Sony Just Put a Speaker in a Light Bulb
The Symphonic Light Speaker might be just crazy enough to work.
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We’ve seen plenty of LED bulbs lately, smart or otherwise. It’s getting to the point where you can hardly buy a bulb that isn’t powered by LEDs. But this is the first time we’ve ever seen one that can play music.
The “Symphonic Light Speaker,” which Sony President & CEO Kaz Hirai showed off at Sony's CES 2015 press conference, is exactly what it sounds like: a WiFi-connected light bulb with a built-in speaker.
Sony actually unveiled this tech at IFA Berlin last September, but it more or less flew under the radar. Today, it drew audible oohs and aahs from the assembled crowd.
Part of Sony’s ambitious Life Space UX, the Symphonic Light Speaker is designed to “transform the entire home into a musical space,” letting users stream audio from their smartphones and tablets to a multitude of speaker-equipped light fixtures. Thanks to Sony’s “proprietary vertical drive technology,” the light bulb glass itself serves as the tweeter, so there are no exposed speaker elements.
There’s no indication that Sony is ready to bring the light speaker to market, but it certainly looks like the company has a working prototype. Here’s hoping we get to try it out soon.