light – Smart Home Geeks

Casper release Smart bed light

Henry McLean-Low — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 07:30:56 +0000

Casper have branched out from mattresses to try to improve the sleep environment by releasing a smart bedside light, that they claim helps you go to sleep! Glow Light.

To create Glow Light, they created ‘Casper Labs’ in San Francisco to research into one of the most important factors in sleep – light!

Light normally keeps us awake but Casper claim this light helps us get to sleep, creating positive sleep patterns. This is done by gradually dimming for sunset and slowly lighting for sun rise.

The light comes with an app, IOS and android, to setup as well as customise features. However, the control of the light is deliberately simple, using an in-built accelerometer and gyroscope.

Flip it to turn it on
Twist to adjust brightness
Wiggle for low light

Using Bluetooth up to 6 lights can be connected together to work in sync.

“We believe in the power of a more well-rested world. Glow raises the bar on sleep innovation while bringing joy back to bedtime.”

Neil Parikh, Casper co-founder

We are big fans of anything that claims to help you sleep, so will keep you posted once we manage to review one!

Glow Light is available now, direct from Casper, priced – £86 for one or £169 for two.

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Ring Floodlight Cam hits UK

Henry McLean-Low — Thu, 24 Aug 2017 07:18:37 +0000

Ring, the Video doorbell company, has released its new floodlight cam in the UK after being on sale in the USA.

Like Ring did with the vide doorbell Ring have reinvented the floodlight or, as we normally call them in the UK, security light.

(Read our Ring Doorbell UK review)

On top of super bright twin LED lights it is packed with extra features; HD camera with facial and object recognition, 2 way audio and a 110 decibel alarm!!

The light is controlled by the same app as the doorbell and has a similar level of customisation and sensitivity settings. It also works with IFFTTT.

The light has to be hard wired, we assume this is because once mounted no one wants to climb up a ladder to change a battery every 4 weeks.

It only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-FI, this will be to get maximum range. However is slightly short sighted as a lot of homes now have garden or garage access points so a 5GHz should have been an option especially for a video device with live option.

We really like the idea of this product but have quite a few concerns – probably one to watch before purchasing.

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Philips Hue Review

Henry McLean-Low — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:44:58 +0000

Philip's Hue

Simple to setupAdvanced connectivityEasy to useGreat fun

Can be expensive

4.4Amazing

How it works

Cost

Connectivity

setup

Reader Rating 2 Votes

This is a We Own it review!

In this review we are looking at the new Philips Hue Hub 2.0 and a selection of the bulbs and strips.

What does it do?

Philips hue was one of the first wifi lights to come into the market. Since then they have endlessly improved, releasing more bulbs and added functionality.

We know what you’re thinking, added functionality to light bulbs?! These are not just lights they can do so much more for example Sun Rise, Sun Set or different moods for different activities. One of our favourites is focus for when working late.

How does it work & what is the tech?

For the Philips Hue to work you need a Philips hub. This was recently relaunched to be Apple Home compatible. Easiest way to see which Hub is which is:

Square Hub with rounded corners = 2
Round Hub = 1

(Note If buying your kit from eBay or it’s on sale check it’s not the old Hub as lots of these are still being sold).

The lights then communicate to the Hub and you can control them via the App or via other accessories.
The list of accessories is also huge, everything from motion sensors to special switches.

The lights integrate into Apple Home allowing easy control via Apple Home and Siri, commands like ‘Good night’ can turn every light off.

The lights communicate with each other and the bridge via the ZigBee protocol.

How easy is it to setup?

Very easy, the bulbs screw into existing lights and installation is done. All you need to do is plug in the hub to your router and setup is done.

The hue light strips are the same, you just stick them to the item you want to light – for example TV, connect to the hub via the app and done.

One of the great things about this is you can install it anywhere yourself without having to get in a pro.

What’s the connectivity?

Extensive! They call their integrations ‘Friends of Hue’, the list includes all the big names:

Google Home
Apple Homekit
Amazon Alexa
Nest
IFTTT

Logitech Harmony

How much does it cost?

Prices vary as it depends on what lights you want, to give you an idea:

Philips Hue White starter kit (as in the bulbs don’t change colour) with 2 bulbs and hub – £59

Philips Hue Colour and white starter kit with 3 bulbs and hub – £149

Philips Hue White Ambiance Single Bulb – £29.95
Philips Hue Colour and white Single Bulb – £49.95

Philips Hue Lightstrip – £69.99

What’s it like living with it?

Great fun as well as very useful! It never gets boring when family comes over and kids want to dance to the flashing lights, or when your working late and you need bright ‘day light’. We’ve never had any issues with any and we own a lot of Hue

What are our final thoughts?

These are epic – one of our favourite smart home gadgets. Very few downsides, apart from the price but that said the bulbs have a much longer life than standard bulbs and use a lot less energy.

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