Have you ever wished that the lights in your home looked more like the lights in London or Honolulu, or another part of the world? Philips is making it happen, provided your lightbulbs are from the Hue line-up.
It might have taken a while, but the smart home is finally coming to neighbourhoods you know, and hopefully that means yours. Specifically yours.
Smarthomes can start lots of ways. They can start with a smart TV, or they can start with a smart speaker. They can even start with a security camera or a smart plug, but quite often they seem to start with smart lightbulbs.
Yes, they humble lightbulb is able to do more these days, and thank to a little wireless communication, it can talk to your phone, to your voice, and to the Internet of Things. Hey Alexa, turn the lights in the living room, or hey Siri, make the dining room lights green (because nothing says “we’re eating veggies” quite like green lighting).
These are all things smart lighting has been able to do for some time, but over the next month, Philips is rolling out a change to its Hue app to allow its smart bulbs do something else, offering easier controls and preset lighting options designed by lighting designers (yes, there is such a thing).
On the first one, Philips has made shortcuts for the Hue allowing you to switch into lighting modes faster, while colour pickers will let you set lighting colours quickly, as well.
But more interesting are the colours that you’ll be able to light your home with.
There will be 30 new scenes, including one inspired by a sunset in Hawaii, one inspired by London’s Soho, and more selected by Philips lighting designers. The can be programmed to turn your lighting into colour themes based off photos, though we suspect this is was left over from last time.
As for the other features, you should find them on the Philips Hue app in the next few weeks, with the Hue bulbs compatible, too.
