Famed leader in premium mobile device accessories MiPow recently stepped onto Philippine shores when it held its first local launch event at the EDSA Shang-rila Hotel in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City. We were lucky enough to be there, and so we got to witness the unveiling of the company’s first batch of products for the Philippine market.
Playbulb series
Chief among MiPow’s new wares is an entire line of Bluetooth-enabled light bulbs that are guaranteed to change the way you interact with lighting inside the home from here on in. It’s called the MiPow Playbulb series, and it consists of several different Smart LED lights, each configured for their own specific purposes.
First, MiPow introduced the traditional-looking Playbulb Original and Playbulb Color. These two may appear to be ordinary light bulbs at first, but make no mistake, they are fitted with extraordinary capabilities.
The Playbulb Original and Playbulb Color merely use the design and traditional appearance of regular light bulbs, but both are actually ready for “delivering brand new experience on lighting control and music playback,” according to the press release. With these two, MiPow promises a good balance between lighting quality and sound quality.
You read that right: sound quality is officially one of the highlights here because these two Playbulb lighting products are equipped with built-in speakers. So they can be used to light whichever room or area in the house that you want, as well as blast music of your own choosing whenever you want to. You can control either of them wirelessly with the use of dedicated iOS and Android apps, which you can download onto your devices for free.
The Playbulb Rainbow was also launched as a speaker-less configuration of these two items.
Meanwhile, the company also launched the Playbulb Candle, a color LED flameless candle that runs on AA batteries. Like the three Playbulb items mentioned above, this one can also be controlled wirelessly via a mobile app. And at the same time, it has the ability to switch on and switch off if you simply blow on it like you would a regular candle. It’s quite fun and, if you ever tire of doing it, then you can simply use the built-in power key.
Taking control of these Playbulb items can be done with the use of a free downloadable app called Playbulb X. It’s available through the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store, and can be used to wirelessly connect to up to five Playbulb products at any given time. Connections are established with the use of BLE and/or A2DP through Bluetooth 4.0.
Smart power bank
Apart from smart light bulbs, MiPow also introduced its first smart power bank in the form of the Juice Sync 5200. It’s a portable charger with an Apple Lightning connector to directly charge products like the iPhone 6/6+, iPhone 5/5s, iPad (4th generation), iPad mini, iPod Touch (5th generation), and iPod Nano (7th generation), and at the same time, it can also be used with mobile devices that have microUSB ports on them.
But the beauty of this power bank lies in its ability to wirelessly connect to mobile phones or tablets, allowing you to read the remaining battery, temperature and distance between the Juice Sync 5200 and the connected devices. Just like with the Playbulb X, you would also have to use a free, exclusive mobile app here that can be downloaded through either the iTunes App Store or the Google Play Store.
Prices and availability
The Playbulb Color is the top-of-the-line model in MiPow’s Playbulb series of smart LED light bulbs. And as such, it comes with the highest price tag of Php 3,999. Meanwhile, the speaker-less Playbulb Rainbow is priced Php 1,999.
The fun and innovative Playbulb Candle is available for only Php 999, and batteries are sold separately. And as for the smart Juice Sync power bank, it’s priced Php 3,499 a piece. You can check out these products at different stores like PowerMac, MiPow Megamall, MemoXpress, Mobile1, SM Department Store, and other places throughout Metro Manila.
