Just as the LED industry is getting comfy with the concept of smart lights, a new company Emberlight has stepped up the game with a socket capable of turning any dimmable light into smart lights--be it incandescent, halogen, CFL or LEDs.

The socket threatens existing smart LED lighting industry in several ways. For one, it is designed as plug-and-play making it compatible with any type of light, which challenges the work of organizations promoting industry compatibility, such as Zhaga and others. That is if it truly works for any type of light, and does not require customized models to accomodate various luminaire models.

Emberlight socket. Please click image for video introduction. (All photos and images via Kickstarter)

In contrast to most smart lights from Philips Hue to Osram, the bulb does not require an additional hub and can be connected using WIFI router. Perhaps, learning from LIFX hard lesson of Wi-Fi password leaks, the startup company emphasizes all data stored on cloud servers will be encrypted with SSL to prevent potential snooping.

Emberlight promo  pic emphasizes it is hub free.

The emphasis on security is a credible claim considering former Asus CTO Arif Maskatia is an advisor to the team, and two former Raytheon engineers Gordon Kwan and Kevin Wolfe are respectively working on the hardware and firmware of the socket. The team also brought in a veteran engineer Levi Wolfe with 19 years of experience to work on the cloud and mobile aspect of the product. The startup company has a solid engineering team that on average have at least 10 years of experience in the industry.

Installation diagram of Emberlight.

The socket which turns any light into a smart bulb shares most of the same features as other products on the market. A new additional feature brought to the light by the team has been the impact of Bluetooth proximity, which enables the Emberlight enhanced bulb to automatically light up or dim down when a user with a smartphone is nearby.

Emberlight’s Kickstarter project has so far generated US $21,562 out of its goal of US $50,000. Once the smart socket fully takes off, it will make the smart lighting industry rethink device design with LED no longer be the sole choice. As a previous Chinese report noted, you never know where your next competitor will be coming from.