Philips has officially announced Friends of Hue, adding additional lighting options to the popular smartphone-controlled Hue system.
As we reported earlier following a leak, the Philips Hue system will gain the LivingColors Bloom and LivingColors LightStrips, but interestingly, Philips is saying that a "Friends of Hue" is any product or app, from Philips or an independent developer, that integrates with the Philips Hue system.
So that means that Philips' integration of Ambilight televisions, expanding the light fantastic show across your living room, is part of Friends of Hue.
As for the new products themselves, the LivingColors LightStrips is a flexible 2-metre LED light strip than can be placed under your sofa, around your picture rail or anywhere you fancy. It will give that range of 16 million colours, all controlled through your existing Hue app. You'll be able to stick the LightStrips in place, as well as cut them down to the required length.
The LivingColors Bloom is a portable spotlight that you can move around to position exactly where you want it to highlight a feature in your home. Again, it's fully integrated into the Hue system and offers access to that palette of 16 million colours.
"At Philips we want to help improve people's lives through meaningful innovation and we believe we have done just that by expanding the infinite possibilities of Hue through Friends of Hue," said Jo Picardo of Philips Consumer Lighting.
"Adding colour to a home doesn't need to just be about art and paint, the flexibility of smart LED technology means light can play just as big a part in creating a unique atmosphere in the home that is flexible and personalised to you … and this is just the beginning."
Giving a hint as to where we might see Hue heading in the future, the Philips and Disney Imaginative Lighting StoryLight will synchronise the Mickey Mouse shaped light to the progress through Disney classic stories ebook on the iPad.
The new Friends of Hue LivingColors LightStrips and Bloom will be available from 21 August in Apple stores, the Bloom will cost £66, the LightStrip price is to be confirmed.