LIFX: The world's smartest energy efficient light bulb

A group of young Australian inventors has given the humble bulb a snazzy upgrade.

They have developed "the world's smartest light bulb" that dims, changes colour, strobes, switches on automatically, and can be fully controlled from a mobile phone.

The inventors secured almost a million pounds in funding to manufacture a 42 pounds light bulb that lets you have a disco in your kitchen.

The LIFX light bulb will give users the power to quickly dim the lights for a romantic evening in - or switch on the disco strobe for an impromptu rave.

At 42 pounds each with a lifespan of 25 years, the bulbs cost a staggering amount compared to normal energy-saving fluorescent bulbs, which can be picked up for as little as 2 pounds and typically last for around ten years.

The project has, however, seen an astonishing level of support since it launched.

Billed by company founder Phil Bosua as "the world's smartest light bulb", the bulb will screw into normal light fittings and function like a normal light bulb if you lose your phone.

"Traditional bulbs also use heaps of power and those energy efficient fluoro bulbs have that cold white light that we all hate," Basua said. "So I started thinking with all the technology we've got today, surely there must be a better way. I mean it's not like we get up to change the TV anymore, so why do we still do that with our lights? Six months and more than a dozen prototypes later, we've managed to create the world's smartest energy efficient light bulb," he said.