Amazon gained a foothold in the smart doorbell market with its purchase of Ring, and now, the tech giant is using its subsidiary to expand into the smart lighting industry as well. According to documents filed with the FCC, Ring is currently developing replaceable smart bulbs, similar to what Philips Hue offers.
This news was first brought to light by “technologist” Dave Zats on Twitter, where he speculated about the niche the bulbs might fill. Zats says the “PAR38” smart bulbs could act as an accessory to Ring’s existing outdoor lighting product line-up, an accessory for Ring Alarm (likely motion-activated), or they could be something else entirely.
Ring is first and foremost a maker of home security products — the company could even be developing these bulbs to compete directly with the likes of Philips Hue and Lifx. Perhaps they will feature multi-color support upon launch or in a future iteration, but that’s speculation on our part.
Aside from a few basic details, like the fact that these bulbs will feature Bluetooth, we don’t know much about this upcoming product.
It’s not clear when Ring’s bulb might arrive. CES 2020 is around the corner in January, but there are no guarantees Ring and Amazon will launch then. Whenever it arrives, it’ll be good news for those who want to catch would-be thieves and aren’t put off by Ring’s privacy issues.
Hmmm Ring PAR35 "smart" lightbulb. Outdoor lighting line accessory? Ring Alarm accessory? Both? Neither? 🙂 pic.twitter.com/zGeCiVK0qR
— Dave Zatz (@davezatz) December 9, 2019
