The Hue Go puts wireless lighting anywhere in your house
Philips has just unveiled a mobile addition to its venerable line of programmable LED Hue bulbs. It’s called the Hue Go and is basically a salad bowl of light that you can hold in your lap (because people do that apparently?) or use as an accent or serve as a luminescent centerpiece much like the Hue Beyond or Luminaires. But unlike these earlier designs, the Go isn’t tethered to a wall socket. Each unit reportedly lasts about three hours on a single charge and can be controlled through the associated mobile app (or the Hue Tap) just like a standard Hue bulb.
Even if you aren’t close to your phone, you can still change the Go’s current color output to one of five presets (whatever the heck Cozy Candle, Sunday Coffee, Meditation, Enchanted Forest, and Night Adventure mean) using a manual switch on the unit itself. Like every other branded light in the Hue family, the new Go works seamlessly with both your existing Hue system and any of the 200-plus aftermarket control apps currently available. It’s expected to hit store shelves (specifically: Apple stores, Amazon and Best Buy) around the end of May and will retail for $100.
Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless
Philips Debuts ‘Hue Go’ iPhone-Connected Portable Light [iOS Blog]
Philips today announced a new addition to its popular line of iPhone-connected lights, the Hue Go. Hue Go is a WiFi-enabled portable light that connects to and functions like the company’s existing Hue lights, but it can be moved from its base to any room in the house.
Hue Go has a rechargeable internal battery that lasts for up to three hours when removed from the base, and its bowl-like shape lets it be positioned in several different ways so it can serve multiple functions as an accent light.
Philips Hue Go can be moved from the garden to the living room to the bedroom without the worry of wires; letting you create and enjoy a new ambience each time. It can also be positioned in different ways to adapt to your needs; enhance a living space by positioning it to face a wall washing it with light, add ambience to an intimate dinner by placing it as a center piece on the table or focused on a piece of work by directing the light where you need it.
The light connects to an existing Hue Bridge and it can be controlled with the Philips Hue iOS app or any of the hundreds of apps that take advantage of the Hue API. Like the rest of the color-enabled Hue lights, there are 16 million color choices available. It works with Philips Hue and Friends of Hue products.
Hue Go also has a built-in control button that will let you change the color of the light to one of several included scenes even when your iPhone isn’t nearby. Presets include Cozy Candle, Sunday Coffee, Meditation, Enchanted Forest, and Night Adventure, and Philips says each one of these color schemes features a unique mix of colors.
Philips Hue Go will be available in the U.S. at the end of May or in early June, and it will be priced at $99.95. Like other Hue lights, it will be available in the Apple Store, at Best Buy, and on Amazon.com.
Images of an upcoming Oppo R series handset leak
The next handset from Oppo could belong to the company’s R series. Alleged images of an upcoming R series handset were posted online by GizmoChina, showing hardware that looks fairly similar to Sony’s Xperia range of handsets. The unannounced handset (seen above) is trimmed with metal while the front and back are black. The home, back, and multitasking buttons are not on-screen but rather placed below the display.
The following are the specifications mentioned by GizmoChina:
- 5-inch, 1920×1080 resolution display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor
- 2GB of RAM
- 13MP rear camera
- Dual SIM support
- Unknown amount of internal storage with microSD card slot
Source: GizmoChina
Come comment on this article: Images of an upcoming Oppo R series handset leak
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge owner receives two units with alleged scratched screens
There were pranks held worldwide on Wednesday, but one Galaxy S6 Edge owner was given an unfortunate truth on April Fools’ Day. On Reddit, /r/DrexelDragon93 posted an image of his Galaxy S6 Edge to show that its display was blanketed with scratches. Then, upon receiving a replacement unit, he discovered that he had yet another Galaxy S6 Edge with a scratched display. Others on the subreddit did not report the same issue and some are saying that perhaps it is just the way that the display looks in certain lighting.
Samsung has not commented on the matter and we do not expect them to do so unless this really spreads to a large number of units.
Hit the break to see an image of the handset with scratches on the display.
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge owner receives two units with alleged scratched screens
As the BBM Shop turns one year old, BlackBerry shares some stats on its use
In addition to the BlackBerry World celebrations, the BBM Shop is also celebrating its one year of existence and over at the Inside BlackBerry Blog, Matthew Talbot, Senior Vice President – Emerging Solutions at BlackBerry has shared some stats on its level of usage and offers some insight on just how many people are out there actually buying and using stickers for BBM.
Stickers Sent (since April 1, 2014):
- More than 1.87 billion total
- Currently 500 million per month
- 20 percent of sticker-enabled users send at least 1 sticker per week
- The average sticker user sends about 10 stickers per week
BBM Shop:
- More than 1.5 billion total visits
- Currently 250 million per month
- Inventory of more than 250 items
- Average BBM Shop user visits about 3 times per week
BBM Shop Momentum
The blue line shows the number of stickers sent, while the green-blue line shows the number of shop visits, which BlackBerry attributes to more, better products and improving features like the ‘Picker’.
Microsoft Health app updated for Windows Phone, now available in the UK
The Microsoft Health app for Windows Phone has received an update today that while only pegged for bug fixes has a much wider purpose behind it. Ahead of the arrival of the Microsoft Band, the app is available in the UK store for the first time.
Nikon’s dive into 4K starts with the 1 J5 mirrorless camera
Nikon’s bread-and-butter business may be its entry-level and high-end DSLRs, but the point-and-shoot and mirrorless models are equally as important to the company. This is particularly true now more than ever, as these cheaper cameras begin to lose ground to smartphones with great photography features — like the iPhone 6 or Galaxy S6. Still, Nikon isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. Today, it is introducing the J5, a compact, yet powerful camera that’s part of its 1 series of mirrorless hardware. The J5 comes with a brand-new 20.8-megapixel, VFI CMOS sensor (DC format), an XP5A image processor, ISO range of 1600 to 12,800 and support for NFC and WiFi.
Additionally, the J5 is sporting a 3-inch, high-res LCD that Nikon says is perfect for selfies, since it can tilt up to 180 degrees vertically. In terms of video, it can record 1080p at 30/60 fps and, similar to its V3 cousin, there’s also an option for 120 fps, though that’s limited to 720p. Interestingly enough, Nikon made the J5 capable of capturing 4K movies, but it can only do so at 15 fps — sure, it’s not the greatest, but the company claims this is more about dipping its toes in the water. The continuous-shooting mode, meanwhile, isn’t bad: up to 20 fps with focus enabled, or 30 and 60 fps if it’s locked. If all of that is enough to tickle you’re fancy, the J5 will be available “soon” starting at $500.
Twittly v1.3.0.1 now available in the BlackBerry Beta Zone
Looking to test out the latest release of Twittly for BlackBerry 10? If so, you can now update to v1.3.0.1 through the BlackBerry Beta Zone. This release is jammed pack full of changes including several bug fixes and improvements to enhance the overall user experience and security of the third-party Twitter app. We’ve got the full changelog available for your perusal, so have a look.
Android 5.1 starts rolling out to Moto G Google Play Edition
It looks like Moto G Google Play Edition owners are in for a sweet treat tonight, as Android 5.1 has started rolling out to the device via an over-the-air update.
AIVAnet 