Choosy? You can light up your home in 16 million colors with these solutions

By Karl Utermohlen October 4, 2017

LIFX Beam

Have you ever dreamed of having millions of accent light color patterns on your wall, all at the touch of a button or a voice command?

Smart home lighting company LIFX has shed new light on the market with the introduction of Beam, a light strip, and Tile, an LED block light. You can hang the wall-mounted products anywhere in your house and build patterns by adding additional strips and tiles. Whether you need special lighting to showcase your giant flatscreen TV or a piece of art, the possibilities are endless. The company says the products can illuminate in more than 16 million colors and are compatible with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. That of course means that you can control the ambient lighting with just your voice.

Related Videos

The Beam kit, which is available for pre-order now and will ship in November, includes six individual Beams, one corner connector piece, and a power pack for $199. Each Beam is 11.8 inches long, 1.37 inches deep, and 0.78 inches wide, which could net you more than 72 feet of strip lighting in your home using just the starter pack. You can can create squares, triangles, or other patterns and customize whatever colors you want to have illuminated at any time.

The Tile kit is also available for pre-order now and will ship in November. The $250 starter kit includes five tiles – each just under eight inches wide and more than an inch deep – plus a power pack and a controller. Like the Beam, you can position each tile on your wall in any way you wish, meaning that you can create your own game of QBert on the wall if you want.

Both products link up with Wi-Fi without an additional hub. There’s a dimmer on each item, giving you the ability to adjust the brightness at any time. Each unit can be set to display multiple colors.

LIFX is one of several companies creating interesting smart lighting solutions. Philips Hue has been at the forefront of ambient lighting, and Heelight recently released a smart light bulb that the company claims is able to hear the environment around it.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Smart Home

The new Ring Intercom lets you buzz folks into your building from afar

Ring Intercomnext to an intercom handset on a wall.

Wish you had more smart functionality in your apartment? Ring has announced the new Ring Intercom to help renters have a slightly smarter home. The device makes it possible to buzz someone into your building from anywhere.

Ring typically creates products that are easy to install and don't require heavy modifications to your home. The Ring Intercom follows that same premise. The Intercom connects to your existing intercom handset and is powered by a rechargeable battery. It also connects to your home's Wi-Fi to provide always-connected service.

Smart Home

Can you train a parrot to use Alexa, and should you?

Official glimpse of Nothing Phone 1 with a parrot sitting on top of phone.

We’ve talked about the silly things Alexa can be used for, as well as how sometimes very young children can unwittingly use Alexa to cause mischief, including ordering things from Amazon. But what about pets that can talk -- specifically, if you’ve got an inquisitive parrot in your house? Do you have to worry about it activating Alexa and potentially causing havoc?

If you’re a parrot owner, you probably won’t be surprised that this could definitely be a cause for concern. Parrots can learn to speak human language clear enough to activate Alexa on devices like Echos. Here’s everything we know about what these clever birds have managed to do.
Can you train a parrot to use Alexa?
Parrot turns Christmas lights on with Alexa

Smart Home

Fluid One gives you point-and-click control of your smart home, from your smartphone

Fluid One app showing the AR room map and devices.

Ever wished you could use your smartphone to control your smart home, beyond just pulling up an app to turn something on or off? We're now starting to see companies create actual functionality around the Matter initiative. Fluid, a relative newcomer to the smart home field, is building a service on top of Matter to allow you to control smart devices around your home simply by pointing your phone at the device.

Fluid calls this new service Fluid One. You can point your phone at a device, and it will automatically and immediately show you options to control said device. The service also allows for location-based automation and gesture controls. For example, imagine walking around your home and having lights automatically turning on or off depending on how close you are to them.