Philips Hue Ambiance Bulbs Focus on Shades of White Light to Encourage Better Sleep Cycles

Philips is extending the capabilities of its Hue lighting system even further with the Philips Hue White Ambiance kit, which will give fans of the smart lighting system access to every shade of white light (via SlashGear). The new bulbs are a more robust version of the Philips Hue Lux system, which is limited to dimmable white light rather than the full array of colors available with the standard Hue bulbs.

The White Ambiance bulbs are billed as a natural companion to the day/night light cycle of the sun, encouraging users to wake up in the mornings and then dimming the light temperature to a low-level of light before bed. The low light mode is similar in theory to Apple's upcoming Night Shift feature in iOS 9.3, which cuts down on the amount of blue light users interact with in the evening hours to facilitate a better night's sleep.

In fact, the Ambience bulb supports anything from 6,500 K, the equivalent of cool daylight, all the way to 2,200 K, which is a warmer, almost golden light. Philips' light recipes are supported, which use different light temperatures to promote concentration, relaxation, or other moods.

To help with this, Philips is introducing a feature called "Routines" with the launch of the White Ambiance bulbs. Comparable to the alarms and timers of the current Hue app, Routines will allow users to customize instances that gradually increase white light levels ahead of a pre-set time in the morning, and dim lights as bed time draws near in the evening. It should be noted, as with the lower-cost Lux bulbs, the White Ambiance kit will not support the ability to change to any colors besides variations of white.

Philips will sell the new bulbs individually at a price not yet disclosed by the company, along with a starter kit that will come with a wall switch, two ambiance bulbs, and the new HomeKit-enabled Hue Bridge 2.0. It will launch "in the spring," with more information trickling out closer to launch day. The company also hinted that this fall it will be launching a line of lamps with the same white color spectrum capabilities as the ambiance bulbs.