CES 2019: Philips Hue launches new motion sensor, adds more outdoor lighting options

Philips Hue adds more outdoor lighting options, in case you need them. One of them is a new Hue Outdoor sensor that’s going on sale next month in the US for US$50. It’s capable of detecting motion up to 39 feet away. You can stick it anywhere you want, and it’s just powered by a battery. You can pair that with the new outdoor lights that range from US$110 to $140. The cheapest one is a white floodlight, while the most expensive option is a colour-changing floodlight. There is also a series of colour-changing lanterns, if you’re interested in those.

On top of introducing new outdoor lights, Philips Hue lights are getting new Google Assistant features. You can set Hue lights to sync with your morning alarm, so these slowly brighten before the alarm goes off. Conversely, you can set these to fade out at night after a specific time. Expect to get these functions in March.

Source: The Verge

New Philips Hue Labs formulas help parents with young children

Philips Hue Labs have just released some new formulas or functionalities to help parents take care of their babies and toddlers. There are four different formulas you can try out. One is for nursery lights, which is a special light that can be used in the middle of the night when you’re breast feeding or changing your baby’s diapers. When this is activated, it’ll have the light start in a “relaxing dimmed scene” that will then transition into “nightlight scene” before it completely turns off automatically. You can choose how long these two scenes last. Another is using the Philips Hue motion sensor to measure temperature. You can set two alerting scenes to let you know if the temperature in your baby’s room is above or below the thresholds.

The two other formulas are designed more for toddlers. One is using the motion sensor to alert you if your kid gets out of bed in the middle of the night. You can choose how long this alerting scene stays on before it reverts to its previous state and how long it should be disabled so you can put them back to bed without triggering the alert again. Last formula is like a traffic light of sorts for kids. You can set two scenes that will teach your toddler whether it’s still time to stay in bed or when they’re allowed to get up and play.

Google Assistant can now control Philips Hue scenes

Before you ask, yes, Google Assistant does support Philips Hue lights. But it didn’t have the ability to control preset scenes like with the Amazon Alexa or Hue apps—until today, that is. This means, you can now ask Assistant to adjust the lights based on the scenes you’ve set up in the Hue app. However, you might need to remove and re-add your Hue lights to Assistant or sync them to get this to work.

Source: 9to5Google

Review: Philips Hue Smart Lighting System

Philips Hue turns the lightbulb completely on its head and manages to bring such a vast range of possibility in terms of lighting homes, offices, commercial spaces and any place that's in need of smart illumination.

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

One of the most impressive implementations of smart appliances or IoT (Internet of Things) has been by Philips, whose Hue line of smart lightbulbs, bridges, and switches, has all but revolutionized one of the oldest and most immutable devices and made it into a connected and smart appliance.

Lightbulbs are the oldest electrical devices. They're also the dumbest. You buy the lightbulb in the wattage you need, screw it into the socket and let it work until it dies, and then gets replaced. The cycle is endless.

If you want coloured lightbulbs, you buy them in the colours you need. Each lightbulb is one colour, forever. Not anymore. Read on.

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