![]() Philips today, as promised, launches a software developer program for Hue that allows consumers to create and control their light bulbs using a smartphone or tablet. The company started selling its smart, Internet-connected LED lighting system in October exclusively through the Apple Store. And for urban dwellers long past their DIY days, the opportunity to revitalize tired walls without lifting a paintbrush may just be worth it.Philips announced today that it launched an SDK and opened APIs to iOS developers who are interested in creating apps that work with its “Hue” personal wireless lighting system. You’ll also boast the most vibrant and versatile lighting on the block. However, you will bank long-term energy savings. It supports 50 bulbs, but accessories aren’t cheap-starting at $30. Once you begin you’ll want another bulb for the kitchen, bathroom and den. Like so many things, cleverness carries a cost. There are even themed packages, such as Hue Halloween, whose light and sound effects simulate creaking doors, howling wind and crackling fireplaces. If you entertain, Ambify’s apps for Mac and iOS synchronize light to music. I’ve jettisoned it for Goldee, a free alternative whose dynamic light scenes transform walls into fading sunsets, churning volcanoes and ebbing night skies. My favorite feature, Geofencing, uses my phone’s location to automatically turn on and off lights when I enter and leave home.īecause the underlying software is open source, the Philips app is one of dozens. I’m enamored with the alarm setting, which wakes me via a gradual sunrise, and I use timers to dim the lights in the living room. You can even use a photo to find that one-in-16-million hue if you can’t choose, you can assign each bulb a different, complementing color. Presets can be customized on the fly: dragging a slider warms or chills rooms. Whereas Relax thaws the most austere walls, Concentrate carries all the charm of a dentist’s office. Granted, some scenes are better than others. Thanks to a bounty of preset light profiles, called Scenes, getting started is easy. You control smart bulbs via Philips’s clever Android or iPhone app. Thankfully, Hue doesn’t require other high tech: Install it into an existing light fixture, and leave the power on. After you connect the hockey puck–sized bridge to your wireless router, you can install a Jetsons-era Hue, a svelte, conical bulb. The starter kit comes with three bulbs and a bridge. With a 15,000-hour life span, these darlings will outlast me. Each bulb produces 16 million colors (I counted them all), connects to your home network via integrated Wi-Fi and still manages to sip just nine watts of power, one-fifth a traditional incandescent. Hue talks to your smartphone and uses the same tech found in your big-screen TV to produce swathes of color at a fraction of the energy. ![]() ![]() Hue, by Philips, reflects a new generation of “smart” lightbulbs. I accepted acned white walls as a concession to urban living.įor the past week, a trio of lightbulbs has transformed those blank walls into a verdant canvas. Its stubborn concrete, moldering plaster and decades of amassed paint made scrap of my tools and snuffed out my DIY zeal. Hanging a pair of shelves, I became intimately acquainted with my building’s stratigraphy.
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