Philips Hue "Personal Wireless Lighting"

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Chippo

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#111318 30-Oct-2012 11:09

These things look pretty awesome: http://www.meethue.com/

Same concept as LIFX but from a reputable brand. It'll be interesting to see if Philips are as free and open with the API as LIFX plan to be.

Only problems I see are not having a useful light switch. Some Hue-Integrated switches which will act as a soft on/off would be nice.

Also - no apple stores in NZ. That flight to the USA adds a fair amount of cost to replacement bulbs.

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#709059 30-Oct-2012 11:44

Chippo: These things look pretty awesome: http://www.meethue.com/

Also - no apple stores in NZ. That flight to the USA adds a fair amount of cost to replacement bulbs.

Why not just go to Ozzy, There are Apple stores there, also US lightbulbs are 110V :(

eracode

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#709062 30-Oct-2012 11:50

Chippo: These things look pretty awesome: http://www.meethue.com/

Same concept as LIFX but from a reputable brand. It'll be interesting to see if Philips are as free and open with the API as LIFX plan to be.

Only problems I see are not having a useful light switch. Some Hue-Integrated switches which will act as a soft on/off would be nice.

Also - no apple stores in NZ. That flight to the USA adds a fair amount of cost to replacement bulbs.

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Behodar

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#709064 30-Oct-2012 11:52

The Hue site says that you can buy online from Apple; I don't currently see them on the Apple site (either US or NZ) but maybe they'll appear over the next few days.

trig42

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#709073 30-Oct-2012 12:02

They are very cool.

My issue would be, what happens in the middle of the night when you need to turn on the lights? I suppose you would still have to have a 'normal' light on a switch somewhere also.

Wonder how much they cost? Not cheap I suspect.

wellygary

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#709080 30-Oct-2012 12:15

trig42: Wonder how much they cost? Not cheap I suspect.

$60 USD per bulb

or you can buy a starter kit of 3 bulbs and the controller for $200 USD

I can see why they wanted to retail them at the apple store, they would get laughed out of any other store if they tried to sell a lightbulb for $60 bucks

gzt

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#709096 30-Oct-2012 12:53

The 240v Starter kit will retail for GPB179 in UK. 3 bulbs + controller. 600 Lumen = 50W equiv. Base station is a Zigbee compliant hub.

Cheezy apple style marketing video:

Jaxson

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#709359 30-Oct-2012 18:48

I've asked Philips NZ about this

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gzt

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#709388 30-Oct-2012 19:28

The 240v model demo'd in UK was screw not bayonet even tho uk uses bayonet. Be prepared to buy adaptors if you want to replace standard bulbs.

eg; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bayonet-Cap-Edison-Screw-Adaptor/dp/B001PSNRYW.

Not holding my breath but it would be really good if all were multi-voltage 110/240 then we could buy from U.S.

Pock

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#709526 30-Oct-2012 22:33

We get both screw and bayonet light fittings in NZ.

Behodar

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#709813 31-Oct-2012 13:00

Behodar: The Hue site says that you can buy online from Apple; I don't currently see them on the Apple site (either US or NZ) but maybe they'll appear over the next few days.

Update: They're not on the Apple NZ site yet but if you search for the part number (HA779VC/A) then it autofills "Philips Hue Connected Bulb - Starter Pack" in the search bar. Coming soon?

Pock

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#710015 31-Oct-2012 18:24

wellygary:
trig42: Wonder how much they cost? Not cheap I suspect.

$60 USD per bulb

or you can buy a starter kit of 3 bulbs and the controller for $200 USD

I can see why they wanted to retail them at the apple store, they would get laughed out of any other store if they tried to sell a lightbulb for $60 bucks

What you're not taking into account is what you get for the money. Lighting control is damn expensive and this is a very cheap way of doing it.

LennonNZ

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#789442 29-Mar-2013 21:56

Does anyone know how I can get some Philips HUE Lights? (Or have some they want to sell?)

They seem they are only available on Apples Store and you need to get them from the UK (Otherwise you get the Wrong Voltage etc form the USA ones from the USA Store - but they may be the same?)

I've looked at the LimitlessLED/milight etc ones but you cannot talk to individual lights separately at all. (You have to talk to "groups" of lights) They all seem to be exaclty the same (Same Controller, Software, Lights etc)

The HUE lights talk the Standard Zigbee HA system so its quite easy to get Zigbee based sensors, controllers etc and make them all work together.

If anyone has used Zigbee stuff in NZ I would love to hear from you..

khull

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#789446 29-Mar-2013 22:03

I'll make a note on my next trip to AU to bring back lol

LennonNZ

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#789449 29-Mar-2013 22:28

They don't seem to be available from Apple AU any more.

Robjs

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#804656 24-Apr-2013 07:32

Several inaccuracies on this thread so I thought I'd help out. The bulbs are awesome, I have 5 and live in the Wairarapa, NZ! First, they are great, and cheap, because you no longer need to buy dimmer switches. Second they save power because they are LED's.

Setup is a breeze. I researched before I purchased, and took a small risk. The bulbs are not listed as 240V but the PSU for the hub is. I couldn't imagine Philips would produce two or more bulb versions for different voltages, so I checked around and found plenty of people in Europe using them. So, I ordered from the US Apple store via NZ Posts YouShop service and got them within a week. Hey only one in Edison Screw fit, not the more common in NZ bayonet, but I have several ES lamps so that was fine. I've now ordered some bayonet to ES adapters from Amazon and some more Hue bulbs. They really are that good and cost effective after you've bought he starter pack. I have been fitting Z-Wave home automation, and with their dimmers at around $100, it was a bit expensive. There is a Hue link to Z-Wave which works fine so now I can control my bulbs from the wall, via my smart devices or via Z-Wave (e.g. Turn hall light on when a visitor approaches the front door). Go enjoy!

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