Another new product from Philips Hue is now available, but once again not worldwide at once. The 5-meter-long Hue Essential Lightstrip can now be ordered in the US and Canada. Here in Europe, where it will cost €59.99, there is still no sign of it. In September, Philips Hue announced the launch for December, but according to my information, this could be tight in Germany and other European countries.
This product category has always been very popular in the USA, which is why Philips Hue launched the new Hue Festavia Permanent there a few weeks ago in two different colors. The 18-meter-long white string of lights with a total of 32 light points is now also available in Germany and other European countries.
Together with the Hue Bridge Pro, Philips Hue has introduced a new technology that turns Hue lights into motion sensors. In addition to the new bridge, MotionAware requires three or four lamps in a room, arranged in a suitable configuration. As soon as movement is detected by changes in radio frequencies within this area, the lights can be switched on.
If you’re on the go with an iPhone or iPad and want to get even more out of your Hue installation, there’s really only one answer in the App Store: iConnectHue. The app from German developer Stefan Göhler is available today at half price. Instead of $5.99, the app currently costs only $2.99.
Apart from the numerous Black Friday deals I collected for hueblog.de this week, it has been pretty quiet over the last few days. Even the biweekly mandatory update for the Philips Hue app turned out to be pretty small. “Various bug fixes and stability improvements” is all that the update description for version 5.56.0 of the Hue app says.
Philips Hue is launching a whole range of new light strips this fall. The Hue Flux Lightstrip, its ultra-bright sibling, and the magnificent Hue Omniglow Lightstrip are already available. In December, two more light strips from the Hue Essential series will be added, which we still need to take a closer look at.
Originally, I had considered complaining in my little personal blog this weekend that Black Friday, the shopping day of the year, feels like it’s lasting two weeks this year. But honestly, this is nothing new; it’s been like this for the past few years. The actual Black Friday is not until November 28, but you’ve been able to shop at Philips Hue at a special price since November 13.
This week, the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which includes Philips Hue manufacturer Signify, made a sweeping announcement. In addition to Matter 1.5, which I told you about yesterday, Zigbee 4.0 was also announced. As you know, Zigbee is the wireless protocol that Philips Hue has been using for more than ten years.
Philips Hue introduced its first Hue Secure cameras just over two years ago. Since then, there has been a first hardware upgrade with 2K resolution and a brand new product in the form of the Hue Secure Video Doorbell. However, Apple Home is still not supported as a smart home platform.
I noticed this “negative” aspect particularly on Halloween night: in the dim light, many visitors did not press the bell button on the Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell, but instead pressed the camera lens. This is, of course, more than inconvenient. Now Philips Hue has responded, as Hueblog reader Marcel noted in our community.
Fabian