Philips Hue is rolling out a Matter update for its existing Bridges. It’s also announcing a new security suite including new security cameras.
Philips Hue announced that existing products will be upgraded to Matter in September.
Hue also announced a new home security solution with security cameras and open/close sensors.
The security cameras are geared toward privacy and integrate with Hue’s lighting solutions.
Signify, Philips Hue’s parent company, just made a bunch of announcements at IFA 2023. The most important one for existing Hue users is that Matter is finally making its way to your lights to simplify smart home integrations with other platforms.
As expected, Matter isn’t coming to individual lights, but to the Hue Bridge. A small distinction on paper, but it shouldn’t matter in real use as the Bridge will carry all your lights with it. The update will roll out in September and shouldn’t require anything on your part — unless you’ve disabled automatic updates, in which case you’ll have to manually accept this one.
The second crucial announcement came out of the blue: Hue is now into smart home security. The company says that it sees lights as an important part of security, not just entertainment, and that cameras and open/close sensors make sense when you consider that Hue has offered motion sensors and presence-mimicking light routines for years now. I can’t fault the logic there and when I think about it, it’s logical for both product categories to be tightly linked.
Three new cameras are part of the portfolio, all with 1080p video recording, night vision, and outdoor rating.
