LG's Smart Bulb with WiFi and Bluetooth

[Automate]

"LG isn't about to let household heavyweights like Philips corner the connected lighting space -- it just unveiled the Smart Lamp, its first take on the concept. The 10W LED bulb gives Android and iOS users a familiar level of control over their illumination, including a light-based alarm clock and a security mode that pretends you're at home. There are a couple of noteworthy tricks in this initial offering, however. The light connects through both Bluetooth and WiFi, letting it pull the sync-based stunts we've seen in a few other bulbs: it can flash when you get a phone call, or (with Android) pulse to the beat of the music. The Smart Lamp is more expensive than ordinary LEDs at 35,000 won ($32) in LG's native Korea, but it could be a good deal if you don't need the many-colored lighting of Hue and similar systems. Unfortunately, there's no word on whether or not it's coming to the US."


http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/23/lg-smart-lamp/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2455318,00.asp

 

[ano]

The question I would have is how multiple bulbs communicate?  For example, the LIFX bulb contains both Wi-Fi and 802.15.4  The Wi-Fi connects to your network at only one bulb. All the other bulbs form a mesh network using 802.15.4  This is good so that you don't have 100 Wi-Fi devices that all need an IP address. 
 
I believe the Philips Hue are Zigbee, so they form a mesh network, and they communicate to a Wi-Fi base station.  Not quite as nice as the LIFX with a built-in "Wi-Fi base station," but still very workable.
 
So now we have the LG bulb. Bluetooth is not a mesh technology unless they are using BLE, or they have made their own proprietary mesh on top of it.  Otherwise I certainly hope that every bulb doesn't need to communicate through Wi-Fi.  We'll have to wait until more information is available.
 
Also, does anyone think it is interesting that they are calling their bulb "smart" when it sounds like its just a remote to your smartphone? I don't see anything making the bulb "smart."  That term is certainly becoming overused.

 

[Automate]

I'm guessing it's BLE so it can pseudo mesh like LILA http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/26317-lila-bluetooth-mesh-doorwindows-sensors/

"Topology Bluetooth low energy technology uses a 32 bit access address on every packet for each slave, allowing billions of devices to be connected. The technology is optimized for one-to-one connections while allowing one-to-many connections using a star topology. With the use of quick connections and disconnections, data can move in a mesh-like topology without the complexities of maintaining a mesh network."

http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/low-energy-tech-info.aspx

 

[amnoori]

Another company, Zuli, is also using BLE to create a pseudo-mesh with plugs:
 
https://zuli.io/
 
If you keep your phone on you, it will also act as presence detection (BLE proximity profile).