Christmas lights have been boring for much of modern history. They came in just red, green or white, they all looked the same, and they didn’t do much to incorporate themselves into people’s unique personal styles. That’s different now with the introduction of the PlayBulb String lights.
Playbulb: Smart LED holiday lights
These smart LED light strings give you smart functionality via a Bluetooth connection; you can turn them on or off with your smartphone, adjust colour to dozens of different subtler hues, you can set timers, or use a handful of special effects, all aotomatically.
Playbulb string is easy to use
I’m a fan of the Playbulb line of lighting devices because they’re dead simple to use; plug them in, and check the app. They’re likely already connected and show up in your app, but without all the fidgety set-up and configuration many other ‘smart’ lights require. You could even give these to older parents who aren’t super tech savvy, and they’ll be able to operate them easily — and without crisis phones calls to you for tech support!
These lights come in a string of 10 meters/33 feet, with optional extensions sold separately. It’s worth noting you can only go to a max of 66 feet on any plug/outlet.
Gauging interest on Kickstarter
Interestingly, I learned Playbulb is doing a Kickstarter campaign to get these lights to market, which I think is a very unique way to gauge customer interest in a new product.
“Our challenge here is to accurately estimate the required materials purchase for the first batch of mass production,” write the Playbulb folks on the campaign’s page, “KICKSTARTER is a perfect platform for us to test the market. We like to know how tech-lovers think about our new products. We need to hear your opinions so that we can keep enhancing our hardware and software. We also need your helps to spread out the message. With the fund we raise on KICKSTARTER, we will make materials purchase planning accordingly.”
Not surprisingly the campaign was over its goal in no time, and many of the kits are sold out (or about to be at the time of writing this).
Playbulb String works indoors or outdoors
After an afternoon of testing, I’m in love; the Playbulb line by Mipow works so well. It’s easy, fun and very versatile since these lights can be use either indoors or outdoors. They’re going to be a hit for upcoming holidays like Halloween (bright orange??) and definitely at Christmas.
