Philips Hue launches a brand new sensible lighting answer for the kitchen

Philips Hue is lastly stepping into sensible under-cabinet kitchen lighting. However because it’s Hue, they’re doing it in the most costly manner attainable, and it will likely be a minimum of a yr earlier than it involves the US. Nonetheless, the brand new totally built-in sensible lighting answer seems to be a reasonably candy answer when you hanker for full-color lighting to go together with your avocado and toast — with no plugs or wires in sight.

This week on the IFA tech present in Berlin, Philips Hue’s father or mother firm, Signify, introduced a partnership with Nobilia, Europe’s largest kitchen producer, that integrates customized Philips Hue sensible lights into its kitchen furnishings.

To this point, Hue has solely provided plug-in mild strips controllable by wi-fi switches, hardwiring them into your kitchen requires utilizing a third-party answer — so that is an thrilling step in the best course. There are some choices from different corporations for this kind of built-in, color-changing sensible lighting — GE Cync just lately launched a sensible kitchen lighting system that may be hardwired — however Hue followers have lacked a easy answer.

The Nobilia partnership contains two new Philips Hue lighting choices particularly designed for kitchen furnishings — color-capable recessed spotlights for cupboards and linear gradient mild bars for shelving made particularly for the partnership. These hook up with the Hue Bridge to work together with your Hue lighting system and sync with different lights.

The brand new lights are built-in into the Nobilia cabinetry and hardwired into your property’s electrical system, so they may solely work for brand new kitchens; it’s not a easy retrofit or DIY answer — but.

Philips Hue’s CTO George Yianni instructed The Verge that it is a first step for the corporate. He says they hope to study from the partnership and doubtlessly develop extra DIY-type merchandise for kitchen lighting sooner or later.

Whereas this week’s announcement was only for Europe, with the partnership scheduled to launch early subsequent yr, it may come stateside sooner or later. The Verge spoke to Nobilia’s Steffen Hagemann on the press occasion, who stated Nobilia North America is engaged on bringing the product to the US, nevertheless it gained’t be earlier than 2026.

Talking of higher kitchen and eating lighting, Signify additionally introduced that the Philips Hue Ensis pendant mild fixture is now out there within the US. The $479.99 hardwired chandelier-style mild is available in black or white and is designed to hold over a kitchen or eating desk. It has two individually controllable lights — a downlight and an higher mild that each provide full shade and tunable white mild.