Sonos Voice Control supports Philips Hue. While this may sound relatively uninteresting given that voice control with Alexa or Siri has been available for quite some time, it is actually quite exciting upon closer inspection. Sonos Voice Control works locally on Sonos speakers and does not require a cloud connection.
This week was a whirlwind, at least for all Hue fans in Europe. On Tuesday, the Hue Flux Lightstrip was launched, initially in lengths of 3 and 4 meters. I ordered the new light strip right away and was able to give you my first detailed impressions on Wednesday. Feel free to take another look at my review.
A small team from Denmark launched a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter a few days ago. Over 600 people have already supported Habity Bedside Clock, easily exceeding the funding goal of €25,000. This alarm clock is particularly interesting to us because it will have a Hue connection. But first things first.
The partnership between Sonos and Philips Hue was officially announced at the Hue event in Berlin. The focus is initially on Sonos Voice Control. With Sonos’ locally operating voice assistant, you can now also control Philips Hue lights. Sonos has now made the final preparations for the launch of the feature and released an app update announcing the control of Hue lights.
In September, Philips Hue introduced improved E27 bulbs. Designed in the iconic Sultan shape, these bulbs not only offer direct Matter support, but can also reproduce the entire spectrum of daylight while consuming less power. In addition, Philips Hue provided us with the following information in its official press release: “The lamp can now also be dimmed down to 0.2 percent of its maximum brightness.”
Today I have a little tip for all readers in the US, because the Philips Hue Halloween sale has already started there. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future, the smart lighting brand has teamed up with the famous classic film and wants to equip your home with futuristic lights.
Philips Hue unveiled seven new light strips at the beginning of the month, the first of which is now available in Europe. You can already buy the Hue Flux Lightstrip in lengths of 3, 4, 5, and 10 meters, but the six-meter version is not yet available. Nevertheless, the light strip has gotten off to an early start; it was actually supposed to be released in October.
The new Hue Flux Lightstrip was actually supposed to be released in October. At least, that was the official information provided by Philips Hue so far. However, at least two of the five announced lengths have now been released much sooner than planned—they are already available for purchase in Europe.
For me, the migration from one of my two old Hue Bridges to the new Hue Bridge Pro went smoothly. But that’s probably only because I didn’t pair my somewhat outdated Philips TV with Ambilight with Philips Hue. Because it is precisely this function that causes problems with the Hue Bridge Pro.
Until now, I have only published my personal weekly reviews of Philips Hue on the German-language Hueblog. But now there is so much going on here that I would also like to look back on the news of the last seven days on Hueblog.com. I hope you enjoy this additional content.
Fabian