Apple made a number of interesting announcements at the WWDC event, including the plan to support Philips' Hue intelligent lighting system with the company's HomeKit smart home platform. The latter will allow users to manipulate the lighting system in order to gain a more personalized wireless lighting environment.
According to Philips, the Hue lighting system will be absolutely compatible with Apple's HomeKit platform later in the year. In the past, the company stated that they want users to enjoy lighting at a higher level compared with merely utilizing a light-shedding connected bulb.
"Your existing Philips Hue lights will work seamlessly and any necessary upgrade to the system will be fully supported," said Philips.
With the integration between Apple's HomeKit and Philips' Hue-connected bulbs and bridge, users can try shades of white or even play with all 16 million colors available in the spectrum. They can dim the lights, flash them or make them pulsate.
All current users of the Hue lighting system will be eligible for an upgrade in order to take advantage of the system's interaction with Apple's HomeKit. In other words, existing Philips Hue bulbs users can start using their lighting system with HomeKit since both will be absolutely compatible.
Philips has even confirmed the matter on its Facebook page.
"Yes, the solution we are working on will work with all your existing and new Hue lights. To get details about how your existing Philips Hue products will work with HomeKit, please follow us on Twitter or Facebook [to] get the latest details leading up to our launch in Fall 2015."
One Facebook user, identified as Carolyn Mineah, also commented on the Hue lighting system.
"HomeKit should be able to support the standard HUE bulbs, the HUE BLOOM & IRIS lamps, along with the HUE GO portable lamp," said Mineah. "It may support the Phoenix, Beyond, and the 3D printed lamps later after the base set of HUE lights were supported, perhaps after September 2015."
As for Apple, the company is currently working with partners in order to develop hardware that will work with the HomeKit platform, ensuring at the same time that the system can be manipulated using a host of compatible Apple devices. Soon, the HomeKit platform will be able to control various smart home products, such as window shades, carbon dioxide monitors, motion sensors and security systems.
Other details on whether there's a need to get a software or firmware update to gain HomeKit compatibility, or if users would need to secure a new hub for controlling the Hue lights, were tackled by Ry Crist of CNET.
"HomeKit certification comes with specific hardware requirements — we'll have to wait and see if Philips can meet them with a simple firmware upgrade, or if users will need to buy a new Bridge altogether."
Philips promises to give more details beginning September 15.
