Gadget Guide: Philips Hue Lights

The Philips Hue Lights are a set of light bulbs that allow you to control light wirelessly from your iOS or Android device.  Not only can you change the brightness of the lights, but the color of the lights is customizable.  Using the accompanying app, you can change the lights to literally any color you can think of.  Philips boasts that the lights have the ability to display 16 million colors.  The set up is easy and the lights are fun to use; but they come at a price.  The Philips Hue starts at $199.95 for the starter kit, which comes with 3 bulbs and the Hue Bridge to control the lights, while additional bulbs come in at $59.95/each.

The set up for the wireless lighting system is very simple.  The three bulbs can be plugged into any light fixture you normally have bulbs installed.  They are the same size as normal lightbulbs with a noticeable, heavier weight difference.  The bulbs are 600 lumen LED lights which are claimed to have a 15,000 hour lifespan and use 80% less power than traditional bulbs.  The Hue Bridge is then plugged into power and plugged into your wireless router with the included ethernet cable and AC adapter.  The bridge can support up to 50 bulbs at once.  Once the bridge is all set up, simply launch the free app available on iOS and Android devices to start controlling the lights.  The app goes through a tutorial on how to control the lights and well as some of the other features such as alarms and timers for the bulbs.

When using the lights, the switch needs to be turned on for each particular lamp.  You can still turn the lights on and off by using the app.  After the introduction section of the app, you are taken to a screen containing "Scenes."  These scenes are how you control the customization of the lights.  There are a variety of preset scenes including "Sunset", "Ski", "Deep Sea", and "Beach."  There are also preset mood lighting scenes called Light Recipes.  "Relax" dims the lights and gives a warm glow while "Concentrate" is a brighter white/bluish light.  If you want to create the scene of your favorite vacation, you can open a picture on your device and specify the exact color of each bulb from the colors of your picture.  You can also open a spectrum and drag the points around while watching the hue of the lights change automatically.  Once you have a custom lighting setup you enjoy, you can save the scene and use it again with a simple touch.



Another useful feature to Hue is the ability to set timers and alarms for the lights.  You can set the lights in your room in time with your alarm to wake up.  This can allow for your lights to gradually turn on and wake you smoothly.  Another way you may use this is if you are out of town and want your lights to turn on in the house when it gets dark.

The Philips Hue Lights are especially intriguing for developers.  Philips has an open API for the lights, found here.  The company also features examples on their website and encourages integration with third party apps and tools.  Some people have used the Leap Motion (a previous Gadget Guide post on this blog) to control the lights via hand gestures.

All in all the Philips Hue Lights are a great tool and a fun way to customize your rooms with lighting.  The app, which controls the lights, is useful but some features like the timer are hard to find.  The price on the starter pack as well as the additional bulbs is steep but if you can afford it you will really enjoy the system.  New types of lights, such as rope lights, are being introduced into the system as well taking customization a step further.

Philips Hue and additional bulbs can be purchased from Apple Stores throughout the country or online through Apple's online store.  More information can be found from Philip's website here.