Articles
Smart lighting opens up a broad range of aesthetic and practical possibilities around the home. Bulbs, accent lights, outdoor lights and smart switching solutions all form part of a complete smart lighting solution.
Smart outdoor lighting options offer convenience and security outside. Here are the best options in each category.
Smart LED strips are bright enough now to be a very versatile lighting option. There are a couple of basic rules to follow to ensure you get that soft, classy look though.
So you want smart switches, but don’t have a neutral wire? These are your best options.
Smart LED strips are becoming fairly common now, but with varying levels of quality and performance. Hue’s Lightstrip Plus is a high quality option that delivers all the key requirements. See how it stacks up in this review.
Nanoleaf is known for expensive (but cool) smart light panels. This new range of basic smart lights comes with a twist, full Thread support. That makes these an interesting option.
Installing a smart switch involves some electrical wiring, but it’s not as hard as it sounds. These step by step guides will help you through it.
A simple switch setup to handle both smart and dumb lights has been elusive, but LIFX has the answer.
Aqara’s US smart switch offers a versatile no-neutral model with broad smart home integration support.
Automating your lights based on presence is super convenient, and now you can do it outdoors as well with this Hue device.
Philips offers a strong contender in the garden spotlight segment with this little smart light.
Philips Hue now has a growing range of outdoor lighting options, and this path light is a top tier option for smart entertaining.
If you have a Philips Hue system, this device offers a super simple replacement for existing light switches.
Philips expands their range of luminaries again with the Play light bar, but this product is intended for more than just lighting your book shelf.
Smart lighting decisions have many factors, but one that comes up in marketing often is the issue of Hubs. Take a look at the reasons for and against choosing a hub-based solution.
HomeKit compatible lighting continues to grow, but these two products offer portability and the ability to add a unique ambience or any situation in or out of the home.
For users of HomeKit in Australia and New Zealand, smart power outlet options have been pretty scarce. Now Australian electrical supplier HPM is bringing a range of smart in-wall devices through it’s parent’s ownership of smart device company Netatmo.
The Lutron Aurora Smart Bulb Dimmer is a compact rotary device that attaches to the face plate of your existing wall switch. The base plate has a slot for the switch to sit in, and a metal strap to hold it on the on position, with the knob spanning into place on top.
Earlier this year, at the IFA trade show, Philips announced upcoming Apple Homekit support for the Hue accessories. Specifically, the accessories to be included were the Hue Tap Switch, Hue Dimmer Switch, and the Hue Motion Sensor. The support has now come to pass through a firmware update for the Hue Bridge.
After Apple removed the hardware requirements for HomeKit certification in iOS11, a number of device makers jumped on board with promised HomeKit support for their products. LIFX is the first out of the gate with a firmware update for their capable line of full color smart lights.
Philips had quite a lot to announce at IFA2017. Not only are we looking at a bunch of new light models, bundles and starter kits, but ZigBee 3.0 support, expanded HomeKit compatibility, and a new interactive media SDK.
Smart lighting has it's challenges. How do you keep people turning them off at the switch while still begin convenient to use? Here is one novel use of Philips Hue Dimmer switches to acheive the best of both worlds.
My Philips Hue bulbs were not playing ball with my color settings. Was I imagining things, or was something wrong? A bit of digging found the answer, and it was more nuanced than expected.
Using a HomeKit motion sensor to turn lights on is trivial, but turning them off again has proven less clear for many. Here's how to do it using the Elgato Eve app to create a Motion Clear event and trigger a new scene.
LED lighting offers more than just power efficiency, such as the ability to create animated effects within the bulb. See how you can add convincing flame lamps to enhance your evening ambience.