The Philips Hue Datura was launched in Europe, and therefore also in my home country Germany, last year. Now there is good news for all Hue fans in the United States, because the Hue Datura can now also be ordered there. For $299.99 you can get the round Hue Datura with a diameter of 38 centimeters and a maximum brightness of 3,000 lumens.
As it does almost every two weeks, Philips Hue updated its app this Tuesday again. Version 5.38 is now available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. I’ll tell you what’s new in this article. In the update description, Philips Hue first mentions a function that I already presented to you on Saturday: Adding new devices via QR code scan.
This week I have a small product innovation from Philips Hue for you, which may be of interest to one or two owners of a Hue Secure camera. The USB-C cable for powering Philips Hue smart home cameras, which was announced back in January, is now available. The cable is available in black or white and costs 19.99 euros each.
Brand new light bulbs and accessories are normally connected to the Philips Hue Bridge without any problems. Even with the serial number, you can usually succeed quickly. In addition, my recommendation is an absolute safe bet: quickly reset the light to be added using a dimmer switch. In addition to all these options, there is now another way, which is now the first option in the Philips Hue app: Setting up with a QR code.
In December, I introduced you to the now not-so-new T-piece for the Philips Hue Perifo track system. Among other things, I discovered that the asymmetrical shines of the Perifo system run in different directions from the T-piece. This means that you cannot place long light sources such as the Hue Perifo Gradient Light Tube or the Hue Perifo Linear Lightbar over the T-piece on the track system as they do not snap into place properly.
The Philips Hue track system was launched almost three years ago and is now also available in other countries such as the USA. However, Philips Hue Perifo is definitely not cheap. This makes it all the more important to clarify any questions before you buy. A fairly basic question has arisen in our small Hueblog community today that I would like to answer.
In September 2023, Philips Hue presented its smart home cameras, and the launch was accompanied by a contact sensor. Apart from price reductions and software updates, not much has changed since then and the Hue Secure portfolio has remained unchanged for almost two years. This could change this year. I can well imagine that Philips Hue will add further components to the Hue Secure system in the fall.
Philips Hue released another update for its app on Tuesday; version 5.37.1 is now available for download. It includes a new function that makes Hue Secure just that little bit more convenient. Manual video recordings can now be created. There is a recording icon directly in the live view that can be used to start and stop a manual recording.
It’s always a bit unfortunate when announcements are not kept. When Philips Hue announced the Hue Sync TV app for LG televisions at the beginning of January, all televisions with webOS 24 as the operating system were still to be supported, including TVs from 2022 and 2023. Unfortunately, Philips Hue has not kept to exactly this point in the announcement.
A few days ago, Philips Hue released new firmware for the Hue Bridge. From software version 1969060020, the control center goes to version number 1969152010. Apparently, there are no major innovations on board, the manufacturer only writes: “Improved performance and reliability of the system.” I could imagine that preparations are being made in the background for smoke detector sound recognition.
Fabian