Philips seems to be working on some new offerings for its Hue range. German website HueBlog has obtained some leaked images and specs that show the forthcoming Lightstrip Plus in detail, plus an update to the Hue Bloom.
The Lightstrip Plus: The OG model has been around since 2013 (see Engadget review) and has seen a couple of revisions since, but the new system seems to be about flexibility.
The key takeaway is that strips will no longer be connected to the controller, meaning third party manufacturers could have the opportunity to produce corresponding intermediate pieces.
It also looks like Philips is introducing a connector tool, which will let you reconnect cut pieces for maximum customization. As HueBlog notes, however, you’ll need the most up-to-date generation of Lightstrip to take advantage of this.
Over on the Bloom, meanwhile, the refresh will mean the device will largely look the same from the outside, but will now have technical changes under the hood. Max brightness will be bumped from 120 lumens to 500 (just shy of the second generation’s Hue Go and its 520 lumens). And the Bloom is getting Bluetooth support. This will open it up to lighting newbies that perhaps don’t want to get bogged down in bridges (yet) and prefer to control their lighting with their phone instead.
No word yet on when either product will be launched, nor what their prices will be..
