Wi-Fi-Connected Lightbulbs, Coming To Smart Homes In 2012

A Wi-Fi connected lightbulb that'll cost you just an extra buck a pop may sound crazy, but it's a soon-to-be reality that promises to transform your house into a mood-lit, low-power, eco-friendly smart home. That's the suggestion from NXP, a Netherlands-based semiconductor company that invented the Greenchip technology that will be in many Wi-Fi connected lightbulbs on sale by early 2012.

Why on Earth would you want a lightbulb with an IP address? It's not obvious until you realize we're not talking regular incandescent bulbs here. The tech will go into advanced compact fluorescent units as well as LED light bulbs, both clean low-power replacements for Edison's aging invention. These lights already incorporate a few chunks of silicon in their bases to help control them, and it's this tiny circuit board that enables all sorts of new things--adding NXP's tiny Wi-Fi system to the board is relatively easy and cheap. And then you can turn your lights on and off from a computer hooked up to your home's wireless grid.

Source: Fast Company