Philips Hue to expand into security cameras for better home monitoring

Jun 27, 2023

Philips Hue is getting ready to move beyond lights and into the world of home monitoring.

Fans of the Philips Hue line of smart lights can apparently look forward to adding more kit to their homes, but it won't be anything like what the brand already sells.

Quite apart from a new LED light strip or a fancy bulb, the future Philips Hue product will apparently be a smart security camera of some sort. And it sounds like we might see more at the upcoming IFA event in Berlin next month.

While Philips Hue hasn't yet confirmed the news officially, that hasn't stopped the CEO of Philips Hue's parent Signify from spilling the beans early.

The folks at HueBlog report that Eric Rondolat has already started to share details about the upcoming move into the security camera market. He reportedly said that “the idea here is also to use security for lighting and lighting for security,” adding that there are already plans to integrate the camera with lighting solutions. ”Why is that interesting? Because sound alarms cannot be heard from a distance as they are really kept inside the house. But, the light can be seen from a long distance, the CEO goes on to say. It also stands to reason that we should expect the cameras to be closely integrated with other Hue products, including its huge library of smart lights and bulbs.

The revelations from Rondolat weren't done, either. He went on to say that the company's new cameras "will be the first with end-to-end encryption.” It remains to be seen whether there will be integration with systems that already offer that kind of thing, including Apple's HomeKit Secure Video. Regardless, the Hue app will surely act as the base of operations for those who just want to keep things simple.

Signify already has a presence in the security camera market of course, with the Hue sister brand Wiz offering its own home monitoring products. Will the Hue cameras be rebadged versions of existing Wiz wares? It seems unlikely, but we also wouldn't want to bet against some kind of cross-pollination going on there either.

Oliver has written about technology for more than a decade, spanning some of the biggest properties in the space including Macworld, iMore, Lifewire, and Input. With a focus on mobile, gaming, and anything with a plug or a battery, he's another member of the Pocket-Lint family with too many empty boxes and not enough places to put them.