Only in Japan — Cloud-based, Wi-Fi enabled LED lights

Convergence is a brutal mistress, lovingly embraced by Samsung and hurriedly implemented by others in less-than successful gadgets. In Japan though, where “weird” is seemingly the norm, a company called Net LED Technology has now combined LED lights with Wi-Fi devices.

It’s what you always dreamed of. A smartphone that can control your light source. NetLED is beautifully simple in its execution, but brutally expensive. For roughly US$780, a user can install the netLED router which acts as the digital middleman between the smartphone and the lights.

But that’s not all. For an additional (read: required) US$260, Wi-Fi-enabled 40-watt LED arrays can be paired to the NetLED system to provide control from anywhere within signal range.

For those on a reporter’s salary, less expensive Wi-Fi fixtures can be installed at US$182 each. Standard LED lights are then added to the fixture, cutting on costs but presumably still adding the Wi-Fi goodness the savvy user craves.

Complicated, pricey, and as niche as you get, what is the draw of the NetLED system? Japan’s Net LED Technology Corporation claims that once the system reaches 200 installed units, it will actually cut energy consumption in half. CO2 emissions are also halved, according to NetLED.

The cloud servers and gateway systems required to operate the hardware are free of charge, but at this price, it’s best to get something for nothing to entice the tech-loving hippies out there. So, cloud-based, smartphone loving LEDs. Anyone game?