On the heels of yesterday’s announcement of a new collection of Swarovski-encrusted Shine wearable devices, connected products maker Misfit today unveiled a wirelessly-connected, color-changing light bulb called Bolt. The bulb, competes to some extent with Philips Hue’s smart bulbs, as it supports multiple colors into addition to white light, but can also work in conjunction with Misfit’s sleep tracking products, including Misfit Shine, Flash, and Beddit, the company says.
The Bolt supports the ability to create “millions of color combinations,” and the ability to create “lightscapes” like “sunset,” “forest,” or “bright day” using either pre-made scenes or scenes based on photos a user chooses.
More practically, the bulbs function as a sort of smart alarm clock alternative. Consumers will be able to configure their smart bulbs to slowly turn on in the morning, simulating a sunrise – a more gentle way to wake up compared with a harsher alarm. The timing and understanding of a user’s sleep/wake cycle can be understood through the data collected from other Misfit devices, including its wearables and Beddit sleep monitor. The bulb will illuminate when the user is in their lightest stage of sleep.
Bolt bulbs are controlled from a new app called Misfit Home, to be released on iOS and Android, or from Logitech’s Harmony Home remote and app.
The bulb doesn’t require a hub to work, and is made using a glass dome with a proprietary light-diffusion coating to enable light dispersion, says Misfit, and an aluminum body that doubles as a heat sink.
The bulbs will sell for $49.99 – undercutting Hue slightly – and are available on Misfit.com’s website for pre-order. A three-pack is also available for $129.99.