Philips Lighting expands into smart switches through its Friends

Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Philips Lighting (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, today announces three new Friends of Hue partners, offering consumers wall switches in a variety of models that are designed and developed for the Philips Hue ecosystem. The new Friends of Hue partners are leading European lighting control manufacturers, Feller, Niko and Vimar.
 

The Friends of Hue switches marketed by these leading brands will turn your Philips Hue lights on or off, dim and recall your favorite scenes. In a variety of colors and styles, they are designed to fit seamlessly into your home decor, whatever your taste and existing interior design. They can also be combined with existing switches and wall outlets from the same brand as they fit in their specific single and multiple gang wall frames. 
 

“These new Friends of Hue switches provide the perfect way to bring the benefits and features of Philips Hue to a wider audience and are an addition to the existing control options such as the Philips Hue app, wireless dimmer switch, voice control, schedules and sensors.  With the flick of a switch you and your guests can use the smart wall switch to control your Philips Hue lights, without interrupting power to the system, as would be the case with a standard wall switch,” said Evert Schaeffer, Head of product management, Friends of Hue at Philips Lighting. “This is part of our ongoing commitment to grow the Philips Hue ecosystem to make connected lighting experiences more accessible for our customers in their homes.”
 

The Friends of Hue smart switches offered by these partners will adhere to the standards of their respective markets. The first wave of Friends of Hue switches is planned to be available from the fourth quarter of 2018.
 

Friends of Hue products benefit from ongoing system updates to seamlessly manage the introduction of new Philips Hue features over time. They can be configured in the Philips Hue app and can be used alongside hundreds of third-party apps, voice control, geo-fencing, Philips Hue wireless dimmer switches, Philips Hue motion sensors, plus web-based services like IFTTT.
 

Philips Lighting will be showcasing these new Friends of Hue products at Light+Building 2018, at the Philips Lighting booth in Hall 0: Forum. Media and bloggers are invited to join the Philips Lighting press conference, on Monday, March 19, at 13.00 CET at the Philips Lighting booth. You can also watch the press conference webcast live Click here.