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Lightbulb DRM: Philips Locks Purchasers Out Of 3rd-Party Bulbs With Firmware Update

posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday December 15 2015, @11:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the like-deja-vu-all-over-again dept.

tt0389722 writes:

Purchasers of the Philips Hue "smart" ambient lighting system are finding out that the new firmware pushed out by the manufacturer has cut off access to previously-supported lightbulbs.

Philips uses ZigBee, which should mean any bulbs compatible with this standard will work with its Hue products. Not anymore. The firmware update removes this support, limiting this "open, global" standard to Philips' own bulbs and those it has designated as "Friends of Hue."

When owners complained that they had been given the old bait-and-switch on products they already paid for, Philips issued this statement:

While the Philips Hue system is based on open technologies we are not able to ensure all products from other brands are tested and fully interoperable with all of our software updates. For guaranteed compatibility you need to use Philips Hue or certified Friends of Hue products.

The Philips Hue is a premium-priced LED lighting system, but the rapid pace of LED efficiency gains has started to leave them behind. Cheaper competitors have started to significantly undercut Hue's pricing. Maybe this lockout is more about pricing protection than it is about quality protection

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @01:13AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @01:13AM (#276921)

    I want to use an open technology so I know that the software won't be outdated while the bulb is still in the socket.

    Exactly.

    These things have a rated life of 22.5 years (based on 3 hours of use per day). There (almost) no way that they will be doing firmware updates for that long.

    I will be sure to mention that when I call Philips tomorrow (they don't seem to list an e-mail address [lhttp]. Maybe I can send them a letter instead...

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @02:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @02:42PM (#277098)

    So I was told I called an industrial support number, and was told to call a consumer number at 1-800-555-0050.

    When I finally reached somebody in the Hue lighting department, they had no idea why I was calling despite not owning a Hue system. This is reflected in their new update [meethue.com]:

    Q. Why have you reversed your strategy?
    We underestimated the impact this would have upon the small number of our customers who currently use uncertified lights from other brands in the Philips Hue system. We have decided to continue to enable our customers who wish to integrate these uncertified products within their Philips Hue system.

    They don't yet appear to understand the damage they are doing to the Philips brand as a whole.