Signify unveils Hue smart plug and button, filament bulbs, updated Hue Go

AppleInsider

Hue is expanding its lineup once again and on Thursday unveiled new smart plug and smart button accessories for the connected home, as well as retro filament bulbs, an updated Hue Go and more.

Philips Hue filament bulbs

Signify, formerly Philips Lighting, continues to grow the Hue brand, with plans to add several new products to an already impressive portfolio. From outdoor sensors to light strips and conventional LED bulbs, the Hue lineup has expanded at a rapid clip over the past year.

New Hue Smart plug

Introduced today are a new smart plug and smart button. The plug acts as a controllable outlet that sits between the wall outlet and an appliance, allowing it to easily be toggled on and off from within the Hue app or via voice control. Similarly, the new smart button functions like a remote control with dimmer for connected lights.

Hue Smart button

There is no word as to whether the smart plug or button work with Apple's HomeKit, but chances are good considering the rest of the Hue lineup does feature integration.

The Hue smart plug will retail for $39.99 and the smart button will sell for $19.99 when they launch in October.

Philips Hue filament range including bulb, tube, and globe shapes.

Signify is also launching a collection of filament-style bulbs. With the retro design, these smart bulbs come in a traditional A19 bulb shape, an ST19 tube shape and a G25 globe shape. All will be available in October for U.S. customers and will run $24.99, $27.99 and $32.99, respectively.

Hue Go now works over Bluetooth.

The original Hue Go debuted as a colorful smart light that runs on an internal battery for free placement throughout the home. A new version of the device was announced today and adds Bluetooth connectivity alongside existing compatibility with the Zigbee communications protocol. This matches the core lineup of Hue lights that received Bluetooth support earlier this year.

Bluetooth makes even more sense for the Go, as it can extends control for use outdoors and when the light is past the range of Zigbee hubs.

The new Hue Go will be available in November for $79.99.

Finally, Signify is updating "White and Color Ambiance" and "White Ambiance" GU10 spotlights with Bluetooth capabilities. The standalone bulbs rate a new design, higher lumen output and, for "White and Color Ambiance" models, richer colors than their predecessors.

The updated GU10 bulbs will launch in September for $54.99.

New white E12 candle bulbs are also on schedule to go on sale this month at a price of $32.99 for a two-pack.

All of the new bulbs work with the Hue app and other Hue accessories, as well as HomeKit when used with the Hue Bridge.

iOS_Guy80

And the best gets better. By far the most functional, flexible, advanced smart home system in the lighting category.

ihatescreennames

iOS_Guy80 said:

And the best gets better. By far the most functional, flexible, advanced smart home system in the lighting category.

I typically use the Home app and Siri to control my lights and by far have more issues with Hue than anything else. I frequently get a message that a light isn’t responding, sometimes that’s accurate and sometimes it isn’t.

For instance, I’ll ask Siri to turn in my bedroom lights, 2 of which are Hue bulbs and the other controlled by a Lutron switch. Sometimes 1 Hue bulb won’t turn on but it will show it is on in Home AND the Hue app. Other times all the lights will turn on but I’ll get a message that some lights are not responding. Again, Home and Hue will show a light (or two) as off which is incorrect. This happens multiple times a week. 

On the other hand, I have almost zero issues with my Lutron switches to the point where I can’t recall if I’ve ever had one. 

22july2013

ihatescreennames said:

I typically use the Home app and Siri to control my lights and by far have more issues with Hue than anything else. I frequently get a message that a light isn’t responding, sometimes that’s accurate and sometimes it isn’t.

For instance, I’ll ask Siri to turn in my bedroom lights, 2 of which are Hue bulbs and the other controlled by a Lutron switch. Sometimes 1 Hue bulb won’t turn on but it will show it is on in Home AND the Hue app. Other times all the lights will turn on but I’ll get a message that some lights are not responding. Again, Home and Hue will show a light (or two) as off which is incorrect. This happens multiple times a week. 

I have a failure rate too, of the same nature as yours, even more frequent than yours (daily). I can't believe a product from a company as big as Philips can have such a major problem and people don't talk about it, and websites/reviews don't test it for reliability.

In my opinion both Philips and Apple are to blame. That's because at the first level Philips is responsible for the initial fault, but the Apple Home software has the potential (through the HomeKit API) to fix some of these issues by asking for confirmation from the bulb that it has changed correctly.

As a result I'm looking closely at switching to a different manufacturer of smart bulbs.

22july2013

By looking at the wall switch it appears that it can't be used to cover an existing wall switch (one that needs to stay "on" for the smart bulb it controls to work.) Therefore no thanks.

StrangeDays

Love my Hue lighting, in from the beginning and no issues yet. 

Only thing I want are brighter bulbs, much higher lumen output. 

ihatescreennames

22july2013 said:

ihatescreennames said:

I typically use the Home app and Siri to control my lights and by far have more issues with Hue than anything else. I frequently get a message that a light isn’t responding, sometimes that’s accurate and sometimes it isn’t.

For instance, I’ll ask Siri to turn in my bedroom lights, 2 of which are Hue bulbs and the other controlled by a Lutron switch. Sometimes 1 Hue bulb won’t turn on but it will show it is on in Home AND the Hue app. Other times all the lights will turn on but I’ll get a message that some lights are not responding. Again, Home and Hue will show a light (or two) as off which is incorrect. This happens multiple times a week. 

That's because at the first level Philips is responsible for the initial fault, but the Apple Home software has the potential (through the HomeKit API) to fix some of these issues by asking for confirmation from the bulb that it has changed correctly.

I'm not sure if Home can be blamed. I think (though I'm not positive) that Home still has to communicate with the Hue bridge. If the bridge is giving bad information to Home, how would Home know? And, I had basically the same issues before Home and Siri integration were added to Hue.

macgui

I like Hue moving into switches. I have a few sensors and bulbs and overall am happy with them. And I really like the retro filament style bulbs.

As far as voice control goes, I have a few failures where either my HomePod, phone, or Watch won't control the lights, and one of the others will. And the Siri on the HomePod is by far the worst offender. It fails on a regular basis, literally more often than not.

The one product that leaves me scratching my head is the button. It looks like it's a standalone device meant to look something like a wall switch, but be mounted anywhere it's convenient. It's cheaper than a sensor, which is what I use for activation away from the wall switch.

I want to get that knob that attaches to a wall switch but locks it On and then functions as a dimmer and switch, preventing someone from compromising the function.

And yeah, 100W equivalent bulbs! Power to the lumens! That's the only thing keeping me from putting Hue bulbs in my last two rooms.

lolliver

ihatescreennames said:

iOS_Guy80 said:

And the best gets better. By far the most functional, flexible, advanced smart home system in the lighting category.

I typically use the Home app and Siri to control my lights and by far have more issues with Hue than anything else. I frequently get a message that a light isn’t responding, sometimes that’s accurate and sometimes it isn’t.

For instance, I’ll ask Siri to turn in my bedroom lights, 2 of which are Hue bulbs and the other controlled by a Lutron switch. Sometimes 1 Hue bulb won’t turn on but it will show it is on in Home AND the Hue app. Other times all the lights will turn on but I’ll get a message that some lights are not responding. Again, Home and Hue will show a light (or two) as off which is incorrect. This happens multiple times a week. 

On the other hand, I have almost zero issues with my Lutron switches to the point where I can’t recall if I’ve ever had one. 

That's interesting. I don't have Lutron devices but don't have any issue with my Hue lights. Controlling them through automation, Siri and the Home app works really well for me.

On the other hand I do have 1 Lifx bulb that hasn't worked well at all with the Home app, Siri or Automations set up through Home. I deleted the Home automations for it and set it up directly through the LIFX app and it worked fine.

Not good that their can be such a huge variance in experiences with these products. 

YP101

Hue Smart plug looks like exact same as Amazon smart plug and other China plug..

I guess same place manufactured and stamp and put in different box?