No matter whether new bulbs from Philips Hue or smart lamps from other manufacturers. We always take a look at new accessories for your smart home.
Now that TV manufacturer TP Vision has completely abolished the Ambilight+Hue function in the latest TV generation and the “smart” app is still only available for Samsung TVs, the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box is currently the best way to have up to ten Hue lamps light up to match the content on the TV.
In September, Philips Hue will launch some new products, besides the completely new security system and the second generation of the Philips Hue Festavia string lights, there will also be new spots. With them, Philips Hue will close a gap in its own product range, because until now, spots were only available with GU10 sockets.
Last year, Philips Hue launched its first Festavia string lights at the last minute, with sales at the time limited to the company’s own online shop. This year, they have a little more time for preparations – and it will be exciting in more ways than one. We already clarified a few weeks ago that there will be three versions.
Some time ago, I already introduced you to the accessories from Light Solutions on the German Hueblog. In the meantime, the products are also available in the USA on Amazon.com. To be more precise, they are cables and adapters for the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus of the latest generation. You can find all Light Solutions products on this Amazon page.
Even before the new releases for autumn are announced at the end of the month, Philips Hue has fulfilled the promises from the summer. Back in June, they had announced that motion sensors would retain more options. This update is now apparently being rolled out. Several people have already been able to confirm to me that the new functions are unlocked for them.
Just yesterday I was able to tell you that Philips Hue will launch its own smart home camera. This was leaked by Eric Rondolat, the CEO of the manufacturer Signify, during the announcement of the quarterly figures. However, as I know by now, Philips Hue’s new security system will not consist of just one camera.
Last November, Philips Hue surprised us at the last minute with the Festavia string lights. Just before Christmas, the small colourful LEDs for the Christmas tree went on sale – and were completely sold out within a few days. This status has not changed so far. However, there is a surprising announcement from Switzerland: There, the Festavia is currently available again in the official online shop of Philips Hue and is even sold with a discount of 10 percent for the first time.
Last week I already gave you the first information about the Phoscon Hive from Dresden-Elektronik. In the meantime, I have been able to try out the small battery-operated table lamp myself and am particularly impressed by the operating concept. Of course I would like to share my impressions with you. The Phoscon Hive can be bought directly from Amazon in many countries and costs 59.95 euros there.
The blog Toengel, which specialises in Philips TVs, published an interesting report yesterday: the new Philips TVs with the model year 2023 will only offer “normal” Ambilight integration across the board, while the popular Ambilight+Hue function will be dropped completely. This was officially confirmed to me this morning by a spokesperson from Philips’ TV division.
A glance at the calendar reveals that the time until Christmas is now shorter than the time since Christmas. In less than half a year, we’ll be putting up Christmas trees in our living rooms again. And of course, the right lighting can’t be missing. Last November, Philips Hue launched its smart Festavia string lights at the very last minute.
Fabian