Lumen Color Changing LED Light Bulb Goes with Bluetooth, Not Wi-Fi

A couple of months ago, the LIFX LED lightbulb debuted on Kickstarter, and it was only a couple of weeks ago when electronics giant Philips unveiled its Hue color changing LED light bulb. These light bulbs not only allow you to choose whatever color you want using a smartphone application, they also allow you to turn the light on or off at pre-set times, making for built-in home automation. These bulbs require an in-home Wi-Fi connection and come with a special bridge you have to connect to your network. Now, a competing product has turned up on Indiegogo called the Lumen Bluetooth LED bulb.

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Like the LIFX and the Hue, the Lumen bulb will use an app that controls the light brightness, color, and can turn the lights on or off. Inside the bulb, its RGBW LED array lets you create any color you desire, including pure white. However, the Lumen operates on Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi. This lets you use the bulbs without an existing wireless network, but limits its range to 30 feet. This might be okay for apartment-dwellers, but it’s not so great if you live in a larger dwelling.

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The bulb also has four special operating modes. The modes include Party Mode that flashes the light bulb and changes color to the music. Sleep Mode is designed to simulate moonlight. Lake mode helps you get out of bed in the mornings by waking you to gradually brightening light rather than the alarm. The Ambient Mode creates romantic soft and dim lighting.

An early-bird special will get you one Lumen bulb for $49(USD). Two bulbs will cost $99, 10 sell for $450, 25 cost $1000, and 100 of the bulbs will cost $3500. The project still has 30 days to raise the funding needed, and is seeking $110,000 in funding, and has so far scored only about $1300. If you prefer Bluetooth to Wi-Fi, head on over to Indiegogo and reserve yours now.


HTC Droid DNA hands-on (video)

Welcome to the next wave of smartphone innovation: 1080p panels. At a joint launch event with Verizon in New York City today, HTC unveiled the Droid DNA, the stateside counterpart to the Japan-only J Butterfly. Made to run on Big Red’s 4G LTE network and trimmed with the carrier’s signature color, the 5-incher also enters the market as the OEM’s first phablet effort; a direct response to Samsung’s Galaxy Note. (HTC is very adamant that this is not a “phablet,” partially thanks to its lack of stylus support.) But a larger footprint’s not the only bleeding edge tech on hand here, as the device plays host to a quad-core S4 Pro clocked at 1.5GHz and buffered by 2GB RAM — something we’d only seen within the Optimus G and Nexus 4 — a 2,020mAh battery capable of Qi-compatible wireless charging, an 8-megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video and Android Jelly Bean with Sense 4+. We had a chance to spend some time with it, so click on through for our initial take.

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HTC Droid DNA hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google bags patent for directions based on cell coverage

Google snags patent for directions based on cell coverage

Want to get somewhere, but don’t want to miss an email, or risk a break in the directions on the way? A patent granted to Google suggests it’s been thinking about the very same thing. Read through the details, and it all sounds fairly familiar — receiving origin and destination, planning a route etc. But, this time, there’s the added hop of accessing wireless coverage data, and stirring that info into the returned directions mix. The flow charts in the literature suggest that this could be a user input option. So, along with the choice of fastest and most economical, maybe some day we’ll be seeing one for “fastest data” too. Someone resurrect the term “information superhighway,” and quick.

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Google bags patent for directions based on cell coverage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Triggertrap Mobile update adds WiFi control for device-laden shutterbugs

Triggertrap Mobile update adds WiFi control for device-laden shutterbugs

Triggertrap’s automatic shutter release kit has come a long way since its humble Kickstarter debut, and today, yet another feature is being added to its iOS and Android apps — wireless mode. The good news is that you can now control all of those advanced trigger settings from a phone or tablet over WiFi, but the bad news is, you’ll need two of them. One remains bound to the camera by cable and dongle, acting as a slave device that carries out orders given from a second, master device. You don’t actually need a real WiFi network to make use of the new feature, though, as connecting the slave to a wireless hotspot running on the master will work the same. If you happen to have all the necessary gear and some ideas for testing it out, the Triggertrap Mobile updates are available now at the relevant app stores.

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Triggertrap Mobile update adds WiFi control for device-laden shutterbugs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget tours Gogo’s flying test plane, tries its improved ATG-4 in-flight WiFi (hands-on)

Engadget tours Gogo's flying test plane, tries its improved ATG-4 in-flight WiFi (hands-on)

Gogo’s test plane isn’t your typical jet: it seats just nine passengers, and there’s no bathroom; just a closet in the back stacked with networking gear. The company, easily the biggest name in in-flight WiFi, uses the aircraft as a flying lab, where it can test everything from throughput speeds to the log-in experience. It’s a small plane that flies out of a small airfield, Aurora Municipal Airport in Illinois, and it’s normally just Gogo staffers onboard. Today, the company invited a few reporters aboard to test its newest air-to-ground WiFi service, ATG-4. As you can imagine, newer means faster: ATG-4 is rated for max download speeds of 9.8 Mbps, up from 3.1 Mbps with the last-gen service. (It helps that video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go are now blocked.)

As it happens, ATG-4 is already live on approximately 40 planes run by US Airways, Delta and Virgin America. (United has said it plans to introduce the service on select flights in the first half of 2013.) In theory, then, the best way to test ATG-4’s performance might be to slip unnoticed onto a commercial flight, and see what it’s like to share bandwidth with 20 other people. What’s neat about the Gogo test plane, though, is that it can toggle back and forth between ATG and ATG-4, making it easier to compare performance between the two. What’s more, though the test plane seats nine, Gogo is able to simulate a crowded plane, with 20 to 30 passengers, all attempting to use the internet at once. After 90 minutes of flying over Illinois and Missouri, we’ve got some first-hand impressions and also some pics, if aviation porn is your cup of tea. Read on for more.

Continue reading Engadget tours Gogo’s flying test plane, tries its improved ATG-4 in-flight WiFi (hands-on)

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Engadget tours Gogo’s flying test plane, tries its improved ATG-4 in-flight WiFi (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gogo launches next-gen in-flight internet, with better speeds and more capacity

Gogo launches nextgen inflight internet, with better speeds and more capacity

Gogo is pretty much the standard for in-flight internet. But, as much as it’s saved our workaholic butts on a number of occasions, we’ve always said there’s room for improvement. Speeds are often on the low side and connectivity can be unreliable on a plane packed with fellow web addicts. (For example, say a flight to Vegas for CES.) ATG-4 is the company’s next generation of in-air service that should drastically increase capacity and improve speeds. The connection will have a theoretical peak bandwidth of 9.8Mbps, more than three times the current network and uses EVDO rev.B as part of its backbone. ATG-4 is being rolled out on 25 craft to begin with, including planes operated by Virgin, Delta and US Airways. There’s a few more details in the PR after the break and we’ll be back soon with a hands on to let you know if Gogo’s new network lives up to the hype.

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Gogo launches next-gen in-flight internet, with better speeds and more capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II heading to Verizon in the ‘coming weeks’ for $130

Samsung Stratosphere II heading to Verizon in the 'coming weeks' for $130

The Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II has been officially unveiled as the latest QWERTY device coming to Verizon. We still don’t know the exact date of arrival, but Big Red mentioned that it’ll be heading to stores and online sometime in the coming weeks. We do, however, know the cost: $130 with two-year agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate. What about specs? We know that the QWERTY smartphone will offer Android 4.0 (ICS), LTE connectivity, 4-inch Super AMOLED display, NFC and 1.2GHz dual-core CPU. From the sounds of it, we’re looking at a pretty mid-range device here — which ultimately is more evidence that manufacturers and carriers seem to think there’s no market for power users who prefer using a physical keyboard. Head below for a brief press release discussing the new handset.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II heading to Verizon in the ‘coming weeks’ for $130

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Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II heading to Verizon in the ‘coming weeks’ for $130 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 15:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ofcom: UK 4G spectrum bidding starts in January with £1.3 billion reserve

Ofcom UK 4G spectrum bidding starts in January with 13 billion reserve

While Orange and T-Mobile love child EE has been doling out 4G to its clients for a bit now, rivals like O2 and Vodafone have been waiting for the chance just to bid on spectrum. Ofcom just announced tentative dates for the process, along with a combined minimum price of £1.3 billion — after saying earlier that the delay was the carriers’ own fault. Operators will submit their applications by December 11th, start bidding in early January and be informed if they were successful or not by March. Fees will then be paid and licenses granted, and Ofcom figures that 4G services will start to roll out from the successful bidders between May and June of next year. You’ll then be able to enjoy five to seven times the speed of your current connection — provided you haven’t already jumped ship, of course.

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Ofcom: UK 4G spectrum bidding starts in January with £1.3 billion reserve originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 08:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of November 5th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany week of November 5th, 2012

If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This past week, Virgin introduced a WiFi calling service in the UK, a new smartphone leaked for Cricket and RIM announced a free app giveaway for Canadian residents. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of November 5th, 2012.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of November 5th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Beam review: stay for the projector, but nothing more

Samsung Galaxy Beam review stay for the projector, but that's it

With a seemingly endless stream of flagship phones hitting the market before the holiday season, it can be easy to forget some of the other devices that play a more niche audience. The Samsung Galaxy Beam definitely belongs in this category, as it includes a built-in Texas Instruments DLP pico projector. All told, the phone faces a lofty challenge: while the projector could be useful for the PowerPoint crowd, the phone itself falls on the lower end of mid-range, and isn’t powerful enough to do business users much good otherwise. With a 1GHz dual-core NovaThor CPU, an overly outdated OS, a 2010-era display and a middling 5-megapixel camera, the Beam’s target demographic appears to be ridiculously small. Still, might the projector be enough to carry this device to its full potential? Does a niche device like this have a place in such a crowded market? Read on to get in touch with our thoughts, feelings and emotions regarding the Samsung Galaxy Beam.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Beam review: stay for the projector, but nothing more

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Samsung Galaxy Beam review: stay for the projector, but nothing more originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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