Osram and Google join forces in smart LED lamps

The German lamp maker's Lightify line now works with the Nest home control system, owned by the search-engine provider.As Osram seeks new owners for its lamp business, it has smartened up its product offerings, making its Lightify range of smart LED lamps compatible with Google's Nest home control system.Osram said the Lightify line has joined the “Works with Nest” program in the UK and Ireland, with other countries to follow soon. Lightify is Osram's offering in what the residential market calls “smart bulbs” that do things generally not possible with conventional lighting. Users can tap apps on their phones and tablets to turn lights on or off, brighten or dim them, or change colours to suit moods — all from the same room as the lights, or from around the world via the Internet .

Consumers can also program them in advance to do those things at certain times of the day, or to flash as security alarms, smoke detectors, sports or stock price alerts. Lightify also requires a small gateway box that plugs into a wall socket and serves three purposes — it receives instructions from the app, transmits instructions to the light, and sends and receives instructions to and from the Internet via a wireless connection. Tesco is selling the gateway for £40.Market research firm ABI late last year forecasted that vendors would sell a quarter of a billion smart bulbs annually by 2020.