Just yesterday, I reported on the new kitchen lighting that Philips Hue is expected to unveil in January. The Linear Gradient Lightbar is an old favorite—after all, Nobilia has been installing it exclusively in kitchens for well over a year. An upgrade is already available. Instead of the “externally” mounted lightbar, Nobilia—in collaboration with Philips Hue—is now offering a Hue Linear Cabinet Light.
I’d actually already had the new Philips Hue kitchen lighting on my list for September, but that didn’t pan out. The next launch window opens in January; Philips Hue typically unveils some new products at CES in Las Vegas. For me, kitchen lighting is now at the very top of my list, because last week new product pages briefly went live on the Philips Hue website.
A new Philips Hue product in November? While this may sound unusual at first, it’s easily explained. The Philips Hue Dual Slim Downlight, now available in two different sizes, was actually announced back in September—though only as a side note in a press release for the North American market. The product wasn’t shown at all at the major Hue event in Berlin, so it had actually flown a bit under the radar until now.
Philips Hue and Sonos have been collaborating since last year. Initially, Philips Hue lights were integrated into Sonos Voice Control to enable control via the multi-room speakers’ local voice assistant. Unfortunately, this still only works in English and French; no other languages are on the horizon yet. In early September, Philips Hue announced the second phase of the collaboration.
In early September, Philips Hue introduced Custom AI Behaviors, a new feature designed to make many settings both simpler and more comprehensive. The feature was actually supposed to launch about four weeks ago, but after a slight delay, it’s finally here. The required update to version 6.4.0 of the Philips Hue app is already available in the Apple App Store, and the update should be coming soon to the Google Play Store.
Amazon has expanded the Echo ecosystem a bit further today with the introduction of the new Echo Time. It’s essentially an upgraded Echo Spot, with a display that now spans virtually the entire front panel. The Echo Time is available in three different colors—Graphite, Coral Pink, and White—for 214.99 euros.
Just the day before yesterday, I was able to announce that the Custom AI Behaviors—announced in early September—would launch with a slight delay. Instead of early October, they are now scheduled to launch next week. The corresponding firmware update for the Hue Bridge Pro is already being rolled out. Philips Hue is now making software version 6.3.2071556020 available for download.
In early September, Philips Hue unveiled several new hardware products at IFA in Berlin; I’ve already taken a closer look at a few of them here on the blog. In addition, the company announced several new software features. While no specific date was given for “Backup & Restore“, one was provided for Custom AI Behaviors.
Halloween is about a week away and there’s still some time before the real spookiness starts. If you want to start preparing for Halloween, you can now find the familiar Halloween scenes in the Philips Hue app again. No update is required, you can simply take a look at the Hue light scenes gallery.
Philips Hue continues to release updates every two weeks on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Version 6.3.0 of the official app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices has been available since yesterday evening. A new option for sensors has been added, which I’d like to explain to you in more detail, of course.
Fabian