even. In the mean time, I am experiencing great light. Much better than CFL's (which I hate!).

Now add the ability to program the lights to dim when I start a movie in the media room and I am in heaven. I could do that now, but I would have to replace my dimmer switches with really expensive Lutron's and have an electrician redo some wiring.

I think this is a great idea...for those with some disposable cash.
 
Ah!

dcorban said:
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!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I knew someone would do the math.

Besides, those nasty CFL bulbs have mercury in them. Yecch.
 
kas23 said:
Why do people keep comparing this to the Kitty Hawk. For Godsake, this is a frigin light bulb, not the first iteration of a time machine. It's a light bulb and they have been around since the 1800's.
Click to expand...

It is a LED lamp, not the light bulb that has been around since 1840. For the rest I agree. The idea is not new and I'll just wait until the price comes down.
 
AppleInMyBlood said:
I really don't care if you don't want this product--telling me you can buy cheap light bulbs and are capable of getting off your couch doesn't impress me, and is irrelevant to a discussion about a product that offers a great deal to those who want it and can afford it.
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Hey, Daddy, I want an Oompa Loompa! I want you to get me an Oompa Loompa right away!...I want an Oompa Loompa now!

verucasalt-e1319832060495-250x181.jpg
 
rjohnstone said:
Looks like Phillips poached LIFX's idea. (Their bulbs are supposed to be $69)
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onepremiere said:
Phillips just stole LIFX Thunder...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/limemouse/lifx-the-light-bulb-reinvented?ref=live
Click to expand...
Relax.

LIFX project started when (publicly)?
6 weeks ago.

According to #5 post in this thread, Philips Hue are already available in an Apple Store.

Are we to suppose Philips (as a world-renowned brand) has gone from "nothing" to having a product in stores six weeks after seeing LIFX on Kickstarter? I don't think so. They've surely had this in their pipeline way longer. Philips have been selling remote-controllable LED lights for years. Extending their line to support app control is only a small, logical step.

Their being earlier to the market shouldn't be construed as "stealing".
 
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GoodWatch said:
It is a LED lamp, not the light bulb that has been around since 1840. For the rest I agree. The idea is not new and I'll just wait until the price comes down.
Click to expand...

Yes, and LED lamps have been around for years too. This light bulb is hardly a first nor a first on the mass market. What's next, the iOS toilet paper dispenser? iOS Glade Air Freshener? ...an iOS fireplace would be cool though.
 
mic j said:
And they will not burn out for as long as I am in THIS house.
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We can't know that for sure that these things don't have planned obsolescence built-in. Philips was one of the members of the Phoebus Cartel. Members' bulbs were regularly tested and fines were levied for bulbs that lasted more than 1000 hours. Meanwhile the Livermore Centennial light bulb by Adolphe Chaille has burned for 111 years...
 
This article is a nice advertisement for Philips light bulbs. Somebody should be getting hooked up with some freebies.
 
Anuba said:
We can't know that for sure that these things don't have planned obsolescence built-in. Philips was one of the members of the Phoebus Cartel. Members' bulbs were regularly tested and fines were levied for bulbs that lasted more than 1000 hours. Meanwhile the Livermore Centennial light bulb by Adolphe Chaille has burned for 111 years...
Click to expand...

Indeed.

http://www.centennialbulb.org/cam.htm
 
I think this would be cool for a man cave type room or anyone who built a their own home theater (real home theater). I could see myself using these if I ever made a dedicated gaming/computer room. I'm more willing to pay for the kickstarter program that was mentioned earlier because I like to support smaller innovative companies as well.
 
I am looking at buying one kit. Seems neat enough to use it for the office, I wonder if I can sync the color depending on how the VIX is doing. when the VIX jumps turn the bulbs red :)
 
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