A home wouldn’t be smart enough if lighting couldn’t be controlled remotely, both in terms of colors and intensity. LuMini is a new generation of energy efficient smart bulbs that can be easily adjusted via smartphones.
Touted as “a smart bulb that fits your lamps and budget,” LuMini differs from other smart bulbs in more than one way. In terms of energy efficiency, LED light bulbs are great, but they often seem bulky, which results in not every lamp out there being able to accommodate them. Even Lumen, the first smart bulb developed by TABU Design – the Hong Kong shop behind LuMini, was fairly big, not to mention that it costs $69. Yet another aspect that sets LuMini apart from its counterparts is the long lifespan – up to 30,000 hours, according to the manufacturer.
Some say that LuMini fits a lot of situations, but is particularly great for parties. That’s because the color of the light bulb can be easily adjusted via a smartphone to match the mood of the event. Regarding the smartphone, which is only hardware requirement of this smart bulb, it can be any make or model, as long as it packs Bluetooth 4.0 LE connectivity. In terms of software requirements, LuMini requires the proprietary app initially developed for the Lumen light bulb. Supposedly, TABU will release an app specifically for this product if it hits the market.
“Why Bluetooth and not Wi-Fi?” you might ask. Well, this technology, despite having a shorter range, offers a direct connection between LuMini and the smartphone, whereas the signal transmitted to a Wi-Fi enabled light bulb would have to go through a router.
TABU Design looks for funding on Kickstarter, where it set a goal of $50,000 which should be reached within the next 29 days. At $25 for early birds and $30 for the others, LuMini represents a truly affordable smart bulb.
As you can see, this is not TABU’s first Kickstarter campaign, and considering the tremendous success of the previous ones, it definitely looks like this company knows how to conduct business and how to design successful products. I only hope that LuMini will be yet another victory for these creative minds. Should the company raise the funds in this timeframe, it will start shipping in April.
As a side note, I wonder if any of the members of TABU Design speaks Romanian, as “lumini” literally means lights in this language.
If you liked this post, please check these smartphone controlled Wi-Fi enabled light bulbs or the Paperclip and PizzaKobra lamps that put contortionists to shame.
