smart lights

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on smart lights:

Connect this $25 multicolor smart light to your iPhone and set the mood

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Control this smart light with your phone, on sale for $24.99.
Save $15 on this smart light that pairs with your iPhone.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you’re looking for a stylish new LED table lamp that can set any mood, this one delivers — and it gives you notifications right from your iPhone. The Notti smart light hooks up to your smartphone through Bluetooth to give you a heads-up with a pop of color for calls, texts, Facebook updates and more.

For a limited time, you can get the Notti smart light on sale for just $24.99.

Don’t sleep on perfect ambient lighting [Setups]

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Philips Hue ambient lighting with Play Gradient Light Strip in setup
It's amazing what an atmospheric effect a light strip can have on a setup.
Photo: Philips Hue

As we’ve seen so often in our endless tour of computer setups on social media, ambient lighting matters. Sure, you want proper lighting so you can see what you’re doing, but extra-mile work like setting Philips Hue ambient lighting — as in today’s Mac Studio setup — can make a big difference cosmetically and in more practical ways.

Eve rolls out world’s first Matter-over-Thread smart outlet

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Eve Enerby Outlet and Eve Light Switch
The first-ever Matter-over-Thread smart outlet and a light switch updated for Matter are two of Eve's new offerings.
Photo: Eve Systems

Eve Systems introduced the first Matter-over-Thread smart electrical outlet along with a Matter-enabled smart light switch and window blinds on Monday, the company said.

Eve Energy Outlet, Eve Blinds Collection and Eve Light Switch all work with HomeKit. The outlet and blinds go on sale in early February 2024 and the light switch arrives a bit later.

Cheap LED strip lights give coder’s MacBook rig a moody vibe [Setups]

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Two cheap LED lights strips create that whole effect, and with many light strips the colors can change endlessly.
Two cheap LED lights strips create that whole effect, and with many light strips the colors can change endlessly.
Photo: Xtraipel@Reddit.com

Deliberate lighting choices, especially those featuring vibrant colors, can do a lot for a computer setup. They can improve mood and vision, and they can even give humdrum gear in a boring room a dazzling look and feel.

Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup belongs to a coder in Panama who used some basic, cheap LED strip lights to transform his workstation into a light show — to the delight of viewers on social media.

Nanoleaf’s nifty portable smart lamp and new bulbs support Matter and HomeKit

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The Cono portable smart lamp can stand up, lie down or be hung up. That's handy.
The Cono portable smart lamp can stand up, lie down or be hung up. That's handy.
Photo: Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf added a handy new portable smart lamp with brand partner Umbra and two new smart bulbs to its Essentials line, the company said Thursday.

All of the products will work through the Matter smart-home standard with HomeKit and other smart-home platforms.

New ‘4D’ TV screen mirror kit jacks up entertainment

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It may be described as
It may be described as "4D," but don't expect stuff to actually burst out of your screen.
Photo: Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf says its new 4D Screen Mirror Camera and Lightstrip Kit will “take your entertainment experience beyond the screen.” And now you can finally preorder the hardware, which the company unveiled at CES in January.

Once it ships, you get a big light strip to set up behind your TV. The camera lights it up with colors reflecting what’s on the screen. And you can mix in other Nanoleaf smart lights, too.

Early deals running out on Lego-like Yeelight Cube smart lamp for HomeKit

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You can build all sorts of shapes and patterns with the magnetic units.
You can build all sorts of shapes and patterns with the magnetic units.
Photo: Yeelight

Yeelight launched its highly customizable, Matter-compatible and almost Lego-like Cube ARGB Table Lamp at CES 2023. You can mix and match its Matrix, Panel and Spotlight elements to suit your computer setup in myriad ways.

And the company’s Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign with early-bird deals of up to 36% off the standard kit ends in three days.

Hubitat hub update broadens smart-device compatibility with HomeKit

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The updated hub supports HomeKit integration.
The updated hub supports HomeKit integration.
Photo: Hubitat

With a new software update to the Hubitat Elevation hub, users can bridge hundreds of Z-Wave and Zigbee devices not normally compatible with HomeKit into their Apple Home app, Hubitat said Wednesday.

The Hubitat Elevation software version 2.3.4 update brings HomeKit integration. It lets the hub serve as a bridge for “countless lights, switches, sensors and other devices that are not natively HomeKit compatible,” the company said.

Will Roku’s new smart-home gadgets work with HomeKit and Matter?

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Those who use Roku streaming devices will find the new smart-home gear, like the doorbell camera, integrate seamlessly.
Those who use Roku streaming devices will find the new smart-home gear, like the doorbell camera, integrate seamlessly.
Photo: Roku

Roku is best-known for its streaming media devices. But it’s branching out with a whole-home strategy that will see a range of smart-home gadgets, including security cameras, lights and plugs, go on sale next week at Walmart, the company said.

But a report indicates the company isn’t saying yet whether its new gadgets will work with the new Matter smart-home connectivity standard supported by Apple and other companies. It’s designed to let devices from different makers work together on systems like Apple’s HomeKit and others.

Roku’s lack of clarity is a bit odd, given that it’s among the companies supporting Matter, and that might give some would-be purchasers pause.

Go to the dark side with special-edition Nanoleaf Shapes smart lights

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See the special-edition all-black Shapes turned off, at left, and turned on, at right.
See the special-edition all-black Shapes turned off, at left, and turned on, at right.
Photo: Nanoleaf

Celebrating its “10-year Nanoversary,” Nanoleaf put out a special edition of its Shapes smart-lighting panels. It’s a new all -black color option: Ultra Black Shapes Triangles.

Like the other colors, the new set works with HomeKit as part of your smart-home lighting.

Jazz up your decor with HomeKit-compatible Nanoleaf Lines smart lights

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Nanoleaf Lines smart lights can form various shapes.
Nanoleaf Lines smart lights can form various shapes.
Photo: Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf rolled out the latest in its catalog of modular, HomeKit-compatible LED smart-light panels. Following a parade of shaped-product releases — triangles, squares, hexagons — you can now buy Nanoleaf Lines for $200 and use them to make all sorts of lighted shapes. And you can sync them to action on a screen or to music.

Instantly add smart lighting controls to your home at 33% off

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smart light
Simply place Switchmate over your existing light switches for voice-controlled smart lighting.
Photo: Switchmate

People say smart homes are the future, and it becomes more and more true each year. In 2019, an estimated 27% of the U.S. population owned a smart home device, but that’s only the beginning for this growing trend. According to research, U.S. smart home sales are projected to reach “more than $47 billion by 2024, which would be approximately three times as much as the revenues in 2017.”

This stylish smart lamp connects to Amazon Alexa to control your home

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This smart light has the features and functionality of Amazon Alexa
This smart light comes with Alexa inside.
Photo: GE Lighting

If you’re limited on space, you know the special value of multitasking furniture and organizers. Whether it’s a standing desk you can easily convert, cord organizers to keep cable clutter at bay, or other helpful space-saving goods, it certainly helps to decorate your pad with stuff that performs more than one function.

This C by GE Sol WiFi Alexa Enabled Smart Light doesn’t just brighten your space with a modern glow. It also fully connects to Amazon Alexa to give you better control of your living space.

Philips’ new Hue lights are ready to take over your home

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Hue
The White and Color Ambiance Enchant Pendant Lights.
Photo: Philips

Philips wants to cover your home from the inside to the outside with its new lineup of smart lightbulbs that debuted today.

The new collection includes the smart vanity mirror that leaked last month and has a ton of new lights that are perfect for your bathroom, living room, bedroom, den or even the backyard.

4-in-1 HomeKit smart switch puts Alexa in your wall

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The Instinct smart light switch packs a smart speaker and also works with HomeKit.
The Instinct smart light switch packs a smart speaker and also works with HomeKit.
Photo: iDevices

CES 2018 bug iDevices’ new HomeKit-compatible smart switch will do much more than just control your lights. With sensors, a speaker and Amazon’s Alexa baked in, the Instinct packs four different functions into a standard light switch.

You can use Alexa voice commands to play music or control your lights. Or, if you’ve got your iPhone or Apple Watch at hand, you trigger HomeKit activities with Siri.

We talk iPhone’s 8 big price hike and our favorite HomeKit smart lights on The CultCast

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It's time to make the iPhone exciting again.
It's time to make the iPhone exciting again.
Photo: @YSR50

This week, on The CultCast: rumors point to a big iPhone 8 price hike. What’s the max you would pay? Plus: Intel makes a huge move to push Thunderbolt into the mainstream; Ikea about to drop tons of great HomeKit gadgets on us; DJI’s Spark selfie drone is a compact powerhouse; we’ll tell you about our favorite smart lights; and we’ll tell you about the weird and whacky gadgets we’re reviewing in an all-new Under Review!

Our thanks to Blue Apron for supporting this episode. Blue Apron makes it easy to cook delicious meals at home. Get your first three meals free at BlueApron.com/CultCast.

Sengled lights are smarter than your average bulb

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Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo:

LAS VEGAS — It seems like everyone is selling some kind of smart light bulb these days, but Sengled is setting itself apart by incorporating wild add-ons like Bluetooth speakers and Wi-Fi repeaters.

Cult_of_Mac_CES_2015That’s right, a light bulb with a speaker.

At a demo during CES Unveiled here, the company showed me its lineup of four smart bulbs, all of which have their own gimmick beyond the to-be-expected remote control functionality through an app.