Astro, a newcomer to the connected home space, is launching its first product today for apartment dwellers and renters in big cities.Twistisa wirelessly-controlled LED light bulb, with a built-in speaker, that can screwinto any existing lamp.
Astro是连接家居领域的新军，今天它为大城市的公寓居民和租房者发布了第一款产品。Twist是一款无线控制的LED灯泡，拥有内置的扬声器，可以旋进任何现有的灯上。
The bulbs, which arecontrolled by a dimmer, are programmed to change from white light to yellowlight depending on the time of day, location, season and weather. Each lightbulb consumes 8 to 10 watts (compared to the generic 60-watt light bulb), andis designed to last for at least 12 years.
这款由调光器控制的灯泡可以根据一天的时间，位置，季节和天气状况来程序调节灯光从白光变成黄光。每一个灯泡的耗电量在8—10瓦特（与普通灯泡耗电量60瓦特相比），而且可以持续使用12年。
The speakers, made by Sonosand Bose manufacturer Tymphany, connect to Airplay from your iPhone or laptopand sync across all rooms in the house. When you set it up, there’s no pairing— your iPhone discovers the device and allows it to connect automatically toWi-Fi.
扬声器由Sonos和Bose制造商Tymphany提供，可以在你的房间内与iPhone，笔记本电脑的Airplay连接并同步数据。当设置完成后，无需配对，iPhone智能手机会发现这款设备，并允许它自动连接到无线网络中。
Astro isn’t trying to beanother hub for connected devices — it’s rolling out a line of simpleproducts designed to fit into your existing routine. That’s why Twist iscontrolled by a circular dimmer, meant to sit on a bedside table or kitchenshelf, as opposed to a mobile app.
Astro并不想成为另一个设备连接的枢纽，它推出一系列简单的产品嵌入现有的路径中。这就是为什么Twist由一个圆形的调光器控制，以便放在床头桌上或者橱柜上，而不是由移动应用程序来控制。
“Unlocking your phone, openingan app, and waiting to connect is an inferior experience to using your standardlight switch,” Springer says. “For 100 years we’ve used a light switch to turnlights on and off, and that’s a behavior we don’t want to change.”
“解锁你的手机，打开应用程序，并等待连接，还不如使用传统的电灯开关，”Springer说。“100年来我们都使用电灯开关来控制电灯的亮和灭，那是一种我们不想去改变的习惯。”
Astro has raised $3 million inseed funding led by Lerer Hippeau Ventures, with participation from CrosslinkCapital, Winklevoss Capital, Zelkova Ventures, Rugged Ventures, andMaiden Lane, amongothers.
Astro已经筹集了由Lerer Hippeau基金牵头的创业资金，同样参与投资的还有Crosslink投资公司, Winklevoss投资公司, Zelkova基金,
Rugged基金以及Maiden Lane等等。
The connected home market isgetting crowded, but many of the best-selling products are difficult forapartment dwellers and renters to integrate.
连接家居市场变得越来越火爆，但是很多畅销产品却很难让公寓住户和租房者整合起来。
“The entry point into homeautomation is so expensive and time consuming that most people aren’t eveneligible for it,” says Tyler Winklevoss, one of Astro’s early investors.
“家庭自动化的切入点是很昂贵和耗时的，甚至大多数人都没有资格去拥有它，”Astro的一个早期投资者Tyler
Winklevoss说。
A Nest thermostat, forinstance, can’t be installed in apartments that don’t have an HVAC system.
比如一个Nest温控器就无法安装在没有HVAC系统的公寓中。
“The light bulb is the mostobvious way to get to this automated apartment,” says Taylor Greene of LererHippeau Ventures, who tells me he looked at five other smart bulb startupsbefore investing in Astro.
“电灯是进入这些自动化公寓最明显的方式，”Lerer Hippeau基金的Taylor
Greene说，他告诉我他在投资Astro之前考察了5家其他的智能灯泡创业公司。
“The most interesting playhere is being an Internet of Things platform for the apartment, as opposed tojust another light bulb,” Greene says. “There’s a tremendous opportunity in thesmart apartment space right now.”
“最有趣的是为公寓打造一个物联网平台，而不仅仅是个灯泡，”Greene说。“目前在智能家居领域存在一个巨大的商机。”
LHV was an early investor inSmart Things, the connected home platform that sold to Samsung last year for$200 million.
LHV是智能装备的早期投资者，这一连接家居平台去年以2亿美元出售给了三星。
Twist is available forpre-order today for $249, which includes one speaker bulb, two LED bulbs, and adimmer. Springer tells me Astro will be rolling out additional smartapartment products over the next couple of years.
现在249美元预购就能获得Twist，这还包括一个扬声器灯泡，两个LED灯泡以及一个调光器。Springer告诉我Astro将在接下来的几年推出其他智能家居产品。
