There is no official changelog from Philips Hue yet, but I can draw your attention to a software update for the Hue Bridge. Yesterday evening they seem to have started rolling out firmware version 1.56.1956178040. With this update, the date and time of the last activity are displayed again in the settings under Accessories.
It has been a little over a week since Philips Hue released the update to version 4.36 of its app. In the comments and also in my email inbox, numerous word messages on a particular topic have piled up after the update. For example, Oliver writes: Why did the date and time of the last action of the respective sensor, dimmer, button or tap dial disappear in the settings of the accessories in the latest version 4.36.0 of the HUE app?
I already had to announce it, but now the time has come: Philips Hue has increased the prices of almost all outdoor products and numerous ceiling lights. It will probably take a few more weeks until the changes reach the market. However, the new prices are already active in the official Philips Hue online shop.
In the smart lighting market, Philips Hue is an absolute premium product. The manufacturer also underlines this with the next price increase, which will affect almost all outdoor products and ceiling lights from February. I don’t necessarily have a problem with high prices – but then the quality should be right down to the last detail.
The open ZigBee standard has always made it possible for third-party lamps to be connected to the Hue Bridge. Although not with all functions, the essential smart lighting control works perfectly. Swedish furniture giant Ikea now offers two extravagantly designed lights in the Pilskott series, which can be ordered now for 99.99 euros in the online shop and also purchased directly in stores.
Shame on me: Last year I actually didn’t ask you how many Hue lights you are currently using. The start of 2023 should be reason enough for us to take a look. The last time I asked you how many Hue lamps you currently use was in February 2021. At that time, 26 percent of readers had five or fewer Hue lamps in use, but over 30 percent had more than 30 lamps.
2022 is history. A year with numerous exciting Hue innovations lies behind us. Among my favourites, but I’m sure you already know that, are the Perifo track system and the Festavia string lights. Now it’s time to wish you a happy new year. 2023 is ahead of us – hopefully with better news and developments than in the past year.
We really don’t need to discuss that Philips Hue is expensive fun. But apparently expensive is not yet expensive enough. After the prices were already increased in January 2021 for outdoor products and then in May for almost all other Hue devices, the next price increase is now imminent. According to my information, Philips Hue will adjust its official price recommendations again on February 1st 2023 – upwards.
For years, users with large Hue installations have been tormenting themselves with an annoying problem: Philips Hue’s Alexa Skill only allows the connection to one bridge. A second bridge can only be linked to Alexa in a roundabout way. A fairly simple solution is the BridgeWrapper Skill by Sascha Schmidt, with which you can easily link several bridges and the associated accounts.
I’m sitting in my hotel room in Amsterdam right now. Yesterday I attended the launch event of the new smart home standard Matter and gathered numerous impressions about the new technology. One thing is clear: Philips Hue, which can already be connected to all the most important smart home systems, will not benefit as much from Matter as, for example, Eve Systems with its accessories that have so far only been geared towards Apple and HomeKit.
Fabian