Philips reveals new Hue smartbulb with shades of white, plus iOS app 'routines'

Philips on Monday announced a new version of its HomeKit-compatible Hue smartbulb — offering multiple shades of white light — along with a future iOS app update, which will enable "routines" for the company's lighting.

The Hue White Ambiance supports warm and cool color temperatures between 2,200K and 6,500K, with a rated brightness of 800 lumens at 4,000K. The product should strike a middleground between the company's top-of-the-line lights — which offer a wide variety of colors — and its existing white bulbs, which have a fixed temperature of 2,700K.

The White Ambiance will be available in a starter kit including two bulbs, a bridge unit, and a dimmer switch, though as with other Hue offerings, bulbs will presumably be sold separately as well.

Philips didn't share any pricing details, but said that the White Ambiance will arrive sometime this spring.

The iOS app's "Routines" feature will provide lighting cycles tailored to particular activities. A "wake up" cycle, for instance, will gradually increase brightness, while "go to sleep" will do the reverse. A more complex example is "nightlight," which will keep lights on low, but with a warm tone in order to make going back to sleep easier.

The company didn't say when the app update will arrive or how many Hue models will be compatible.

5 Comments

markbriton 123 comments · 16 Years

About 8 years ago

I wish they'd add sunrise and sunset to their app, and ditch the whole idea of using photos to determine colour. Third party apps (including IFTTT) are ok but unreliable and don't interact well together.

mr4js 55 comments · 15 Years

Forget about Philips. They make junk. Very unethical company, worse than Samsung. LIFX makes a way better solution. http://www.cnmeonline.com/news/samsung-philips-and-others-fined-by-eu-for-participating-in-smartcard-cartel/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-cartel-philips-infineon-technol-idUSKBN0GY0YM20140903

boltsfan17 2294 comments · 12 Years

markbriton said:

I wish they'd add sunrise and sunset to their app, and ditch the whole idea of using photos to determine colour. Third party apps (including IFTTT) are ok but unreliable and don't interact well together.

Personally, I like the idea of using photos to determine color. You can have some cool looking lighting in your home using photos. The official app should have an option to where you can just select a specific color for each light besides using photos. I use the app Rapid Hue to do that. I've never had a single issue using third party apps.

nolamacguy 4750 comments · 10 Years

markbriton said:

I wish they'd add sunrise and sunset to their app, and ditch the whole idea of using photos to determine colour. Third party apps (including IFTTT) are ok but unreliable and don't interact well together.

yeah the color-from-photos thing was a silly gimmick. when im programming new scenes i just use the color spectrum picker, which it also supports in the Hue app.