New Philips Hue Bridge brings support for Apple HomeKit, Siri voice control

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2015
Philips on Monday officially debuted its second-generation Hue Bridge which, through compatibility with Apple's HomeKit protocol and Siri, acts as a central control hub for connected devices like lights, door locks and more.




With support for HomeKit and other connected home platforms, the new Philips Hue Bridge, in cooperation with the Philips Hue app, can relay control commands to a variety of electrical appliances via Siri on iOS. Users can also access connected devices away from home with the MyHue Web portal.

"Lighting is the most accessible aspect of the connected home, and as the lighting expert for the Internet of Things we are taking connected lighting to the next phase," said Eric Rondolat, CEO of Philips Lighting. "By integrating Philips Hue with Apple HomeKit, we are broadening people's experience of light beyond what has been previously possible, providing seamless interoperability with other connected home devices."

Integration with Apple's HomeKit opens the door to macros commands for simultaneous control of multiple devices connected to Hue Bridge. For example, asking Siri to "wake up" might turn on house lights, unlock the front door and switch on a coffee maker, while a entering "night mode" locks all doors and powers down active devices. In order to be considered HomeKit-compliant, hardware makers must install Bluetooth and Wi-Fi components certified by Apple, like Broadcom's Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) platform.

More granular control schemes are also supported, as users can pinpoint particular Hue bulbs with on/off and dimming commands, switch "scenes" on or off in a particular room or control entire zones set up in-app. With support for more than 450 third-party apps, Hue Bridge can enrich home scenes with music, temperature adjustments and more.

The new Hue Bridge is available in European and North American markets on Oct. 6.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member

    What's with the LAN cable, it seems odd you would have a promotional picture showing one.  It's not like Airport routers's are noted for their number of LAN ports...

  • Reply 2 of 35
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,954member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by razorpit View Post

     

    What's with the LAN cable, it seems odd you would have a promotional picture showing one.  It's not like Airport routers's are noted for their number of LAN ports...


     

    This is a purely engineering & tech company we're talking about. Not a Design-centered "lifestyle tech" company who focuses equally on the beauty and functionality of their products. 

     

    image

     

    Yeah, we get it, you have to plug it in. You don't have to show us. 

  • Reply 3 of 35
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by cornchip View Post

     

    Yeah, we get it, you have to plug it in. You don't have to show us. 


     

    I sure hope it's more of a you can plug it in versus you must plug it in.  :D 

  • Reply 4 of 35
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,954member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by razorpit View Post

     

     

    I sure hope it's more of a you can plug it in versus you must plug it in.  :D 


     

    Where would it get power from if you didn't?

  • Reply 5 of 35
    We have the Version 1 Hue Bridge and it plugs into our ATT Router.

    We are quite happy with using the Hue app on our iDevices to set lights in the family room and upstairs bedrooms, etc.

    We look forward to upgrading to the new HomeKit compatible bridge as it will provide much more capability and flexibility.
  • Reply 6 of 35

    These devices will only make our lives more complicated and have us constantly checking our phones to monitor and double check "did I really lock the front door" with just about everything in our homes. Simple plug timers have been around for a very long time, set them and forget about them. As for heating and cooling, how long does it take to manually turn on the AC or heat and get your home to a comfortable temperature, 10 - 20 mins? These are solutions to problems that either don't exist or less high tech solutions already can solve. Companies are taking advantage of smart phone addiction and the idea that that everything in your life should be operated and improved upon by using some internet connected hardware and an app. Don't believe the hype.

  • Reply 7 of 35
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by cornchip View Post

     

     

    Where would it get power from if you didn't?




    I was referring to the LAN cable.

  • Reply 8 of 35
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member

    The article says October 6, but the new bridge and lights are already out. I got my new bridge starter kit on Saturday. The article doesn't mention the new lights, but they are much better than the original version. The color spectrum is much better now. You now have deep greens and blues. The lights are brighter too.

  • Reply 9 of 35
    dtidmoredtidmore Posts: 145member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by razorpit View Post

     



    I was referring to the LAN cable.




    These DO require a LAN cable connection.  The best solution around the port issue on the AEBS is to buy an inexpensive ethernet switch capable of 1000e speeds.  An 8 port version is pretty cheap (around $35).  Plug the switch into the AEBS and your wired devices into the switch.  

  • Reply 10 of 35

    Totally looks like a Nest Protect without the holes...

  • Reply 11 of 35
    sinus tree wrote: »
    These devices will only make our lives more complicated and have us constantly checking our phones to monitor and double check "did I really lock the front door" with just about everything in our homes. Simple plug timers have been around for a very long time, set them and forget about them. As for heating and cooling, how long does it take to manually turn on the AC or heat and get your home to a comfortable temperature, 10 - 20 mins? These are solutions to problems that either don't exist or less high tech solutions already can solve. Companies are taking advantage of smart phone addiction and the idea that that everything in your life should be operated and improved upon by using some internet connected hardware and an app. Don't believe the hype.

    Not necessarily ...


    We have a household of 5 (3 teen-agers) coming and going at all times on different schedules.


    The key is HomeKit integration!


    With HK you can say "Hey Siri: I'm Home" to your AppleWatch or iPhone and HK will, say, Unlock the [front, garage] door, turn on lights (if it's) dark out, etc. ...

    You can remote check the status of any HK Accessory, e.g. Is the garage door closed, are the sprinklers on, etc.

    In addition HK monitors status and can send you notifications when something occurs -- such as a break-in (unplanned) or a child arriving home from school (planned).

    HK is quite granular (shut the garage door, but leave the garage door light on) and powerful -- emergency: lockdown everything to fire: unlock everything.


    http://www.applehomekit.com
  • Reply 12 of 35
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,312member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sinus tree View Post

     

    These devices will only make our lives more complicated and have us constantly checking our phones to monitor and double check "did I really lock the front door" with just about everything in our homes. Simple plug timers have been around for a very long time, set them and forget about them. As for heating and cooling, how long does it take to manually turn on the AC or heat and get your home to a comfortable temperature, 10 - 20 mins? These are solutions to problems that either don't exist or less high tech solutions already can solve. Companies are taking advantage of smart phone addiction and the idea that that everything in your life should be operated and improved upon by using some internet connected hardware and an app. Don't believe the hype.


     

    While I agree a Simple cheap Digital Timer type Thermostat is really all most people need, I've used them for years.  I knew what time I would get home on the Weekday and so set the heater to come on and warm my place up, first in the morning, just a bit to take the cold out of the air before I got out of bed, and later about 30 minutes before I got home.  Rest of the time it was set down to 50.   I generally only turned it up to 68 at most.  Cold, use a blanket or dress warmer.   Now my Dad lives at my house and is retired and he's home most of the day.  Runs the AC and heat all the time.  I'd rarely run the AC when it was just me.  I still don't think one of these nest things would do anything except waste $300.  

     

    BUT, We normally leave and enter the house by the Garage door.   It's just much easier.  The problem is, my Dad has a few times left and left the garage door wide open.  And simple access right into my house where I could be robbed blind.  I don't live in a very good area.  There's a number of apartment complexes just down the street.  I'd come home and my Dad wouldn't be home and the door is wide open for all.  I've been lucky so far.   Now I have a Device for my Garage door that tells me when it open's and closes.  I also have a alarm set for 5 and 10 minutes if the door doesn't close.  It not only lets me know, it lets my Dad know on his iPhone!!!  I can even remotely Open and Close it remotely.   It will beep and flash a warning before it starts closing the door.   Since I've gotten it, I haven't had a door left open.  I don't have to worry so much.  Best of all, if no one is home and a family member or friend needs to get something, they can just go to my house, give me a call and I can just open the door for them.  Before I got this thing.  I tried putting a warning message right onto my dad's rear view mirror to check the door, it didn't help!!!

     

    There's pro's and con's to these Smart Things.  The trick is to make things simpler for you. It also needs to be all unified.  Work together and use a single App would is what's needed. Apple is trying to make things better. Will it work out in the end?!?!  I've used x10 stuff in the past at my old place.  It wasn't all that good.   When I installed fan/light units in my house, I really couldn't wire them up the normal way.  My attic space is so tiny, I can't work up there to do much wiring.  So my units are controlled by a Remote.  I can turn the light on/off, Dim up/down and control the fan speed.  A real physical remote.  Simple and quick to use.  I can have it in the normal place mounted on the wall and when going to bed, taking it with me and sitting it o the nightstand so I can turn off the light remotely and control the fan in bed.  I can feel for it and use it in the dark.  No need to deal with my phone and running some app!!!    Some times simple is really better.   It's like controlling all my A/V hardware like AppleTV and ROKU and Xbox, etc all with my Harmony 900 remotes.  I never use the Apple Remote App, or the ROKU App. It's my quick, simple, easy to use Real Remotes!!!

     

    Still, in the future, if I can go up to my Front Door and hold my phone over the lock using say NFC and unlock my door as simple as Apple Pay works, that would be great!!!  

  • Reply 13 of 35
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dtidmore View Post

     



    These DO require a LAN cable connection.  The best solution around the port issue on the AEBS is to buy an inexpensive ethernet switch capable of 1000e speeds.  An 8 port version is pretty cheap (around $35).  Plug the switch into the AEBS and your wired devices into the switch.  




    Thanks for confirming, and the tip.

  • Reply 14 of 35
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by razorpit View Post

     



    Thanks for confirming, and the tip.




    You don't need to have the bridge out in the open like the picture. I keep mine in a closet so its out of site. 

  • Reply 15 of 35
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 2,023member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sinus tree View Post

     

     As for heating and cooling, how long does it take to manually turn on the AC or heat and get your home to a comfortable temperature, 10 - 20 mins? 


     

    Our Nest automatically will let the house get hotter by a few degrees when we are not around.  But it can take 2+ hours to get back down to the normal temperature when we get home.  Especially on a hot day.   Being able to remotely tell it to go back to normal makes things a lot more comfortable.  We already set our AC temp high in the summer to save on power, so when it gets hotter when we are not around, it is really quite uncomfortable as our default setting is really on the edge of comfort.

     

    Most ACs take more than 10 or 20 minutes to adjust the temperature in a house.

  • Reply 16 of 35
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Boltsfan17 View Post

     



    You don't need to have the bridge out in the open like the picture. I keep mine in a closet so its out of site. 




    Exactly.  Mine is in the basement beside the Router (hey i saved a few bucks on the ethernet cable).

     

    Strongly considering a new bridge, but not sure beyond using Siri how it will be helpful.  So far I have no other HomeKit stuff - besides Siri are there other advantages to this router?

     

    But i think its only about $20 if I buy a new "starter kit" to get more bulbs, so I'll probably do it anyway when I feel the need to Hue-up another room

  • Reply 17 of 35
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    sinus tree wrote: »
    These devices will only make our lives more complicated and have us constantly checking our phones to monitor and double check "did I really lock the front door" with just about everything in our homes. Simple plug timers have been around for a very long time, set them and forget about them. As for heating and cooling, how long does it take to manually turn on the AC or heat and get your home to a comfortable temperature, 10 - 20 mins? These are solutions to problems that either don't exist or less high tech solutions already can solve. Companies are taking advantage of smart phone addiction and the idea that that everything in your life should be operated and improved upon by using some internet connected hardware and an app. Don't believe the hype.

    luddite nonsense. i actually use these tools, unlike you. i find wall timers obtuse and a PITA...much, much easier to program a schedule on my iOS device and have my lighting run itself. likewise w/ the AC -- if i did as you suggest and manually turn it on/off all the time, what if i forgot it on after leaving the house? wasted money.

    the idea isnt that you use your device as a remote (tho you can, and sometimes this is useful). the idea is that you get them running autonomously.
  • Reply 18 of 35
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    boltsfan17 wrote: »
    The article says October 6, but the new bridge and lights are already out. I got my new bridge starter kit on Saturday. The article doesn't mention the new lights, but they are much better than the original version. The color spectrum is much better now. You now have deep greens and blues. The lights are brighter too.

    yes, from 600 to 800 lumens, i believe. thats a welcome improvement as i felt they were too dim even when maxed.

    but im concerned about the color spectrum -- the v1 bulbs didnt do blues & greens well, because the diodes were very warm, thus they reproduced warm incandescent light perfectly. have they retained this ability?
  • Reply 20 of 35
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joelsalt View Post

     



    Exactly.  Mine is in the basement beside the Router (hey i saved a few bucks on the ethernet cable).

     

    Strongly considering a new bridge, but not sure beyond using Siri how it will be helpful.  So far I have no other HomeKit stuff - besides Siri are there other advantages to this router?

     

    But i think its only about $20 if I buy a new "starter kit" to get more bulbs, so I'll probably do it anyway when I feel the need to Hue-up another room


    I think the router is mainly just for HomeKit so I'm not sure if there are other advantages. I haven't tested it out yet since Hue just updated their app today to add Siri support. I was using mine with the Amazon echo, but it didn't work well. Half the time when I would say "turn on bedroom lights" it didn't work. I imagine HomeKit will work way better. 

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