The concept of a "smart bulb" has been done before but this is the first time I've seen it employed in an LED product.
Many years ago, there was a company called Beacon Technologies who made devices sold as The Bulb Boss. It was a disc-shaped object you stuck to base of a light bulb before screwing it into the socket. You would activate or override the functions by power-cycling the light switch on/off/on. Functions included:
Auto Off timer: Turn light on. After a preset time (10 or 30 minute models) the light would turn off. One minute before the light turns off, it would flash to warn you that you're at the last minute before going dark. Power-cycle to reset
Dimmer: Light turns on at full brightness. Cycle the switch off/on to go to the next lower level (4 levels)
Nightlight: Light turns on at full brightness. Power cycle to start nightlight mode. Light gradually fades to dim over the next 20 minutes.
Beacon later partnered with Philips Lighting and Anglo Brothers Company to market bulbs under the Philips IQ and the ABCO "Smart Bulb" which had the device incorporated into the center contact of the screw base. Beacon Technologies disappeared in the mid 2000 but just last year, a company called
Smart Electric appeared selling incandescent bulbs based on the old ABCO/Westinghouse Smart Bulb design.
One of my outdoor lighting projects I had in mind needed some type of automatic "fade to nightlight" mode circuit to control power to a set of Sylvania Sunset-Effect LED floodlights which changed from 3000k at full brightness to an orange "Sodium Vapor Lamp" color when dimmed. I found a device called the
Sunset Dimmer which will do exactly what I want but they only made a limited number of them and don't plan to produce any more.
