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A closer look at the over-engineered, Google-only ‘dLight’ [Gallery]

It came to light — sorry, not sorrylast month that Google internally developed a smart lamp for its employees. More details about Google’s “dLight” are now available courtesy of FCC confidentiality ending.

For starters, the external photos (2AVY2GED7) reveal dLight in all its glory. The circular base is home to three controls. Flanking the on/off button, which does not look to physically depress, are “slide” controls for color temperature (cold to warm) and brightness (minimum to maximum). It’s very subtle and quite a hidden approach to making adjustments.

On the back of the disk is a USB-C port, DC jack, and reset button hole, while the bottom is home to a QR code for fast Google Home/Assistant set-up. The internal teardown pictures also reveal the Wi-Fi antenna is located here.

Meanwhile, the lamp pole can be rotated left/right 45 degrees and brought up from 442mm (17.4-inches) to 658mm (25.9″). The oblong lamp head can be angled up/down 180 degrees.

As a reminder, dLight is only meant for Google employees to help improve the work from home (WFH) experience. For example, the lamp can be angled so it’s ideal for video calling use cases, while the temperature and brightness controls are granular enough for the most discerning individuals.

Some of the testing images show dLight turned on:

In the grand scheme, dLight does not really fit into Google’s current consumer lineup as a “helpful product.” It’s a niche with most people liking their current lighting or buying something specifically for conferencing. 

All that being said, Google should very much sell this product to the public as I want one. At the very least, other companies (read: Ikea) should take note and provide something as over-engineered (with smart home integration) as dLight.

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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