Philips on Monday morning confirmed that its series of connected smart light bulbs, Philips Hue, will begin supporting Apple HomeKit sometime in the Fall. First announced nearly a year ago at last year's WWDC, HomeKit is Apple's home automation platform that aims to give developers and manufacturers a standardized framework to build devices that interact not only with Apple's products but one another as well.
According to Philips, all current Hue owners will be able to upgrade their existing home systems to take advantage of Hue's interaction with HomeKit. Unfortunately, besides confirming the partnership and that current Hue owners will be able to take advantage of it, Philips didn't reveal any other information today, besides that the company plans to give out "more detailed information" this September.
Philips' announcement of HomeKit support comes a few days after the first products compatible with the Apple home automation platform entered the market. Led by companies like Elgato, iHome, and Lutron, the HomeKit-supported devices allow users to measure air quality, control power to various electrical outlets, and even control lighting with a wireless dimmer.
Since the Philips Hue lighting system currently requires a wireless hub directly connected to a router to function, it's unclear whether the HomeKit upgrade will require a simple software update or need some actual new piece of equipment to work properly. The company did note that, "Philips Hue will help existing users to upgrade their system," whenever the update does go live. Philips encourages those interested in the HomeKit-related news, and general announcements from the company regarding Hue, to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for updates throughout the summer, leading up to its September announcement.
Top Rated Comments
Again, it's being a bit cynical, but it's possible we might need a new base station? Hope not, so we'll have to wait and see I guess. :)
It was always sort of a given that some hardware would need to be upgraded since HomeKit requires hardware computability, not just a software update.