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LIFX
FoundedSeptember 2012 (September 2012) in Cremorne, Victoria, Australia
HeadquartersCremorne, Victoria, Australia
No. of locations1 office (2022)
OwnerFeit Electric Company
Founder(s)Phil Bosua, John Bosua, Andy Gelme, Guy King, Bevan Clark, Shane Hanna, Marc Alexander, Daniel CM May, Jake Lawton, Andrew Birt
Key peopleMarc Alexander (former CTO), David Kavanagh (Product Director), Mark Hollands (CTO), Matt Redding (Hardware Director), Rachel Wilson (Brand & Creative director)
IndustrySmart Lighting
ProductsColor 1000, White 800, Color 650, LIFX+, LIFX Z Light Strip, LIFX App
Employees> 20
URLlifx.com.au eu.lifx.com jp.lifx.com uk.lifx.com www.lifx.com
Native client(s) oniOS, Android, Windows 10
watchOS, Wear OS
LIFX White 800 (left) and LIFX Original 1000 (right) sitting next to their retail packaging.

LIFX (pronounced Life-X) is a line of energy-efficient, multi-color, Wi-Fi enabled, digital addressable LED light bulbs that can be controlled via a Wi-Fi equipped device such as a smartphone or smartwatch.[1][2][3]

History

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LIFX was originally manufactured by LiFi Labs, a San Francisco-based company founded by the Australian inventor Phil Bosua. LiFi Labs introduced the idea of smart lighting on Kickstarter, before any alternative products could be found in market, and have since attracted large attention.[2][4] Consequently, the company managed to raise $1.3 million in public funding,[3] followed by a $12 million series A investment round in mid 2014.[5] LIFX was also one of the first products to participate in the Works with Nest program.[6]

On February 3, 2015, LIFX 2.0 was launched. This included IFTTT integration, remote access and an Android Wear app. In April 2015, LIFX was renamed LIFX Original; two new products were launched at that time, expanding the range to include a tunable white light, the White 800[7] and the Color 650. By May 16, 2015, the LIFX iOS app had added support for the Apple Watch.[8]

On October 1, 2016, the third generation LIFX bulbs shipped, including the flagship 'flat top' bulb reminiscent of the original A19 product, as well as BR30 bulbs, a GU10 track light, a LIFX Downlight, the LIFX+ bulbs (a bulb that added an infrared channel to allow boosted security vision for cameras through glass, down long passages and across longer distances) and the hugely popular LIFX Z light strips.[9]

In September 2017 support was added for Apple HomeKit.[10] In November 2017 the company released the LIFX Mini bulbs, LIFX Beam, a modular set of LED bars that join with magnetic connections, and the LIFX Tiles, another module smart feature light for LED wall displays and ambient lighting. These were an early example of LIFX's polychrome technology going beyond their original use in the light strip, with the Tile using an array of LEDs to create many addressable areas within the one 'light' and enabling new effects and features in the smart lighting space.[11]

LIFX was acquired by ASX listed Buddy Technologies (BUD) in early 2019.

The assets of LIFX were acquired by Feit Electric in August 2022.[12]

Products

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LIFX A19, BR30, and Mini from left to right

LIFX A19

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The LIFX A19 is a Wi-Fi enabled LED downlight with millions of colors and many shades of white controlled using a Wi-Fi enabled device.[13]

LIFX BR30

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The LIFX BR30 is a Wi-Fi enabled flood light with millions of colors and many shades of white controlled using a Wi-Fi enabled device.[14]

LIFX GU10

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The LIFX GU10 is a Wi-Fi enabled track light fixture with millions of colors and many shades of white that can be controlled with a Wi-Fi enabled device.[15]

LIFX Downlight

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The LIFX Downlight is a Wi-Fi enabled trim for a recessed light with millions of colors and many shades of white that can be controlled via a Wi-Fi enabled device.[16]

LIFX+

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The LIFX+ is a Wi-Fi enabled LED light bulb with millions of colors and many shades of white that also emits infra-red light to assist security cameras in lighting up dark areas. The bulb can be controlled via a Wi-Fi enabled device and is available in A19 and BR30 shapes.[17]

LIFX Mini

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The LIFX Mini is a Wi-Fi enabled LED light bulb controlled using a Wi-Fi capable device. The bulb has a smaller profile than the company's flagship bulbs. The bulb is 9 watts and produces 800 lumens. The bulb comes in three variants. LIFX Mini Color with millions of colors and thousands of shades of white, LIFX Mini Day & Dusk which outputs only shades of white, and LIFX Mini White which outputs only a 2700K color.[18]

LIFX Z Light Strip

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The LIFX Z light strip is a color-changing, Wi-Fi enabled LED light strip.[19]

LIFX Beam

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The LIFX Beam is a color-changing Wi-Fi enabled light bar.[20]

LIFX Tile

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LIFX Tile

The LIFX Tile is a set of fully integrated illuminated panels that offer millions of colors and many shades of white plus the ability to add animated effects.[21]

LIFX App

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The LIFX app for iOS, Android, Windows 10, watchOS and Android Wear manages and controls LIFX bulbs.[22] LIFX lights can also be controlling using Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, Google Now, and Amazon's Alexa intelligent personal assistants. LIFX apps for Windows 10 Mobile and Microsoft HoloLens are currently in the works.

Works with LIFX

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IFTTT connects LIFX bulbs with apps such as Facebook, Twitter, The Weather Channel and Google Calendar.[23] It can also connect the lights with the GPS location of a smartphone and motion sensors.[24]

When a Nest Learning Thermostat notices that the home is unoccupied, LIFX bulbs can be configured to switch themselves on and off throughout the day to make it seem like someone is home.[25]

If a Nest Protect detects smoke or carbon monoxide, LIFX bulbs can be configured to provide a visual alert.[26]

When you press Flic, it can turn LIFX lights on or off, change the color and more.[27]

LIFX lights can be controlled using the SmartThings and Logitech Harmony ecosystem.

LIFX light bulbs can be controlled via Amazon echo or echo dot using Alexa voice control to turn on off or dim.

LIFX can be controlled via Google Home device as of March 28, 2017.[28]

LIFX can be controlled via Microsoft's Cortana as of Feb 16, 2018.[29]

LIFX can be controlled using Mycroft.ai using an installable skill as of 2018-09-12.[30]

References

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  1. ^ On LIFX and $1.3M: Will Crowdsourcing Implode?, CEPro, archived from the original on January 3, 2014, retrieved January 14, 2014
  2. ^ a b Smartphone-Controlled Light Bulb Raises $260,000 on Kickstarter, Mashable, 17 September 2012, retrieved January 14, 2014
  3. ^ a b LIFX shipping its bulbs after taking Kickstarter by storm, Business Review Weekly, archived from the original on January 15, 2014, retrieved January 14, 2014
  4. ^ Could BeeWi Smart Color LEDs be the Hue competitor we've been waiting for?, CNET, retrieved January 14, 2014
  5. ^ "Maker Of $99 Lightbulbs, LIFX Gets $12M Series A From Sequoia Following Huge Crowdfund Campaign", Forbes, retrieved August 8, 2014
  6. ^ "LIFX is now part of the Works with Nest program | LIFX Blog". June 24, 2014.
  7. ^ "LIFX White 800". LIFX. LiFi Labs. Archived from the original on 2015-04-11. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  8. ^ "Wearables". LIFX. Archived from the original on 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  9. ^ "Lifx Plus is a color-changing smart bulb that helps your cameras see in the dark". CNET.
  10. ^ "Hello HomeKit!". LIFX.
  11. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (2017-09-27). "LIFX's new Wi-Fi-connected wall panels light up in different colors". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  12. ^ "Feit Electric Acquires LIFX Assets" (Press release). 3 August 2022.
  13. ^ "LIFX". LIFX.
  14. ^ "LIFX BR30". LIFX. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  15. ^ "LIFX BR30". LIFX. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  16. ^ "LIFX Downlight". LIFX.
  17. ^ "LIFX+". LIFX.
  18. ^ "LIFX Mini". LIFX.
  19. ^ "Lifx finally sells color-changing light strips". CNET. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  20. ^ "LIFX Beam". LIFX. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  21. ^ "LIFX Tile". LIFX. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  22. ^ "Get the app". LIFX.
  23. ^ "Enhance your LIFX with IFTTT". LIFX. Archived from the original on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  24. ^ "LIFX Channel". IFTTT.
  25. ^ "Works with Nest". LIFX. Archived from the original on 2015-07-01.
  26. ^ Brown, Rich (June 23, 2014). "Developer program makes Nest a focal point for the smart home". CNET.
  27. ^ "Flic Button". LIFX. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  28. ^ "With connected devices, a smarter home is just an "Ok Google" away". 28 March 2017.
  29. ^ "Hey Cortana, turn up the heat; Cortana now works with more smart home providers and IFTTT". 16 February 2018.
  30. ^ "A Mycroft skill to control LIFX brand smart-bulbs".
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