Recently, the first batch of HomeKit products officially entered the domestic Apple retail store. As the most profitable store in the world, Apple will not let a product that is still in trial state settle in. Today, HomeKit products are on the shelves, which may mean that Apple is planning for a long time. After accelerating its propulsion speed.
We tried Philips' Hue series of smart lights yesterday. A few years ago, Philips Hue was a frequent visitor to the Apple store, but there was no HomeKit at that time. Although the light bulb can also be remotely controlled by mobile phones, it is far less integrated with the iOS system today.
About these three bulbs
I'm not sure if Hue is the maker of the first smart light bulb, but it does affect many manufacturers and makes a similar product.
Philips Smart Light Out of the Box: Hue Go Bedroom Lights |
| 1/14 | The test products we received this time are actually three different categories: Hue GO Smart Light, Hue Starter kit Smart Light Bulb Set, and Hue Lightstrip Plus Light Strip. Share|Comment (0) |
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14 At present, Hue is not a product-specific name. Philips has extended it to a series. The test products we received this time are actually three different categories: Hue GO Smart Light, Hue Starter kit, and Hue Lightstrip. Plus light strip; there is also a Hue Briage bridge. Bridges are a must-have, connected to iOS devices or watches to control the core of these fixtures.
All three products support the HomeKit platform with slightly different form and function. Hue GO is a bedside lamp that looks like a bowl with a built-in battery that lasts for 3 hours even without a power supply. The Hue Starter Kit has three standard e26 screw bulbs that are suitable for most chandeliers. Above the ceiling light; the length of the light strip is two meters, built-in some led light beads, it is flexible and can be bent at will, the back strap is self-adhesive, the degree of DIY is very high, can be placed into any shape or randomly cut, of course, cut I can't pick it up later.
The price of third-party products sold in Apple stores has never been cheap, but the quality has always been good, and all three products follow this guideline. The design and workmanship are excellent, especially Hue GO, which is extremely simple in design and excellent in detail.
These lights have a relationship with HomeKit?
These things can be used like regular light bulbs, but since they are called smart light bulbs, of course, the function is more than that.
After pairing with the bridge, all control cores are in the bridge section. The bridge is the brain of these lights, and you can perform various operations on the lights that are paired with them, which can be done on your iPhone or iPad via Philips' own Hue app or Siri voice assistant.
If HomeKit is Apple's big game, Siri is a piece that Apple puts down. It is the part that is user-oriented. It doesn't need to be learned. It is straightforward and simple to use.
Although at the beginning of the line, people's enthusiasm for Siri's enthusiasm is high, but playing for a while is tired. It also shows that a voice assistant who lives only in the virtual world is not a necessity.
After entering the real world through the HomeKit platform, Siri's usage frequency is significantly higher than before. The simplest example is when you are not willing to turn off the lights when you are lying in bed, say to the iPhone or Apple Wacth. Turning off the light " solved all the problems.
This operation is done only by saying an instruction to the mobile phone, but in fact it has experienced the mobile phone or watch "accept voice - understand the meaning - call the HomeKit platform command - send instructions to the bridge - cut off the power through the wireless network" From two Chinese characters to the actual life, the lights are turned off, but the whole process is only 2 seconds, but for these 2 seconds, many people in different industries have made long-term efforts behind them.
Control home lighting with Siri In addition to Siri voice, you can also operate these bulbs through the mobile app, which is actually not a very strange function, many domestic manufacturers have similar products.
Relatively speaking, the benefit of the Philips Hue application is that its application is relatively intuitive, such as adjusting the color of the bulb, as long as the finger drags the bulb coordinates in the corresponding area. Compared to the lighting, this interface is not so good, it is not elegant enough.
Hue lighting scene interface Other functions do not require manual intervention, such as the alarm clock function, will automatically turn on the lights and adjust to a certain lighting mode at the set time, indicating that people get up; more technical and geofence mode, as long as Set the location, the GPS module in the phone detects that you will automatically turn on the lights when you get to the home. After you go home, you don't need a wall to find the switch, there will be warm lights waiting for you; after leaving home, the GPS will also pass the position. Judging to automatically turn off the light.
The way without human intervention may not be as good as Siri's sense of technology, but this should be the true meaning and future direction of smart home.
Other features of hue HomeKit is a platform. In addition to the hardware itself, some third-party app developers will join in. They will generate more games under the same standard as Hue. For example, when playing music, the lights will follow. The melody is free to change. According to the data of Hue products listed in Hong Kong in November last year, there are already more than 450 third-party apps to match. At present, we do not have accurate numbers, and we should only have a lot more.
If there is a TV refrigerator that supports HomeKit in the future, it will produce more permutations and combinations.
HomeKit's future prospects
When interviewing Apple CEO Cook last year, he raised his watch and said that the future watch might be the door key or garage key in your home.
This slightly sci-fi idea is already on the road. The HealthKit platform is different from Apple Health. It does not have a control center itself. It mainly simplifies communication between mobile phones or watches and home appliances, rather than a unified control center.
Previously, HomeKit's progress in China was not as fast as imagined. Apple seems to have stepped up its pace recently, and is currently trying to attract more vendors or third-party developers into this circle to produce stronger chemical effects. With Apple's appeal today, it's much easier to do this than some startups.
Talk about the shortcomings. As far as the Hue series of products is experienced, localization is not enough. The three lights are all English names, but they cannot be changed by themselves. This will cause some trouble for Siri. In addition, the current third-party App Although a lot, but the degree of functional overlap is high, and are foreign software, which requires more guidance from Apple.
These three bulbs are just the beginning, and it gives people an initial experience of HomeKit. To develop and expand this platform, more categories and more powerful manufacturers are needed to participate. At present, the categories appearing on Apple's official website include lamps, air purifiers, stereos, cameras and so on. Haier has made refrigerators and air conditioners that support HomeKit, but it is not yet available on Apple's official website.
For users, if there are more air-conditioner refrigerators, which will be changed once in five years, it will obviously increase the attractiveness of the HomeKit platform. Of course, this requires more guidance from Apple.
Shenzhen Chaoran Technology Corp. , https://www.chaoran-remote.com