First thoughts on Philips Hue LightStrips

Bottom line, congratulations Philips! Great addition to the Hue LED lighting family.

 

 

 

Apologies upfront for my initial paragraphs focus on unpacking and my inches rather than metric measures. 

 

First challenge is to figure out how to remove the unit from the box without destroying the box.

 

My box did not have any kind of tamper seal on the outer tab, so I could open the outer box without any sign.

 

Inner carrier slides out of the main box with out any problem.

 

Two tabs on the left side of the inner carrier allow you to open the top of the carrier like a book. But the lower tab is hot glued in place, just rub off the small glue bead.

 

Next I was able to slide the controler unit (a white box about the same size as the old Apple IR remote) out of the upper part of the inner carrier without damaging the packaging.

 

Then I was able to slide the round plastic carrier for the LED strip out of the inner carrier. Success, no damage to the packaging.

 

There are two paper documents in the package, a larger white 10 page (1/2 size of a sheet of standard letter paper) manual titled 'Philips LivingColors / LightStrips Safety Instructions - Part B' with a clearly visible text stating 'Last update: 05/06/13' (yo international company Philips is that May or June??) This document has at the top of the first page a set of 11 icons that I believe are used by Google or Apple as part of the interview process for new engineers and programmers. The second part of the document, if used in a job interview, would clearly show age discrimination, as it is set in a type font that cannot be larger than 4 point type. But good news about this manual, it is just safety instructions nothing to do with setup or operation of the LightStrips. And if you care, to the education value, it is written in 29 languages!

 

 

 

The second document, titled 'Friends of Hue Personal Wireless Lighting' is a small 2 inch by 2 inch square document, is the true 'getting started' document. Would be nice for them to say something like 'start here' on it. This document is another Google or Apple interview question, as it opens it's pages right to left and left to right. The correct answer (I think) is right to left. Lucky this manual (kind of) only has 12 languages, and they are all read left to right, which kind of corresponds to opening the document from the right. Anyway, as I said, this document is kind of multilingual, except the first six pages are all in English. Good news, the pages really don't tell you anything other than launch the Hue app on your mobile and click the button to add a new light to your system. The first really text page, that is duplicated in 12 languages, basically says cut your LightStrip to the length you want (but does not clearly show you the correct places to cut the strip, the strip itself kind of shows this), then stick it to the surface you want using the adhesive back, plug the strip into the power jack and then go back a couple pages in this manual to see how to add the strip to your system. Not a good job on instructions Philips.

 

 

 

The last two pages of the manual show you that you that you should not bend the strip where a LED is located and that the maximum recommended bend is 90 degrees. The last page gives you another chance to pass the Google or Apple job interview 'icon' test and then tells you to read the 'B' second manual on safety that I described above.

 

This is probably a good time to read the safety manual, because I just thought of something as I look at the strip of LED's. It is not clear to me that the voltage on the LED strip section is a safe voltage, rather than mains voltage. I am wondering what would happen if I plugged the unit into the wall socket and then decided to use by metal scissors to cut the end of the strip! At least it does look like the voltage is only 12 volts (I think DC) down from wall wart. Other than if you got at least the first two icons correct in the above mentioned safety test, the only place that it says that you should only use LightStrips in a dry indoor location is on the wall wart.

 

Bottom line, Philips could have done a much better job on the setup instructions by just taking advantage of the QR code they place on the front of the box. They should add a QR code reader in the HUE app and have a simple icon in the app that says 'Add New Light' and instructs you to scan the QR code. This would take you to a useful installation video on your mobile (as opposed to the marketing one that is currently displayed  on the 'Friends of Hue' page that the QR code and URL on the back of the small manual takes you to. Also Philips, make your web page recognize that you are coming from a mobile and format correctly. And make sure you grovel to Google YouTube so that your video plays on day one without stopping!)

 

The unit I purchase here in the USA is a USA socket device with a rating of 100-240 volts 50/60 Hz.

 

The LightStrips has 5 unique sections:

 

1. The wall wart. The USA one that I purchased is a USA 2 prong ungrounded and unpolarized plug.
2. A 38 inch 1/8 inch flexible round white cable that runs to the ZigBee control unit.
3. The ZigBee wireless control unit, a white 3 1/4 inch by 1 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch box with the long sides rounded. As I said it is about  the size of the 1st generation Apple IR remote control that came with Macs. The unit has two 3M sticky tape points to attach it. The cables run in and out the small ends.
4. A second section of 1/8 inch flexible round white cable that is 96 inches long (I will wait for my second unit to cut the cable and try and figure out how to extend). 
5. The LED strip, the LED's are 1 9/16 inches  apart. The LED strip is 78 inches long. The transition from the 1/8 inch round cable to the flat LED strip is covered with a 1 1/2 inch piece of white heat shrink tube. There are 60 LED's on the strip. The cut points are every 4 inches.

 

The LED strip is similar to others I have seen in the current generation. It is 1/4 inch wide and 3/16 inch thick at its highest point. The strip is white with visible capacitors, LED's and cut points, along with the Philips name in off white every 4 inches. The back is a continuous strip of 3M double sided sticky tape.

 

When I first powered it on, all sixty LED's came on in an orange color.

 

I launched the Hue app on my iPhone and it found the LightStrips and named it 'LightStrips 1'. Clean and easy, I should have started here from the outside of the box!

 

The app continued to search for lights for about another 45 seconds and then gave me a 'Done' option. This screen is another example of where Philips could do a better job on the user experience. I do not think it would be very hard to put a 'count down timer or thermometer indicator' to tell you how much longer you have to wait for the search to complete.

 

The LightStrips added to my network without any problem and are working exactly like my other Hue bulbs. I will have to point you to others that are more qualified to talk about the light quality and color of the LightStrips. My initial two thoughts are as follows:

 

1. The LightStrips do not seem to have as fine a level control as the Hue.
2. The color of the LED's in the LightStrips do appear to be different and not as vibrant as the Hue bulb.

 

I think both of these assessments may be 'feelings' rather than any science differences in the LED's.

 

At USA $90, these are not going to be a main stream product for 85% of American consumers. That said, for those with a good application and the money, the Philips Hue LED system is the beacon to guide all of us to both better and more energy efficient light for all. The prices will fall, and I hope that Philips opens their technology enough to allow other quality lighting providers to work in a common system architecture. We do not need competing and different lighting control systems! The energy efficiency needs of the human race and planet need to be a higher priority than localized corporate profit. Consumers should be able to go out a buy a reasonably priced lighting device from quality providers that is 100% interoperable with all the other vendors. We do not have the luxury of time for the 'best socket' to slowly wind its way to market dominance, it is time for the big lighting corporations to get together and do the right thing together. Soap box off.

 

I was able to control the LightStrips with the same JSON and python code that I have been using with my original Hue bulbs. I admit I have not followed the API's closely since Philips published their official API documents, so perhaps their are more functions waiting to be exposed with these second family members of Hue.

 

The last set of LED strips I installed were about 5 years ago,  dinosaurs in the current scope of progress. Those were from Ikea of all places, I can say I have not saved enough energy to replace those with LightStrips as yet, but for folks that are a bit behind the 'beading' edge, Philips LightsStrips might be a great place and time to start in wireless LED lighting.

 

Bottom line, congratulations Philips! This is a useful and quality 2nd product in your wireless LED lighting direction. You are a leader and innovator! Keep it up. All my nit picks aside, okay one more 'Friends of Hue'????? WTF?????? I am not getting it. Don't let this EXCELLENT AND TIMELY FAMILY OF GREAT AND USEFUL TECHNOLOGY get tripped up by dumb marketing slogans, bad installation experiences, price and lack of interoperability. You have the Edison Socket by the 'horns', use this wonderful position you are in to lead the world to better light!

 

 

 

Initial look at the new Bluetooth wireless hardware and software, know as Bluetooth LE, 4.0 or Smart

The Apple iPhone 4S was the first hardware out the gate with support of this new wireless protocol. Now a few months later 3 or 4 Android phones are hitting the market with support as well.

A couple things make this technology really interesting for sending data at low to mid range data rates, say from 10 bytes per second up to a hundred thousand bytes per second.

It does look to have a few warts out the gate and there are other players in the market today and on the way. But my sense is they have put together enough of the right pieces, that in combination with the 'Bluetooth' name, market penetration and consumer understanding such that it will become the low power device connection standard.

The first benefit is that the sensor or 'end point' devices will consume very low power, battery life should range from multi-days to years and the power source need not be more that one AAA battery. Or even smaller, for example hearing aid batteries. And not to far out devices powered by solar and also using other energy harvesting methods.

The second benefit is that it is under the Bluetooth wireless family name. With Billions of phones and computers currently in the market with Bluetooth 2.x built-in, so many consumers know how Bluetooth is able to make a wireless headphone or data transfer connection today. This is a consumer adoption barrier reducer. Although Bluetooth Smart is really a combination of new wireless hardware and software that only shares some common data structures, high level API architectures and runs in the same frequency range as the current Bluetooth 2.x technology. To make it clear, a 'Bluetooth Smart' device will not communicate with ANY of the existing Bluetooth 2.x phones, devices or adapters in computers, cars or anything else prior to the iPhone 4S. More on these family incompatibilities in a bit.

Bluetooth sits in a 'distance between devices' area between 'under a foot' to 15 feet. This is a space that the current Bluetooth devices have done a very good job of providing 'cable-less', reliable and low cost connections. Bluetooth Smart improves that with lower cost and lower power while improving the connection setup speed and simplicity. There is and will be overlap with this technology and Wifi on the high speed and distance side and the new emerging NFC ( near field communication ) technology on the close in financial transaction side. However the strength of Bluetooth Smart will keep it in control of this zone around your phone and computer. And it is going to open up wireless communication by many other devices in this zone. Examples include household appliances, door locks, sensors, medical devices, fitness devices and many yet to be thought of applications.

Another huge benefit that Bluetooth Smart has, has nothing to do with technology, but rather that the benevolent technology dictator, Apple, [ or happy walled garden, if you prefer a positive spin on Apple's control ] has now opened Bluetooth Smart on the iPhone 4S and most likely all future iOS hardware to all hardware and software developers. Prior to iOS version 5 and the iPhone 4S only limited types of wireless data transfers in and out of iOS devices was allowed. Now a iPhone 4S can send and receive any type data from a custom iOS app with no restrictions placed on it by Apple [ although the app will still need to be 'approved' by Apple for sale in the App Store ]. So what does this mean? It means that a hardware developer can build one device that will communicate with Apple, Android and other phones and devices, as long as they have the Bluetooth Smart hardware and software support. Examples of this include health and fitness equipment [ I am wearing a Bluetooth Smart heart rate sensor as I write this ]; gaming devices, it will now be possible to write a app or game that will easily communicate between a iOS device and an Android device. There is no doubt that leading edge wireless connected devices [ The Internet of Things ] will often first appear in the Apple iPhone space, now these devices will be able to appear on the larger market [but often lower priced] Android market at the same time [ the availability of the app on the device is the only gate ].

All of these positives make me believe that Bluetooth Smart is going to be the standard going forward in this 'zone' and we are about to see a big wave of new wireless connections between things.

The roll out of devices with Bluetooth Smart is going to take a couple years, that is the turn over period of many 'smart phones' today based on carrier contract length and the technology price/pain obsolescence curve. The hardware development kits are starting to rollout and get on the radar screen of companies and developers with ideas. The first Bluetooth Smart devices have hit the market already, including the Wahoo heart rate belt I am trying. The ramp up of more of these devices will take about twelve to eighteen months, and getting the software bugs and battery life tuning will take about the same period. So the two year window [ starting from 4th Qtr 2011 ] of mass adoption seems about right.

To some of the challenges that the adoption faces......

First, there is the good/bad thing that is the name Bluetooth. Yes, many current phones have Bluetooth. However, they will not talk to devices with this newer Bluetooth Smart hardware. New phones that are rolling out, including the iPhone 4S have both the old and new Bluetooth radios and software built in. This will allow them to talk to both type devices. Devices that have this ability are given the Bluetooth marketing name 'Bluetooth Smart Ready'. Get the difference? The word 'Ready' at the end signifies that the device has the hardware and software to talk to Bluetooth 2.x and Bluetooth Smart devices. So, having devices around for a number of years to come that only take old Bluetooth 2.x is going to be one of the challenges to adopting this new Bluetooth Smart. I think the naming of the technologies is not very clear, though I am not sure I can think of a better set of names that would make it clear to the consumer market. Plan a lot of devices returns and tech support hours during this transition period. Here is a web page at the Bluetooth industry group that tries to explain the terms and technologies.

Another challenge is from the other wireless technologies either encroaching on this zone or directly compete with it. The biggest [and perhaps the only ] direct competitor is a wireless technology called ANT+. It has been used in the sports and fitness areas for the last 18 months. It is probably an equally good wireless technology as Bluetooth Smart, it just did not get traction in the other areas of use in this 'zone'; for example wireless audio, headphones speakers. Not getting adaption in this large use case has limited its adoption. A number of Android phones have ANT+ technology built into them today, probably millions of phones, but a vast majority of the phone owners have no idea it is there. Most of the ANT+ hardware vendors are moving to Bluetooth Smart, but this transition will be a small slow down. Mostly, I think, will be due to media sound bites playing up this 'dead end' for some users and their devices.

The other direct challenger in this area is the Zigbee/802.15.4 technology. They have been a long time player in this space, the longest I think and perhaps have the strongest technology. However, other than their new standards in the home remote controls and home energy market [ smart meters ] they have not been able to gain a foot hold in the consumer space. I do not think they will either, perhaps too bad. But perhaps one of the examples of the better technology not winning.

The 'encroachment' challenges may come from the WiFi hardware manufactures. They have been promising a WiFi radio that will cover the current WiFi use cases as well as the current Bluetooth ones. And do all of the same 'new' low power/low cost stuff as good or better [ their belief ] as Bluetooth Smart. But these radios have seemed to be 'right around the corner' for at least the last year. I think they will produce a hardware device that may meet all of these goals, but I think will be too late to market. Wifi will need to scale across a very large data transfer range, from gigabits to bits while doing this with compatibility [ at least in name like Bluetooth ] and power budget. I don't think WiFi will win, but I think we will see devices and this will add to the transition confusion of Bluetooth Smart. At the other end, I do not see the NFC/RFID technologies trying to move 'up' into the Bluetooth zone, the technology does not seem to support the data rates and power budgets that Bluetooth use cases need. There is talk that Bluetooth Smart will try to move down into the NFC zone, specifically for financial transaction applications. This battle is still to be fought, however NFC has a strong foot hold and seem to be getting support from the credit card companies. There are other battles going on around who owns this market, other than the encryption chip technology, I do not think this will be decided by wireless chip vendors.

Another thing that I think will cause some bumps in the Bluetooth Smart adoption is the current licensing and developer tools costs. While the cost of Bluetooth has been going down for the consumers, these price reductions have come due to more sales of phones and other devices not due the Bluetooth license and tools costs being reduced. As the open hardware trend is expanding, Bluetooth licensing remains proprietary. I think this closed development community will stifle innovative ideas for use of this ubiquitous connectivity of devices.

I have been experimenting with a Texas Instruments prototyping kit for Bluetooth Smart, it is based on their CC2540 chip family. I have several devices that I have wired up talking to a iPhone 4S and desktop computers using the Bluetooth Smart system. I do not have a Android device as yet with the Bluetooth Smart hardware. I've been following the developer forums at TI and a couple of other hardware manufactures that have Bluetooth Smart chip sets just now in the market. It is still a learning period of a lot of developers [ and hacks like myself ], but much progress is being made. At least by those that have deep enough pockets for the compilers and license fees.

Get ready for a MASSIVE explosion of The Internet of Things [ #IoT ] in the next couple of years, our phones, tablets, appliances and transportation devices are going to be connected to tens of other devices during the day and night.