iLuv launches Wi-Fi-enabled Rainbow8 bulb with support for Apple's HomeKit

I bought Phillips Hue as a birthday gift to myself thinking that if I like it great. If not, at least I received something for my birthday. ;-) I thought it would end up being a novelty but it actually is quite nice to be able to set the ambience in the TV room. I don't know what Rainbow8 will be like but I can say having mood setting lights in a movie room does a lot to get one through long winter nights.

Other Wi-Fi-capable lighting systems -- such as Philips Hue -- often use a hub to get around size and technical issues.

Not quite.  Philips uses Zigbee which does not require a bridge,  it's a mesh network, but adding a bridge is useful because it allows the vendor to store 
data (like configurations, scenes and integrations) in a centralized area.  

Every system that is based on say bluetooth or wifi that does not have a bridge requires some device like an iPad or Apple TV to enable 
remote. Basic networking tells us that moving from one protocol to another often requires a bridge to do the translation. 

You really cannot beat Philips if you're selling bulbs at the same price.   Hue already works with HomeKit.  SmartBulbs from other companies need to be at 
no more than $35 for a comparable bulb in color and no more than $10 for white.  

WiFi controlled devices usually cost more than Bluetooth devices. So you're exchanging some functionality for price, and despite SOG35s amazement at pricing, these after all, aren't just bulbs. Many cost a lot more than these. I'd like to see a review. At 800 lumens, these are some of the most powerful networked bulbs around, which makes hem more useful than many others, particularly when using colors other than variations on white.

i think I'll get one, and try it out.

hmurchison said:

Other Wi-Fi-capable lighting systems -- such as Philips Hue -- often use a hub to get around size and technical issues.

Not quite.  Philips uses Zigbee which does not require a bridge,  it's a mesh network, but adding a bridge is useful because it allows the vendor to store 
data (like configurations, scenes and integrations) in a centralized area.  

Every system that is based on say bluetooth or wifi that does not have a bridge requires some device like an iPad or Apple TV to enable 
remote. Basic networking tells us that moving from one protocol to another often requires a bridge to do the translation. 

You really cannot beat Philips if you're selling bulbs at the same price.   Hue already works with HomeKit.  SmartBulbs from other companies need to be at 
no more than $35 for a comparable bulb in color and no more than $10 for white.  

But those low cost bulbs are very dim. I've read reviews of a number of them, and they max out at about 400 lumens with white output. So they're good for incidental lighting, unless you use a number of them. Once you move to colors, they are really dim. If the 800 lumens in white hold up in testing, that would make these some of the brightest RGB bulbs out there.

sog35 said:

$50 for a bulb is friken ridiculous

Its not just a bulb. There are networking components, multi-color LED's, controllers, etc inside it. These are not your average $1 GE bulbs.