MelYou may remember the announcement from April 17th, 2019. At that time I was able to report that Signify had acquired a competing company: WiZ. The company from France and Asia had already been specializing in lamps with WiFi modules for several years.
And that’s exactly what Signify seems to focus on now. In the USA, a dozen different lamp models are being launched under the name Philips Smart Wi-Fi LED. Simple white models, tunable whites, color lamps and filament bulbs are on the shopping list.
The Philips Smart Wi-Fi LEDs work completely independent from Philips Hue and ZigBee in a WiFi network: they connect to the WiZ ecosystem. The existing WiZ app for iOS and Android is used for their control. Apart from the app, Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri shortcuts can be used for controlling the devices. Routines and timers are also part of the WiZ app.
With prices of around 10 to 20 USD, the new lamps are relatively inexpensive. Starting in September, they will initially be sold exclusively at Home Depot in the USA. Why and how remains a mystery to me: they have just launched their own Hue Bluetooth series.
Fabian
