Philips Hue manufacturer Signify today announced the launch of several new HomeKit-enabled lights and a new smart switch. Some of the new lights are available starting today, while others will launch later this summer.
The new Philips Hue Go portable table lamp is battery powered and can be used either indoors or outdoors. The lamp, which is an upgrade to the existing Hue Go, features a silicone grip, so it's simple to carry it where you need light, and the battery lasts for up to 48 hours before it needs to be recharged with the included charging base. There are built-in preset scenes that you can cycle through without using the app.
Signify is releasing the Philips Hue Signe lamp in a new oak option, and there are new generations of the Hue White and Color Ambiance downlight (supports multiple colors) and the White Ambiance downlight (white only). The White and Color downlight has a lumen output up to 1100, while the White downlight offers up to 850 lumens. There are also now two sizes of smart recessed lights, and they are available in multipacks for the first time.
The Hue app has been updated with a new Sunrise wake-up style, which is able to mimic the sun appearing over the horizon, transitioning from blue to soft orange light. New Hue users can download the app and choose the Demo mode in the app to explore how to best take advantage of Hue lights.
To complement the Hue lights, the Philips Hue line is gaining a new Tap dial switch that is equipped with four buttons. Each button can be set to control smart lights in up to three separate rooms or zones around the home, and users can tap a button to choose or adjust any light scene. The dial includes built-in dimming control, and it can be purchased in black or white.
The Philips Hue Go is set to be available at the end of summer for $160, while the Hue Signe lamp in oak will be available in mid-July for $350. The Hue White and Color ambiance downlight is priced at $60, and the White ambiance downlight is available for $50, starting today. The Hue tap dial switch is also available today for $50.
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Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC.
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Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3.
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Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4.
iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update.
We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...
Could smartlights be the biggest consumer rort in tech history?
I wouldn't say so.
The lights are expensive, sure. But they last pretty much forever. I bought all my Hue bulbs in 2014-2015 and am still using them all. They all work great. It was a decent amount of money back then but amortized over years of useful life, it's actually pretty cheap. Hell, both of my dimmer switches are still on their original batteries.
And seriously, they just work so well. I've never been really happy with regular dimmers and "dimmable" LED lights. But the Hue lights just do dimming right, and I can't do without them anymore.
Yeah, I'm a shill for them I guess. Hey Signify, pay me!
and, yet again, still no update for a bridge that supports more devices. Multi-bridges aren't an answer because accessories can only control lights on one bridge.
Dozens of bulbs? GTFO my wifi network. Dedicated wireless signals from a bridge are WAAAAAY better.
(FYI: The Philips bulbs don't require a bridge, they can be controlled by BT.)
I completely agree here. WiFi stops working so well once you have dozens of devices, especially when a lot of them might be far away from the access point so they consume more airtime to stay associated.
Zigbee (what Hue uses) is a mesh network. It's lightweight, doesn't have to constantly send and receive beacons to stay associated and, once set up, is bulletproof. I never touch my Hue bridge; it just stays out of the way plugged into a port on my switch consuming a single IP address on my network.
WiFi is fine if you have two or three bulbs, but once you have a dozen or more it gets annoying fast.
Could smartlights be the biggest consumer rort in tech history?
Well, I had to look up rort to figure out what you were asking (I assume you're going for the Aussie slang definition of "a fraudulent or dishonest act or practice", and not the archaic slang definition of "a wild party"). So, hey, thanks for a new word.
No, they're not fraudulent or dishonest. I find them quite useful. Between my Hue lights and HomePod minis, I rarely touch a light switch these days. Yes, I know where the light switches are, and yes, I'm perfectly capable of walking over to them. What I couldn't easily do with a wall switch is turn on lights in 3 adjacent rooms at the same time, all set to a particular color and varying brightness levels. In the evenings, I usually run my lights low, and as a very warm white (some might call it yellow), which helps prepare for sleep (dumping a bunch of bright daylight bluish white light into your optic nerves does not help with sleep). If I'm in bed and falling asleep, and I remember that I might have left a light on in another part of the house, I can ask Siri to turn all the lights off - problem solved, and without having to get up, wake up a bit, and walk around to every room of the house. If I get up in the middle of the night, I can ask Siri to run a scene that gives a dim red glow to the lights between the bed and the bathroom and the kitchen, instead of stumbling around feeling for light switches (and then getting blasted by bright lights).
There are a bunch of other uses as well. I get that some people don't care, or don't have the imagination to consider the possibilities, but I don't appreciate the hyperbole that gets used to try to paint everyone who uses and appreciates smart lights as somehow being foolish.
