Ninja Sphere now available for pre-order

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Ninja Sphere now available for pre-order

MrMistofeles

66 posts

Master Geek
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#150262 16-Jul-2014 19:25

For those that missed out on the Kickstarter the ninja sphere is now available for pre-order.

Based on the updates and info I've seen you're looking at a late October delivery.

Exciting stuff!

tchart

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#1090260 16-Jul-2014 20:55

Do you need a wifi bridge to integrate with Limitlessled bulbs? Or can the sphere control them directly? I can't find a clear answer anywhere.

qyiet

454 posts

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#1090538 17-Jul-2014 11:01

tchart: Do you need a wifi bridge to integrate with Limitlessled bulbs? Or can the sphere control them directly? I can't find a clear answer anywhere.

Can't say for sure, but as someone with a ninjablock and limitlessled bulbs I'd go with a 95% certainty that they'll need the bridge.

Warning: reality may differ from above post

MrMistofeles

66 posts

Master Geek
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#1090885 17-Jul-2014 16:43

Can't say for sure, but as someone with a ninjablock and limitlessled bulbs I'd go with a 95% certainty that they'll need the bridge.

I'd bump that up to 99%. The ninja blocks binding just sends UDP packets to port 8899 of the bridge.

I looked into this a few months ago and I couldn't find anything on the Limitless bulb chip/protocols. AFAIK noone has been able to talk directly to the bulbs.

AzaK

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Master Geek
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#1092169 19-Jul-2014 21:02

Man NS looks really exciting. It's a shame it doesn't support Z-Wave out of the box but hopefully someone will add that functionality.

MrMistofeles

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Master Geek
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#1092210 19-Jul-2014 23:03

AzaK: Man NS looks really exciting. It's a shame it doesn't support Z-Wave out of the box but hopefully someone will add that functionality.

It supports Z wave via USB dongle

AzaK

79 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#1092499 20-Jul-2014 14:41

MrMistofeles:
AzaK: Man NS looks really exciting. It's a shame it doesn't support Z-Wave out of the box but hopefully someone will add that functionality.

It supports Z wave via USB dongle

Sure, but that's just more expense. I thought (And I could well be wrong) that Z-Wave is more prevalent and more compatible between devices (No profile fragmentation)

Anyway it's good to have some solution and I look forward to seeing how this thing pans out. Given that SmartThings aren't in NZ and likely not until next year some time, this could be the way to go for an affordable system.

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MrMistofeles

66 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1093166 21-Jul-2014 16:56

AzaK:
MrMistofeles:
AzaK: Man NS looks really exciting. It's a shame it doesn't support Z-Wave out of the box but hopefully someone will add that functionality.

It supports Z wave via USB dongle

Sure, but that's just more expense. I thought (And I could well be wrong) that Z-Wave is more prevalent and more compatible between devices (No profile fragmentation)

Anyway it's good to have some solution and I look forward to seeing how this thing pans out. Given that SmartThings aren't in NZ and likely not until next year some time, this could be the way to go for an affordable system.

Sorry my response was a bit brief. I meant that a Z wave block (module) has already been written, so with a Z wave USB dongle, (in theory) it'll be plug and play to expose a Z wave mesh network to the ninja infrastructure. As you say though, it's an added expense.

You are right about Z wave. I'm not sure why they opted for native Zigbee support over Z wave but they must have had their reasons, they seem like a smart bunch.

I imagine the sphere will blow everything else at that price point out of the water for at least a year. Particularly interested to see how accurate the trilateration is and whether the LED matrix can be used for notifications as well as control.