GoKawiil
Tech News
Aqara has unveiled a new range of smart home lighting products, including permanent outdoor lights and a stick-style floor lamp. The launch signals Aqara's push beyond its core sensor and hub business into the competitive smart lighting market.
Philips Hue has released the Play Screen Sync camera, a $119.99 device that mounts above a TV and uses a fisheye lens to read whatever is on screen—including native smart TV apps and live broadcasts—then adjusts connected Hue lights to match. Alongside it, the company introduced a slimmer $149.99 Play HDMI Sync Box 4K with a single HDMI input and output, supporting 4K at 60fps.
Signify has partnered with Nanoleaf to let Nanoleaf Shapes panels—Hexagons, Triangles, and Mini Triangles—integrate into the Philips Hue ecosystem. The integration requires a new Philips Hue Wall Light Module, priced at $39.99 separately or bundled into starter kits starting at $199.99 in select markets.
Govee unveiled its Sky Ceiling Light, which it calls the first AI-powered mood-responsive ceiling light, alongside two new COB strip lights and an outdoor light with dual-layer illumination. The ceiling fixture uses an 'AI Lighting Bot 2.0' system along with Govee's Vitality Spectrum and NaturalTone Algorithm to adjust brightness, color temperature, and tone based on mood and daylight conditions. It supports Matter connectivity, includes a DaySync feature tied to time and weather, and carries TÜV Rheinland certification for flicker-free, low-glare output.
Philips Hue is rolling out a previewed backup and restore feature that lets Bridge and Bridge Pro owners save their settings, accessories, rooms, zones, scenes and automations to Hue's cloud. Restoring saved setups will initially be limited to Bridge Pro devices, with backups stored for up to a year and created manually, one per Bridge at a time. Alongside this, Hue also unveiled new hardware including gradient strip lights and a Wall Light Module.
Philips Hue is expanding its smart lighting range with unconventional designs, including a flexible, colorful light that can be bent into shapes and a tall pole light meant to be propped against a wall rather than mounted. The additions signal a shift toward more sculptural, decor-focused lighting rather than purely functional fixtures.
Philips has launched two cheaper ways to sync Hue lights with a TV: a $150 Sync Box 4K using HDMI and a $120 Play Screen Sync that relies on a camera instead, both undercutting the existing $385 Sync Box 8K. Separately, a new $40 Wall Light Module lets Nanoleaf panels function as Hue devices within the Philips ecosystem.
At IFA in Berlin, Philips Hue unveiled the Liane 360-degree Rope Lights, a flexible, cuttable smart lighting product that uses OmniGlow technology to emit diffuse light in every direction rather than pinpoints. The lights can be shaped, draped, or mounted along walls, ceilings, or furniture and controlled via the Hue app to display any color combination, with pricing starting at $399.99 for a 3-meter length and going up to $549.99 for 5 meters.
Philips Hue is rolling out Custom AI Behaviors, a feature letting users describe desired lighting automations in plain language instead of manually configuring rules. Announced at IFA alongside a new Sonos speaker integration for Hue switches, both updates arrive via a software update in November. The AI feature requires the Hue Bridge Pro's processing power to run.
Philips Hue unveiled two cheaper ways to sync its smart lights with TV content: a scaled-down Sync Box 4K priced at $150, well below the $385 8K version, and a new camera-based Play Screen Sync at $119.99. Both debuted at IFA in Berlin and are available for purchase now.
Philips Hue is partnering with rival Nanoleaf to bring Hexagon, Triangle, and Mini Triangle wall panels into its smart lighting system via a new $39.99 Wall Light Module, available starting September 3rd. The module contains Hue's full connectivity stack—Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Thread—letting users control the panels through the Hue app or Matter-compatible apps like Apple Home, while also unlocking Hue scenes, automations, and entertainment features.
Philips Hue has published a support page confirming a new wall light module that lets its app control Nanoleaf Hexagon, Triangle, and Mini Triangle panels. The panels will function similarly to a Hue gradient striplight, syncing to colors chosen from the Hue app's color wheel as part of a broader smart lighting setup.