Personalized lighting in the automated home knows no borders
No matter where they live, people want smarthome usability at a low cost
It’s common knowledge that steep competition in practically every arena of industry in China has pushed the country to invest in tons of manufacturing. If it can be made cheaper or replicated, you can be pretty confident the country will give it a go, as the future belongs to those who make things.
Once a graduate of the HAX incubator, the premier accelerator program for hardware startups — based both in Shenzhen, China, and San Francisco — Yeelight is now a force to be reckoned with.
Since 2013 when it received a $46 billion Series A investment in from Xiaomi, the largest mobile phone vendor in China, the company has been off to the races. Its products are now available in 20 countries around the world.
Most recently the Xiaomi Yeelight Bedside Lamp has caught some attention as it speaks to a larger trend playing out in the home space. The company is making smart lighting even more accessible and mainstream for less cost. With a sharp focus on home automation and bringing new experiences to everyday objects, the company now offers a family of wireless multi-colored smart LED lighting products.
This is the Chinese response to the growing demand and widespread adoption of intelligent homes.
Yeelight creates a personalized lighting experience using LED chips to bring a new level of control to home lighting. It solves the problem of needing to buy lamps with different colors or having to change bulbs frequently.
Like similar products in this category (such as the Philips Hue), its light bulbs operate within a range of 16 million colors, the full spectrum of white light.
Some familiar smart features include:
Adjustment of color, temperature and brightness
A timed ‘off’ and ‘on’ switch
The lamp can be programmed to turn ‘on’ and ‘off’ at a certain time of day
A user can change every single setting of the Xiaomi Yeelight through the app
One of the advantages of this device is its relatively compact size and low weight. The bottom of the lamp has rubber framing, which prevents possible slipping while on a surface. The bedside lamp has a cylindrical base made of aluminum and an upper portion made of glass, it looks very bright and stylish. On top there is a control panel which is also responsible for the power supply and change of modes of the unit.
This is the Chinese response to the growing demand and widespread adoption of technology for intelligent homes. People’s tastes could continue to change and become priced focused. Even with smart lights, the future belongs to those who make it. The Xiaomi Yeelight Bedside Lamp is a more than a smart lamp for the home; it’s a sign that products that are considered ‘smart’ will one day come at a low cost.
Originally published at www.psfk.com on March 2, 2016.