Controlling lights wirelessly? There's an app for that.

Published 18th June 2013

Australians will be able to purchase Philips Hue - a colour-changing, wirelessly controlled lighting system – from today.

The system uses a combination of one or more lightbulbs and a bridge that plugs into a Wi-Fi router. Users can employ an iOS or Android app or a Web interface to then control the bulbs. The system lets users select the colour and intensity of the LED lightglobes, which fit into standard light sockets.

The bulbs use the low-power ZigBee Light Link standard. Up to 50 bulbs can be linked to a single bridge.

The Hue app can also use the lightbulbs as an alert system, responding to events such as receiving a message through a social network or a weather forecast. Third party developers can also extend the Hue app to add new features.

The Philips Hue lighting system is sold by Apple in Australia. A starter pack of the bridge and three bulbs costs $249.95. A single bulb retails for $69.95.

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