Back in July 2013, a relatively unknown company named WigWag debuted, with hopes of automating the home with a little help from Kickstarter. Today, the company is out of the CEDIA Expo, with a bright idea about automated lighting.
The company just debuted Filament by WigWag, a new smart, dimmable and full-color LED lightbulb. The big difference here is that WigWag isn’t really looking to add a bulb here and/or a bulb there; they want to tackle the entire house.
Filament light bulbs can be controlled individually or in groups using the WigWag app for iOS and Android devices. Of course, users can also tap into bulbs using the classic wall switch. Filament bulbs are powered by the WigWag Relay, which plugs into your router.
That WigWag Relay is especially important — which is why it’s part of each package. It serves as the “brains” of the system, allowing the Filaments to connect to a variety of different products, including Belkin WeMo devices, the Philips Hue, and others from Sonos, Nest, LIFX and Insteon.
Other features on the bulbs include adjustable 3,000K to 6,000K true-white lighting, dimmable brightness, and adjustable color (RGB) LEDs. According to WigWag, Filament can actually produce over 64 million colors with up to 800 lumens output and has an average lifespan of 20 years.
So what makes the Filament by WigWag perfect for the entire house? Besides an easy installation, the price will certainly entice homeowners to go big from the get-go. Available with a black or white base, WigWag is offering the Filament in variety of starter packs. A kit with the WigWag Relay and four bulbs will sell for $199.99. Users can also bump that up to eight or 12 bulbs, priced at $299.99 and $399.99, respectively. Bulb expansion kids are also available for as low as $25 per bulb.
“Automated lighting is really only useful when you can outfit an entire room or house. Our smart color bulbs are packaged in kits at affordable prices to move things away from ‘too-expensive’ or ‘geek toys’ to consumer ‘must haves,'” said Ed Hemphill, WigWag’s CEO and co-founder. “We know the average person simply wants to group color bulbs together and have unified control to do amazing things with lighting. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be easy and more affordable to create this smarter, more colorful and dynamic environment.”
Users can pre-order Filament by WigWag today, with the first shipments expected sometime in fall 2014.
The WigWag Relay is compatible with a variety of devices and protocols, including ZigBee, Bluetooth and Z-Wave.
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