Playa Vista, Calif. – Belkin’s WeMo home-automation brand continues to expand the range of home products that can be controlled from its WeMo app, this time adding control of a Cree smart LED lightbulb.
Cree and WeMo forged a strategic partnership to integrate Cree LED lighting solutions with the WeMo ecosystem. Under the agreement, the first WeMo-compatible Cree bulb is the Connected Cree LED Bulb. The companies could expand compatibility to additional Cree products in the future.
The Connected Cree LED Bulb is a dimmable, 60-watt-equivalent bulb that delivers 815 lumens and a soft-white 2700K color temperature. It costs $15.
Cree’s ZigBee-equipped bulbs already work with home automation hubs from Wink and Smart Things.
Yesterday, WeMo announced that Osram Sylvania LED light bulbs now work with the WeMo app and WeMo Link, a Wi-Fi/ZigBee bridge that enables smartphone and tablet control of WeMo-compatible ZigBee-equipped LED light bulbs.
With the Osram and Cree announcements, smart LED bulbs from Cree, Osram Sylvania and WeMo connect to the WeMo app and Link.
WeMo’s app also delivers Wi-Fi control of a range of home products without the need for the Link. The app uses Wi-Fi to control of WeMo-brand smart plugs, light switches, security cameras, and several home appliances with embedded WeMo and Wi-Fi technologies. Those products include a Crock-Pot slow cooker, a Mr. Coffee coffee maker, and Holmes smart heaters and smart humidifiers.
“We are trying to expand our lighting ecosystem, and believe that partnerships with other connected bulbs are the best way to do so,” a WeMo spokesperson told TWICE. “It’s designed to be an add on solution, meaning that if a WeMo user has a set of WeMo LED bulbs and a WeMo Link, they can now add on individual [Osram Sylvania and Cree] lighting products seamlessly and control them all together.”
When Cree bulbs are connected to other WeMo products, users can create scenes that, for example, automatically turn on Cree and WeMo bulbs when the WeMo NetCam HD+ detects motion from the opening of a door. Users can also set sunrise/sunset timers to turn lights on and off automatically, or they can create vacation rules to turn lights on and off automatically at different times of night.
