Qube: low cost LED smart bulb that syncs with your Fitbit

The idea of a smart home has existed for some time, but the high cost of implementation has deterred most people from taking the plunge. Take, for example, smart bulbs. The good ones still cost too much. According to a recent study, home users can easily spend more than $500 when transitioning all the lights in their homes to smart bulbs.

A San Francisco-based outfit behind Qube, a WiFi multi-color LED smart bulb, wants to change this. The company raised more than $600,000 last year on Indiegogo to develop and manufacture the product. After a number of delays, its about to start shipping now.

A typical smart bulb cost $50 on average. Qube, which is designed to fit in any standard lightbulb socket, starts at at one third of this price. A further cost-saving aspect is the lack of a need for an external hub. With plug-and-play functionality, each bulbs acts as a hub that communicates with other Qube bulbs directly through the home’s WiFi router. That means just screw it in and you are ready to go. It also means the bulbs can be controlled remotely through the app.

Qube senses your presence and allows you to create countless automations based on your proximity. You can, for example, use your Fitbit or Jawbone fitness tracker or event the Apple Watch and trigger automated lighting changes. Any device with Bluetooth Smart capability can communicate with the smart bulbs.

You can also customize the right lighting combination whenever you enter your room, or even switch to a different mood at night depending on your preference. The bulb combines a full spectrum of 16 million different hues to tailor to your desired home lighting at any time of day.

On top of that, Qube is able to alert you if another family member has returned home by sending you a notification when their presence is detected. Or how about customizing your light settings to notify you whenever you receive a message or phone call. Or customizing your alarm to wake you up gently in the morning by mimicking the rays of the rising sun.

And don’t worry about replacements. Qube Smart Bulbs are designed to last up to 50,000 hours or the equivalent of 27 years.

Price: $19 and up

Funding open:
$625,487 USD total funds raised
540% funded on December 20, 2015

Estimated delivery: January 2017

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