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GE's new lights will change color to match the time of day

GE's new lights will change color to match the time of day

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GE doesn't want bright home lights keeping you up at night, so it's introducing a new light bulb that'll adjust to the time of day on its own. The bulb is called C Sleep, and it's one of two new connected light bulbs that GE is introducing today. C Sleep will automatically shift color temperature throughout the day to better match the color of light that the sun is emitting. It has three settings: a bright blue to wake you up in the morning, a standard orange tone for midday, and a softer yellow color for the evening. GE's hope is that by better matching your indoor lighting to the actual lighting outdoors, your body will have an easier time waking up, staying away, and then falling asleep on time.

It's like f.lux for your house

The other bulb being introduced is called C Life, and it only provides the one midday lighting tone. But both the C Life and C Sleep bulbs can do a bit more once connected to a smartphone. They work over Bluetooth and can be dimmed or turned on and off through a GE phone app that'll be available on iOS and Android. Because the lights use Bluetooth, you won't be able to control them from outside of the home — you'll have to be in range. But the upside is that these lights should be a much easier way to get started for someone interested in dabbling in smart home products. There's no hub required, and therefore no confusing setup or ecosystem stuff to deal with. You should just be able to plug in as many of these lights as you want and start controlling them.

GE very much sees these lights as a first step into the smart home world, too. That's part of why, for now, it's only selling these lights in a starter bundle, which includes two C Sleep bulbs and two C Life bulbs. The C Sleep bulbs are meant to go in a bedroom, while the Life bulbs are meant to be put pretty much anywhere else around a house. The downside to this approach is that if you want to expand the system, you may end up buying more C Sleep bulbs than you need. GE expects that retailers will eventually start selling two-packs of each bulb in stores, but at launch, only the starter pack is available through GE directly on its website.