C by GE is starting to see some major changes. The smart lighting brand is getting a new name, Cync, and is expanding beyond lighting to become yet another general purpose smart home brand. The changes follow the sale of GE Lighting to Savant Systems, a luxury smart home company, in May 2020.
Like Cync, the system should get a new application in March that should be more “user friendly and customizable”. The brand is also launching a smart outdoor plug, a smart switch for ceiling fans and an indoor security camera – the latter being its first real venture in addition to smart plugs, lights and lighting accessories.
The Cync internal camera can record images in the cloud or on an SD card, and the camera has an integrated privacy shutter that can cover the lens. The external plug will be launched in March, followed by the camera in May and the fan change in June. The price has not been announced. A thermostat is also in the works for the end of 2021.
C by GE has existed since 2015, when the brand was launched with lamps that could be controlled from a phone via Bluetooth. They were a simple option for anyone who wanted to try a smart lamp without investing a lot, since the main competing options required expensive hubs at the time.
Since then, the product line hasn’t changed dramatically – it now offers products that support Wi-Fi, there are more lighting options and there are a handful of switches and plugs. The transformation of the line into Cync seems to be the first step to make the brand something bigger.