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Kiwi inventor's LED lights on Kickstarter
Wed, 5th Dec 2012
FYI, this story is more than a year old

MEA Mobile has launched a Kickstarter project for iGloLED, in what the company says has been a long time coming.

Work on the real time Wi-Fi controllable coloured LED lights initially started as a fun exploration into real time lighting control using a mobile device three years ago.

But sales of the project have grown steadily over time, with installs for brands like WeSC, Disney, Samsung and Wired Magazine, as well as coverage in Engadget, MacLife, and Gizmodo who said "iGlo makes any room a hundred times more fun."

MEA Mobile director Rod Macfarlane admits however that the start-up has never had enough dedicated resource to scale up, requiring the help of New Zealanders to bring iGloLED to the next level.

"To support our Kickstarter project we have brought on-board committed dedicated development resources (including one who is ex Samsung) and continue to expand the network of active resellers," he says.

"In addition we have secured manufacturing partners and favorable forward volume pricing.

"With the Kickstarter project the aim to reduce the retail price of the core offering, develop the tech and also open up the platform."

The iGloLED will retain the simple "plug it in and it works" mentality of the original but will also allow users to program the WiFi control unit as they see fit.

This will open up the market to a world of creative developers according to Macfarlane, who may currently be using control units by Gumstix and Audrinio in innovative ways.

"We're opening up and invite you to, contribute to the project, because there have been consistent requests from iGloLED enthusiasts to open up the platform to developers - the Kickstarter project has low entry point of USD99 for an iGloLED kit," he says.

Macfarlane says iGloLED is significantly different form the competition in the space as it is:

* Proven in market to be robust and scalable for the last three years.

* Trusted by major brands Samsung, Wired, WeSC who all have branded iGloLED installations.

* Designed as an open platform that does not require mains power allowing users broader creative freedom to define the future use out side of lighting.

Should you, choose to fund this project, you will be amongst the first to enjoy the iGloLED lighting experience which we hope will be a world-wide success.

For more information please click here