How does your garden glow? Using eco-friendly discs of luminescence, actually

Did you ever watch Captain Scarlet? Because whenever I see glowing rings, I get the eerie feeling that something bad is about to happen

Never fear: these lights aren’t, as far as we’re aware, manufactured by the Mysterons. Though we can only be so sure.

Fine, but if I go all Captain Black then you’ve only got yourself to blame

I’m willing to take that risk. Thinking about it, these lights would make pretty poor implements of evil, given that they’re designed to be Earth-friendly. Meet the Playbulb Garden, a multi-purpose light that is solar-powered and perfect for setting a cool neon ambience in whatever space you choose to use it. We’re thinking atmospheric nighttime picnics and drinks with friends in the back garden.

Okay, I’m warming to them. Carry on…

Great, now that we’ve circumvented your delusional mind I can tell you that each lamp features a solar panel on its face which charges the 1000mAh battery for the night ahead, thereby saving the planet and preventing the hassle of laying cables everywhere. You don’t even have to bother turning them on and off: the built-in light sensors in each lamp allow them to operate autonymously.

So the sun goes down and them ‘BOOM’, random colours everywhere?

Not quite. Each Playbulb is controllable via Bluetooth from the rather inapproriately named Playbulb X app. From here you can adjust the colour, speed, and effects on up to five Playbulbs at once. It’s possible to make them pulse, flash, ebb, fade and fine tune their hue to your heart’s content. Playbulb also manufactures a host of other smart lights which can also be controlled from the same app, so if you amass a collection you’ll be able to control the visual ambience wherever you go.

Well, not ‘wherever’

Why not? You can just remove the lights from their mono spikes, pop them in your bag and take them to a parkside barbecue or down to the camp site. They’re highly portable and you don’t have to worry about charging them, as long as they see some sun.

That sounds handy. Whenever I try and make a campfire I just end up with angry wood. How much for the lot?

Supressing snigger. Each Playbulb garden costs £39.99 direct from MiPOW but is also available at selected retailers. £200 for five may sound like a lot, but when you take into account that the Mysterons will eradicate all the puny Earthmen if you don’t comply, it’s a small price to pay.