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Philips Hue Expected to Launch New Filament Light Bulbs and HomeKit Smart Plug This Fall

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Philips Hue is planning to launch a new collection of accessories this fall, according to a new report today by iCulture. The collection will include filament light bulbs and a brand-new smart plug.

This would be the first time that Philips Hue launches its own smart plug accessory, but it's unclear if you will need a Philips Hue bridge to connect the plug or if it will be a standalone device. Today's report states that you will be able to set schedules and timers on the plug and it will be compatible with HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Alexa.

iculture-philips-hue.jpg
Image via iCulture​


Like other smart plugs, Philips Hue's device will let you plug in a lamp, tea kettle, or other device so that you can control them through voice commands or via your smartphone. The smart plug will launch in Europe for EUR29.95 and in the United States for $24.95.

As for the light bulbs, Philips Hue is said to be planning to sell a small round, a large round, and an elongated variant of the filament bulbs. These bulbs have a predicted launch date of the second week of September and a price range of EUR19.95 to EUR29.95.

The new bulbs are believed to be Bluetooth-enabled, suggesting that you may not need a Philips Hue bridge to operate them. The fall collection will also introduce revamped versions of existing Philips Hue bulbs, including the Philips Hue Go device.

Article Link: Philips Hue Expected to Launch New Filament Light Bulbs and HomeKit Smart Plug This Fall
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/03/philips-hue-smart-plug-fall/
Yeah, that’s what we need: expensive incandescent lightbulbs. What better way to waste money than on short-lived lightbulbs that have special electronics in them to make them more expensive and more difficult to dispose of properly when they die.
 
Edison-style Hue bulbs would be all I need to finish converting the last of the lights in my home over to Hue. We have a few fixtures that simply look better with the filament style bulbs, but even then I still use the LED versions. I'd love to move those over to Hue, so we can have better control over them.
 
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H3LL5P4WN said:
Hopefully they're LED filaments and not actual filaments:

https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/consumer/choose-a-bulb/vintageLED
Click to expand...
Yeah. The kids nowadays don't remember when lightbulbs could scorch the skin off your hand and were used to bake cakes in miniature ovens. Imagine how many hipster apartments would burn to the ground. I tried explaining this to my five year old just a few days ago and she was like "But why would they make the lightbulbs that hot?" I would be surprised if they were real filaments because I think it would overheat the wireless chips.
 
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dysamoria said:
Yeah, that’s what we need: expensive incandescent lightbulbs. What better way to waste money than on short-lived lightbulbs that have special electronics in them to make them more expensive and more difficult to dispose of properly when they die.
Click to expand...


Wow, slow down cowboy. Take a moment to read up on these. They aren't real incandescents; they just have "fake" filaments. They are still LED, and are as energy efficient as straight up LED, and they are far from "short lived," as Phillips estimates they will last at least ten times as long as a traditional light bulb. Now you can breathe.
 
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It'll be interesting to see if these have BlueTooth instead of Zigbee (meaning they couldn't talk to current Hue hubs), or in addition to Zigbee (meaning the could work with hubs or go hubless).

I'm thinking the last sentence, "The fall collection will also introduce revamped versions of existing Philips Hue bulbs..." may be the most interesting part - might we see a BlueTooth-enabled hub? And/or BlueTooth versions of the "normal" Hue bulbs?
 
utwarreng said:
Edison-style Hue bulbs would be all I need to finish converting the last of the lights in my home over to Hue. We have a few fixtures that simply look better with the filament style bulbs, but even then I still use the LED versions. I'd love to move those over to Hue, so we can have better control over them.
Click to expand...

While this basically goes against the appeal of an Edison bulb entirely, I would max out a credit card if Philips made full-on color changing Edisons. I love the look of those bulbs, but to combine them with the capabilities of a normal Hue bulb would be god-tier.
 
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CarlJ said:
It'll be interesting to see if these have BlueTooth instead of Zigbee (meaning they couldn't talk to current Hue hubs), or in addition to Zigbee (meaning the could work with hubs or go hubless).

I'm thinking the last sentence, "The fall collection will also introduce revamped versions of existing Philips Hue bulbs..." may be the most interesting part - might we see a BlueTooth-enabled hub? And/or BlueTooth versions of the "normal" Hue bulbs?
Click to expand...

I just recently got into the Hue world. I'm really hoping new bulbs still work with the current hub. I'd hate to already have to replace the 6 colored bulbs and 4 white ambient bulbs. I'd assume previous generation bulbs will work regardless, but it's trying to hold back on buying the newest latest-and-greatest. Though I knew getting into this, like any technology, you'll want to constantly upgrade.
 
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CarlJ said:
It'll be interesting to see if these have BlueTooth instead of Zigbee (meaning they couldn't talk to current Hue hubs), or in addition to Zigbee (meaning the could work with hubs or go hubless).

I'm thinking the last sentence, "The fall collection will also introduce revamped versions of existing Philips Hue bulbs..." may be the most interesting part - might we see a BlueTooth-enabled hub? And/or BlueTooth versions of the "normal" Hue bulbs?
Click to expand...

The actual iCulture article the Mac Rumors article links to says they will include both Zigbee and Bluetooth (it's Dutch, but: "...zowel met Zigbee als Bluetooth werken"). I looked this up because it was also unclear to me from the MR summary. I'm glad to see this--the Hue Bridge has a fantastic local API and tons of integrations, and I'd hate to see that go because they switched to Bluetooth-only, which I can't imagine would work nearly as well as Zigbee Light Link or Zigbee 3.0, even if we needed a new Bridge to make the connection. Sounds like we won't!
 
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truthertech said:
Wow, slow down cowboy. Take a moment to read up on these. They aren't real incandescents; they just have "fake" filaments. They are still LED, and are as energy efficient as straight up LED, and they are far from "short lived," as Phillips estimates they will last at least ten times as long as a traditional light bulb. Now you can breathe.
Click to expand...
For me, light bulbs used to be consumables. But since switching to LED lights, not ONE single LED light stopped working.
[doublepost=1559577926][/doublepost]
macduke said:
Yeah. The kids nowadays don't remember when lightbulbs could scorch the skin off your hand and were used to bake cakes in miniature ovens. Imagine how many hipster apartments would burn to the ground. I tried explaining this to my five year old just a few days ago and she was like "But why would they make the lightbulbs that hot?" I would be surprised if they were real filaments because I think it would overheat the wireless chips.
Click to expand...
It's worse than that. There are kids apparently (and young adults) that don't know how to replace light bulbs.
 
gnasher729 said:
For me, light bulbs used to be consumables. But since switching to LED lights, not ONE single LED light stopped working.
[doublepost=1559577926][/doublepost]
It's worse than that. There are kids apparently (and young adults) that don't know how to replace light bulbs.
Click to expand...
OMG. You're telling me. Nearby I go for a walk around a track every day during lunch. They've had the track closed so they can upgrade the lighting to be more energy efficient. They have a big sky lift blocking the track and all these signs up saying it is closed. This is the third week they have been working on it and they haven't even managed to finish the first light. There are about a dozen lights around this field. I've watched them. One guy on the ground, one guy in the sky, and about 4-6 other guys sitting in the background behind them in lawn chairs waiting under a covered area in the shade. They say it should be done by mid-June. I have reason to doubt that claim.
 
H3LL5P4WN said:
While this basically goes against the appeal of an Edison bulb entirely, I would max out a credit card if Philips made full-on color changing Edisons. I love the look of those bulbs, but to combine them with the capabilities of a normal Hue bulb would be god-tier.
Click to expand...

I'm with you in hoping that they make them full spectrum color changing. If nothing else, at least make them like the Hue White Ambiance, so I can switch between a yellowish light vs. bright white.
 
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truthertech said:
Wow, slow down cowboy. Take a moment to read up on these. They aren't real incandescents; they just have "fake" filaments. They are still LED, and are as energy efficient as straight up LED, and they are far from "short lived," as Phillips estimates they will last at least ten times as long as a traditional light bulb. Now you can breathe.
Click to expand...

Thank you for letting me know the details about this light bulb. I don’t dive into the product’s company website, I just read the articles. It said “filament” and I took it at face value. Thanks again :)
 
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dysamoria said:
Yeah, that’s what we need: expensive incandescent lightbulbs. What better way to waste money than on short-lived lightbulbs that have special electronics in them to make them more expensive and more difficult to dispo
Click to expand...
 
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