Ever wish you could say something like “let there be light” and have it just happen? The joke is no longer on you.
Your backyard might just get more colourful and whole lot brighter, and the good news is it will be something that can be controlled either by app or voice.
If you’re already a little invested in the smart home and have been playing with smart lights, you probably already know how handy it is to have lights that can be triggered by events.
Whether it’s a timer or a sunset, or maybe something you control via app, smart lighting is one of the first ways to experiment with the smart home, and it’s something that can be connected with voice, as well.
Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and even Samsung’s SmartThings support various smart lighting options, meaning you don’t have necessarily have to pull out a phone and app to play with those lights, and might be able to use your words, instead.
That’s been the case for a little while if you had one of the smart speakers, allowing you to call out to your speaker and have it control your lighting.
But that’s indoors. What happens if you go outside?
Well you’ll still need a smartphone or smart speaker to talk to, but if you happen to have smart lights made for the outdoors, your backyard might just light up.
Philips is adding some options to the Outdoor Hue range to make the backyard a little more interesting, especially if you happen to e spending more time back there.
The range now includes lights that can be mounted to the wall and sit on pedestals, sitting in the Philips Hue Fuzo and Hue Impress, while path lights arrive in the Hue Calla and spot lights in the Philips Lily. All this marketing name jargon aside, the lamps offer dimmable white lighting with colour option in some, and can be grouped with other lights and set to scenes.
That potentially means if you want the backyard lights to switch on when sunset hits, you can make them all glow, and even time it to the lights around the rest of the home, provided they’re all smart lights, too. You can even set them to work with routines on smart assistants, so when you call out a command to a smart speaker, you can play music and trigger lights all at once.
“The Hue Outdoor range allows you to discover the magic of using colour to completely transform your garden or entertainment spaces,” said Duane Shore, Channel Marketing Manager for the Hue brand in the Pacific.
“With the cooler months approaching, this new range can transform your outdoor areas into a warm space for entertaining or relaxing,” he said.
Pricing for the Philips Hue Outdoor range starts from $129, fetching as high as $349, with availability at stores across Australia now.
