GiiNii AudioBulb Wireless/Expandable LED Light bulb music system for iPod/iPhone/any music source

by Giinii

Product Features

• 2.25-inch full range speaker that hooks up to any light bulb socket
• Connect via 3.5mm Aux-in connection or 30-pin connector
• Plugs into any socket up to 60 watts
• Use wirelessly!
• Includes 14-button fully functional remote control

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Product Description

From the Manufacturer

AudioBulb by GiiNii Wires, meet your nemesis Introducing AudioBulb: a wireless music and lighting system that revolutionizes how you play music throughout your home or office. Designed to work with iPods, iPhones, or an auxiliary input source, the patented idea came from the concept to combine something found in virtually every room (a light socket) with something people want in every room (music and light).

How many people does it take to screw in a light bulb? AudioBulb requires no technical set-up, wires or custom installation. Three easy steps get you set-up (no, really, 3 steps): Simply twist AudioBulb into any light socket or lamp and power up. Connect your audio source via Apple 30-pin or Aux-In to the standalone base and press play. Listen to wireless music from up to 8 bulbs throughout any environment in minutes. We made it even easier We took away the wires, so why tether you to the docking station? Complete control is always at your fingertips with the included remote. You not only can modify the music, but also control the lighting and 4-stage dimmer so you can create the moods to match you playlist.

Freedom for your music AudioBulb lets you create two different zones, and configuring zones is about as simple as the initial set-up. Imagine sleeping in peace and quiet as other household members are up and about jamming to their favorite tunes in the next room. And, with a range of 50 to 100 feet (depending on environment) AudioBulb can reach from the entryway to the patio from a single base station. And yes, we're green, too AudioBulb also functions as a super-efficient LED light bulb - with or without music - that lasts for years with normal use (not like a typical light bulb that burns out quickly). You can even use the four-stage dimmer to create the lighting environment you want. With AudioBulb, you get a pristine audio and light solution for the fraction of the cost of a typical distributed audio system or other solutions.

Item (station and bulb) H/L/W (inches): Station: 6.16 x 5.63 x 1.45 Light Bulb Size (inches): 3.35 X 3.35 X 5.49 Item (station and bulb) Weight (lb): Station Weight: 0.44lbs. Bulbs (2) Weight: 1.7lbs

Product Description

The GiiNii Audio Bulb is a wireless music and lighting system that changes how you play music throughout your home or office. It's designed to work with iPods, iPhones, or an auxiliary input source. This patented idea came from the concept to combine something found in virtually every room: a light socket, with something people want in every room: music and light.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 77 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars In ideal situations it might be OK, but for many it will disappoint October 21, 2011

By M. Erb HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is probably one of the most ill-conceived, kind of good idea things I've ever seen.

It seems a compelling proposition... a LED, energy saving lightbulb, that contains a wireless speaker. How cool is that? Well it's cool until you figure out that the speaker in most cases is either going to be pointing straight up to the ceiling, or straight down to the floor. So right off the bat you've got some issues with optimal sound dispersion. Then you've got to consider that the fixture the light/speaker will be in likely has a shade around it, further causing difficulty for sound dispersion. Then consider that the unique shape of the unit makes it not suitable for most fixtures (at least in my house) and that the kit only includes hardware for attaching a lampshade to a single lamp, not two. Why only provide one lampshade bracket when there are two speakers? Go figure.

We have numerous recessed light fixtures in our house. Great, or so I thought. It turns out that you can't really use these in dimmer controlled fixtures unless you make sure the dimmer is full on. Well, that's not going to happen most of the time in our house so I can't use them in the recessed fixtures. Also some of our fixtures are just too small in diameter for the unit to fit in. Another fail.

The transmitter/base is just something you've got to find space somewhere to put. If you are used to using a docking iPod speaker, then you've probably got the space. But otherwise it might actually be challenging to find an appropriate spot to put this where it's easy to get to when you need to undock your iPod.

I did not find it particularly easy to set up although it was not impossibly difficult.

I just think that this was someone's brilliant idea but in reality it's not really working for me.

I will give the LED lights a big thumbs up though. This is my first experience using an LED household light and I found the color of the emitted light quite pleasant. The dimming feature was nice too. But you must know that even 30,000 hours of potential life means that someday the LED"s will dim and die and then you've got a speaker only... the LED's can't be replaced according to the company.

I could not really recommend it for most people, but if you have the right fixtures, in the right kind of room and don't need superb sound and don't mind the possibility that someday the LED's will burn out (30,000 hours but who really knows?) you might get some usability out of this.

UPDATE: 10/22/2011 - I want to make a further observation about the LED light aspect of these GiiNii fixtures. You have to realize that the LED"s are a circle of LED's around the top edge of the fixture. What the implications of this are is that when the bulb is in a standard lamp with lampshade, that the entire bottom section of the lampshade will be in relative darkness since no light is going to be shining through the lampshade due to the fact that the LED"s are going to be pointing straight up through the top of the lamp, not to the sides. It looks really weird to see these in a typical lamp. I think the ideal situation would be to have these in recessed fixtures, but again, the issue is many recessed fixtures are going to either be controlled by a dimmer or may not be large enough diameter for the GiiNii's to fit in. Or, if you do put the GiiNii into a recessed floodlight fixture, then you're going to have a lot of empty space around the bulb itself which looks odd. These are not like a CFL bulb or standard light bulb in the manner in which they emit light.

UPDATE: 10/28/2011 - Another annoyance of this system is the extremely bright light that flashes on the base station. Best advice is to cover it with a piece of black tape.
My thoughts on these haven't changed. I'm about to remove them from my house as they just don't really provide adequate light or decent enough sound. For the same cost as this system you can purchase a Bluetooth Wireless Speaker System such as the Altec Lansing iMW725 inMotion Air Universal Wireless Speaker
or perhpas the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker - Nylon both of which not only offer better sound, but are able to run from internal battery power and are easily transportable so their use is not limited to one room. Way more practical in my opinion.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Novel Idea and Excellent Sounding Speakers October 24, 2011

By R. Angeloni VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

With the popularity of iPods and MP3 players, super expensive home sound systems, including expensive turntables, speakers, and subwoofers, have become a thing of the past. Today, we can literally carry our entire music collection in our hands, but we're carrying compressed files, so quality iPod docks and speakers are important if you desire and appreciate good sound.
The AudioBulb, by GiiNii, provides a unique solution: a wireless music and lighting system that you can play in any room in your home, including, if you have a light socket, outside in your front or backyard. The AudioBulb is super-easy to set up, I literally had the system up and running in about one minute. And the speakers sound great; I tried a variety of music, including jazz, rock 'n' roll, classical, and R&B, and the speakers produced a very clear sound. I even turned up the volume, and the speakers handled the bass and treble very well, with no distortion. I tried the speakers inside my home and they easily filled a moderate and even a large-sized room. I also tried these in my backyard and again the speakers performed well, offering great sound without the hassles of running wires or drilling holes through walls. The signal also didn't drop, even after I moved the base station out of the room and away from the speakers.
Now the downside. The light that the AudioBulbs produce is not all that great. Even at its brightest (there are four stages of brightness) the bulbs did not seem to produce that much light. The bulbs are also much heavier than a standard light bulb, so if your light source is a small lamp, be careful while screwing in the bulb to ensure it doesn't tip over your lamp. Also, don't drop the bulb. I don't get the impression they would survive a fall on a hard surface, such as a tile floor.
But these are small quibbles. I love the fact that I can use these anywhere in my home, and even in numerous rooms and outdoors (as long as the light source is protected from rain). Even better is the fact that I can enjoy great sound, and some light, without running wires through walls. Highly recommended, especially if you want a simple-to-use wireless system in your home that produces great sounding music.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An idea whose time has come. September 28, 2011

By Trevor Goodchild VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This thing is (simply put) awesome.

Positive Aspects:
* The speakers have a light built into them so you do not lose your lamps light giving abilities.
* The speakers sounded reasonable given the limitations of the system.
* The dock also charges the iPod/iPhone.
* Setup was super easy--2 mins.
* The Bulbs fit in my ceiling fan which I was a pleasant surprise.
* Has an audio input for use with other devices.

Some things to consider:
* Base station has a bright blue light which blinks when the speakers aren't on. It's annoying.
* The light these give off has a very odd spectrum. People look jaundiced under them.