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Philips today announced a new HomeKit-compatible Hue-branded lighting product, the Philips Hue White Ambiance. Like the standard Philips Hue lighting set, the White Ambiance ships with a HomeKit hub and bulbs, but it's aimed at people who want adjustable white light without a multitude of color options.

The Wi-Fi-connected White Ambiance bulbs feature "every shade of white light," from 6500k daylight to 2200k warm light, and they can be adjusted automatically throughout the day using light recipes, routines, and HomeKit scenes in the recently released Philips Hue app. The bulbs, rated at 800 lumens at 4000k, can also be controlled through HomeKit using Siri voice commands.

philipshuewhiteambiance.jpg
"We know how important white light is in the home; it is similar to natural day light and can help us to focus, feel more alert as well as wind down at night" says Sridhar Kumaraswamy, Business Leader Connected Home Systems at Philips Lighting. "With Philips Hue white ambiance, we are delivering a high quality connected light bulb that delivers the full spectrum of white light at the swipe of a finger, allowing consumers to fully benefit from the impact that white light can have on their wellbeing when at home."
Philips' White Ambiance Hue starter kit includes two Philips Hue white ambiance bulbs, a HomeKit-compatible bridge, and one wireless dimming switch that allows lights to be controlled from anywhere in the house without the need to open the iPhone app. The new Hue starter kit joins the standard kit that includes bulbs adjustable to any color or any shade of white and a simpler kit with white bulbs that are unable to be adjusted to different shades.

huewhiteambiance2.jpg

At $129.95 for the entire kit and $29.95 for a single bulb, the Philips Hue White Ambiance kit is more affordable than the standard Hue lighting kit, which is priced at $199 for the initial bridge and bulbs and $59.95 for individual bulbs. The White Ambiance starter kit is available from the Philips website starting today.

Article Link: Philips Announces New HomeKit-Compatible White Ambiance Hue Lighting Set
 
As prices continue to drop on smart lighting and rumors abound of an imminent HomeKit iOS app, it's quickly becoming the right time to buy IOT technology. Every new HomeKit-compatible device is good news!
 
I don't want to sound ignorant (I'm sure there are people who would absolutely love this), but personally I don't see the need for coloured lights, unless it's for design elements. I like the good ol' fluorescent lights.

But regardless, I would still be interested in trying it one day (no money though right now).
 
I don't want to sound ignorant (I'm sure there are people who would absolutely love this), but personally I don't see the need for coloured lights, unless it's for design elements. I like the good ol' fluorescent lights.

But regardless, I would still be interested in trying it one day (no money though right now).
As an owner of Hue bulbs (full color) let me tell you that - at least for me personally - changing the light color to match my mood or daytime is HUGE.

Only once I got Hue I realized how the light's color changes everything in a room and how you perceive things.

I can only really put it vaguely, because light color really is all about feelings at the end of the day.
Well that and then there's the fact that light does change your life quality.

Being able to switch from warm light to colder light is one thing, being able to slowly fade in or out lights is another, especially around bedtime or when waking up, but then there's also the need for less lights you need total in a room, because suddenly your normal lighting can be the party lighting.

Fully programmable and expandable.
Suddenly your lights are as powerful as your imagination, because you can deploy scripts, external services such as IFTTT and more.
You can use light to notify you about things, like bad weather, reminding you to take an umbrella.

Yes, you could have that on your smartphone, but over the years I've grown immensely tired of notifications.
Any way to reduce notifications I have to interact with is great.
Less notifications I have to dismiss again and again, depending on how loyal of an Apple user I am.... RIGHT, APPLE?

Glassed Silver:mac
 
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As an owner of Hue bulbs (full color) let me tell you that - at least for me personally - changing the light color to match my mood or daytime is HUGE.

Only once I got Hue I realized how the light's color changes everything in a room and how you perceive things.

I can only really put it vaguely, because light color really is all about feelings in the end of the day.
Well that and then there's the fact that light does change your life quality.

Being able to switch from warm light to colder light is one thing, being able to slowly fade in or out lights is another, especially around bedtime or when waking up, but then there's also the need for less lights you need total in a room, because suddenly your normal lighting can be the party lighting.

Fully programmable and expandable.
Suddenly your lights are as powerful as your imagination, because you can deploy scripts, external services such as IFTTT and more.
You can use light to notify you about things, like bad weather, reminding you to take an umbrella.

Yes, you could have that on your smartphone, but over the years I've grown immensely tired of notifications.
Any way to reduce notifications I have to interact with is great.
No less notifications I have to dismiss again and again, depending on how loyal of an Apple user I am.... RIGHT, APPLE?

Glassed Silver:mac
Yeah, you've got an excellent point. Never thought like this before. Thanks.
 
I don't want to sound ignorant (I'm sure there are people who would absolutely love this), but personally I don't see the need for coloured lights, unless it's for design elements. I like the good ol' fluorescent lights.

But regardless, I would still be interested in trying it one day (no money though right now).

That's exactly what this new version is. A simple white light that goes through the range of color temperatures, which is what I've been waiting for because I myself don't need any of the different colors. Right now my house has basic 6000K LED white lights but 6500K is even more desirable for me so having a couple of these that I can control with Siri will be great.

This kit looks great and the cheaper price is much nicer. Will definitely be ordering this.
 
I was traveling for business last week and one night i get a text message from my wife, "can you please turn on the living room lights." Let me tell you that I will be purchasing those wall switches this weekend. :D

I have been waiting to see how the HomeKit thing goes and stopped investing in Hue, but with these bulbs at $30 and the wall dimmers, I may just get back in the game.
 
I was traveling for business last week and one night i get a text message from my wife, "can you please turn on the living room lights." Let me tell you that I will be purchasing those wall switches this weekend. :D

I have been waiting to see how the HomeKit thing goes and stopped investing in Hue, but with these bulbs at $30 and the wall dimmers, I may just get back in the game.
The hue tap and dimmer switches are great! We now have hue taps next to every regular light switch. They make hue usable for a family.
 
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I was traveling for business last week and one night i get a text message from my wife, "can you please turn on the living room lights." Let me tell you that I will be purchasing those wall switches this weekend. :D

I have been waiting to see how the HomeKit thing goes and stopped investing in Hue, but with these bulbs at $30 and the wall dimmers, I may just get back in the game.
Without simple reasonably priced wall switches I'll never be interested in this type of bulb. I could never convince the wife it was an improvement.
 
I don't want to sound ignorant (I'm sure there are people who would absolutely love this), but personally I don't see the need for coloured lights, unless it's for design elements. I like the good ol' fluorescent lights.

But regardless, I would still be interested in trying it one day (no money though right now).

I tend to use daylight-white (5000K) lights during the day and warmer ones at night. If I could make this automatic, I'd be pretty psyched. Basically it's the same concept that makes f.lux on Mac or the new Night Shift feature on iOS a good idea -- warmer light at night to ease you toward sleep, light shifted toward the blue like daylight when you're up during the day.

The one big drawback I'm seeing with these is that they look very dim at 10W. I'm using 18W LEDs in my lamps right now and find them to be solid subsitutes for old 100W bulbs. I don't want to have to run half a dozen of these 10W things to keep my apartment from looking like a cave.
 
I don't want to sound ignorant (I'm sure there are people who would absolutely love this), but personally I don't see the need for coloured lights, unless it's for design elements. I like the good ol' fluorescent lights.

But regardless, I would still be interested in trying it one day (no money though right now).

Yup, you sound like my elderly mother ... "who needs that?" ... until she tried it, becomes addicted, and then can't stop using it. Her Mac mini never gets used since she started using her iPad to check her email, websites and Facebook. She's also using my Apple TV to watch various TV shows. Next up will be the new Apple TV, an iPhone, and an Apple Watch.
 
Yup, you sound like my elderly mother ... "who needs that?" ... until she tried it, becomes addicted, and then can't stop using it. Her Mac mini never gets used since she started using her iPad to check her email, websites and Facebook. She's also using my Apple TV to watch various TV shows. Next up will be the new Apple TV, an iPhone, and an Apple Watch.

Yeah. I've been pretty impressed by my moms taking to the Apple products (little laptop, iPad, and iPhone). It helps for her that my sister and I can do more tech support, but generally, I think her biggest problems are with the telcos, not with Apple. When she is/was Windows-based, I can't help her as easily, even though I used Windows for work (100,000+ employee company, not a choice of my own). I occasionally have operator error issues on Apple system setups, but it's still way easier for me to navigate than Windows.

So back to the lighting topic, how long are these bulbs rated to last. I'm very interested, but I want to understand the total cost of ownership better.

Also, does anyone know how well they work in pot light applications? Typically, I think that would be a special shape of bulb.
 
As an owner of Hue bulbs (full color) let me tell you that - at least for me personally - changing the light color to match my mood or daytime is HUGE.

Only once I got Hue I realized how the light's color changes everything in a room and how you perceive things.

I can only really put it vaguely, because light color really is all about feelings at the end of the day.
Well that and then there's the fact that light does change your life quality.

Being able to switch from warm light to colder light is one thing, being able to slowly fade in or out lights is another, especially around bedtime or when waking up, but then there's also the need for less lights you need total in a room, because suddenly your normal lighting can be the party lighting.

Fully programmable and expandable.
Suddenly your lights are as powerful as your imagination, because you can deploy scripts, external services such as IFTTT and more.
You can use light to notify you about things, like bad weather, reminding you to take an umbrella.

Yes, you could have that on your smartphone, but over the years I've grown immensely tired of notifications.
Any way to reduce notifications I have to interact with is great.
Less notifications I have to dismiss again and again, depending on how loyal of an Apple user I am.... RIGHT, APPLE?

Glassed Silver:mac

It is incredible tech. I don't have any smart lights yet, just various lamps each with their own remote control. But changing the lighting colour in a room really does improve it! I really like white lamps that change their temperature over the day too.

Personally I'm waiting for the tech to mature and stabilise before I jump in properly.
 
And it will take Philips over 12 months to actually sell in Australia! Useless... you are useless Philips.
 
I don't want to sound ignorant (I'm sure there are people who would absolutely love this), but personally I don't see the need for coloured lights, unless it's for design elements. I like the good ol' fluorescent lights.

But regardless, I would still be interested in trying it one day (no money though right now).

The regular Hue (change to many different colors,) I'm with you about - I don't need deep red light or bright green light or purple light, except a few times a year (for parties, etc.)

But this one, I see the point of - changing the tone of color throughout the day can have a big impact on mood/sleep cycle. A cooler bluer light (not *BLUE*, but "more blue than normal,") is good in the morning to help wake up, and makes great light for reading. A warmer yellower light (again, not deep yellow, but more yellow than normal,) is a good all-around color for mid-day. A deeper slightly orange/red tinted light is good in the late evening to help the body prepare for sleep. (Exposure to blue light late at night tends to make it more difficult to fall asleep.)
 
Without simple reasonably priced wall switches I'll never be interested in this type of bulb. I could never convince the wife it was an improvement.

Two words: Lutron Caseta. They provide everything and more that Hue provides, and you wire them to the switch instead of needing specialized bulbs. That means that once you have a Caseta wall switch installed you can put whatever bulb you want in the socket and control it.

I have Hue and Caseta devices in my home, and if I had to give up one of them it would definitely be the Hue.
 
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I'm into gadgets and my wife is into lighting, so we invested in the Hue system this year and it's fantastic. Two main benefits - being able to change the light warmth as others have described, and being able to turn on the lights from outside when you arrive home after dark.

The system works well enough to be stable for the most part (only had to reboot it once this year) and it's very easy to control once set up. It may only provide a marginal benefit over traditional lighting setups, but if you can, why not?
 
I think I must be missing something here - 6 months ago in November when Philips launched the new v2 Homekit bridge I bought a pack that contained the new bridge with two white Hue dimmable bulbs. What's the difference between those and what's just been announced here?

Even better, the pack was £60 whereas the bridge, which you could only get on its own direct from Philips, was £50 so I ended up paying just £5 per bulb
 
Does anyone know if I purchase this new light kit will I be able to add additional color bulbs to it?
Yes, you can. The hue bridge works with any of the Hue bulbs. You'll want the second gen bridge if you want to use Siri voice control (you do, you really really do)
 
The regular Hue (change to many different colors,) I'm with you about - I don't need deep red light or bright green light or purple light, except a few times a year (for parties, etc.)

But this one, I see the point of - changing the tone of color throughout the day can have a big impact on mood/sleep cycle. A cooler bluer light (not *BLUE*, but "more blue than normal,") is good in the morning to help wake up, and makes great light for reading. A warmer yellower light (again, not deep yellow, but more yellow than normal,) is a good all-around color for mid-day. A deeper slightly orange/red tinted light is good in the late evening to help the body prepare for sleep. (Exposure to blue light late at night tends to make it more difficult to fall asleep.)

I have Hue bulbs and lamps throughout my home, I don't use deep red or bright green or even purple. It's hard to explain without sounding pretentious, you need to not consider light an essential convenience to allow you to see in the dark and think of it as decor. I live in a 450 year old cottage and spent a lot of time designing the lighting, wih the Hue system I can make rooms look so much more inviting, more comfortable, I can light different areas and create different moods. Rooms look more interesting, our lounge is very dark, we have two very small windows, but with the lights and lamps I wash both of the windows and surrounding walls and ceiling wih warm yellow light in the daytime. Even on the darkest days it looks like the sun is flooding through the windows, everyone who comes in comments on how lovely and warm the room looks.

Bedrooms become more relaxing, lits face on in the morning to aid waking up - really helps in the middle of winter - and soft warm glows light my wife's way when she has to get up at 4am ready for work. They don't have the horrible impact of a bright white light, they don't shock your system, and they don't wake up anyone else, but they ensure she can see everywhere she needs to go. As she leaves they fade off again, except for the night lights that remain on incase anyone needs to get up in the dark.

My severely autistic some sleeps better as light fades in the evening and up in the mornings, the lamps and lights in his room also offer him calming effects when he is having a particularly tough day and melting down, and they can flash and stimulate him when is is listening to music and jumping on the bed.

The kitchen with its old deep fireplace where the range cooker sits was a dark and up inviting room, with clever lighting using strips it's now warm and interesting, the fireplace with its old bread oven shows off its character and reminds us why we love living in a house that's stood for over 4 centuries.

I have some lights in the garden and will be expanding it over the next few months to around 30 bulbs outside, it's a big garden and solar lights are just not good. Normal bulbs light it up but that's it, with colour it becomes a much more interesting place at night.

I use the lights in my kids rooms to call them for their dinner or when I need them, one press on the wall mounted Tap switch and their lights flash red and blue and don't stop u til they either turn them off or come downstairs. I can't be heard calling from one end of the house to the other so I used to have to wander off to find them. Lazy yes but it's a neat solution and they actually enjoy it. It's fun to call them down randomly just to annoy them too!

I will be buying a load of these bulbs as soon as they hit the shops, I will mix them up with some of the other lights to make it a bit more interesting, warm whites with a little colour here and there will really make rooms look good.

We used to decorate rooms fairly often, now most rooms are white or cream or fairly neutral and we paint with colours, it makes the rooms a lot more interesting and you can change your mind as often and as easily as you like.

Or you can have a white bulb hanging from the centre of the room that you can flick on and off. I'd not go back to that sort of lighting again.


I think I must be missing something here - 6 months ago in November when Philips launched the new v2 Homekit bridge I bought a pack that contained the new bridge with two white Hue dimmable bulbs. What's the difference between those and what's just been announced here?

Even better, the pack was £60 whereas the bridge, which you could only get on its own direct from Philips, was £50 so I ended up paying just £5 per bulb

It's the colour range, they were just white led's with some adjustment, these bulbs take in a much wider colour range from a cold fluorescent white through to warm yellow/white soft glows.
 
i'd love some 13 watt 1400 lumen bulbs so I can use them as a main light

These bulbs are more than adequate as 'main lights', of the few remaining traditional white cheap bulbs in the house I doubt any have been turned on so far this year - we only use the Hue bulbs now. Of course one solitary bulb 10' up in a 30' x 15' living room may not suffice, but if that's all you have swap the fitting for something that can take several bulbs and use Hue bulbs, it will make such a difference to the room.
 
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