Christmas preparations are in full swing, and given the time when the spirit has everyone working on decorations – be it outside or on that evergreen conifer – lighting as always remains an integral part of the planning. Apple has recently started stocking these new Christmas lights from Lumenplay that are smart in nature and can be controlled via an app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
The lights are based on the same principal as say, Philips Hue, but it works over Bluetooth and come with a much cheaper price tag. However, the two products are poles apart given that the Hue is meant to light up a room while these lights from Lumenplay are decorative in nature.
The lights come in as a string of 12 RGB LEDs attached to a 12 feet long cable, with an additional Lumenplay Controller hardware necessary to connect to your iOS device. Both the lights and the controller with its 24-inch lead, are included in the starter kit, while the companion app which lets you choose your colors is available from the App Store.
The app lets you not only customize the colors, but includes settings such as timers, effects, a music visualizer and much more, making your front porch or the Christmas tree really stand out this holiday. However, while the lights are a smashing idea, and are likely to be fervently bought by many, the price tag doesn’t entirely do justice to the product.
How come? Well, you are looking at 12 RGB bulbs spaced at 1 feet for $79 including the starter kit, and you would think it must be because of the controller and all, but even grabbing an additional 12 feet strand without the controller will set you back $59, so if you do the math to even moderately decorate a 7 to 8 feet tree with these lights, you will be overwhelmed.
Some additional features via the companion app include support for pin-code security, 16 million colors, brightness, speed, and direction control.
The lights are available on both online and retail Apple Stores, Amazon and as well as other locations.
So what do you think of this offering? Will you be getting one of these lights to light up your Christmas this season?
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