Amazon could be making a Ring smart bulb to take on Hue

Amazon wants a piece of the Hue bulb action

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Amazon’s Ring connected doorbell and security camera systems already let you keep an eye on unwanted visitors. Now it wants to illuminate n’er do wells – and your home – too.

A newly-uncovered patent point to Amazon developing its own range of smart home lighting under the banner of its Ring security devices line.

While there are few details to go on aside from the below image posted by tech journalistDave Zatz to Twitter, an FCC filing shows that the bulb would come with Bluetooth connectivity, as you’d expect from a smart bulb.

Hmmm Ring PAR35 “smart” lightbulb. Outdoor lighting line accessory? Ring Alarm accessory? Both? Neither? :) pic.twitter.com/zGeCiVK0qRDecember 9, 2019

Indoor or outdoor?

This wouldn’t be the first time the Ring brand has released lighting products – its motion-sensing security systems have previously been complemented with connected floodlights and path lights.

But the shape of the bulb in the patent points to a product that would more closely compete with the raft of in-home smart bulbs already available on the market, like the leadingPhilips Huebrand.

The choice of Ring branding is interesting – why not Amazon or evenEcho/Alexabulbs? Whether it’s to deter comparison or the suggestion of competition with products that support the Alexa eco-system, or to bolster the reveal of a Ring-fitting security feature that’s yet to be revealed, we’ll have to wait and see.

There’s no official release or pricing information to share at the moment, but the timing of the FCC filing is suggestive of aCES 2020reveal early in the new year. We’ll be offering up all the details if and when they become concrete then.

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Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site’s home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don’t expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of ‘Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future’, published by Aurum Press.

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