Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting) has a new app. It sounds kind of fun. You can use it to sync whatever’s playing on certain Samsung TVs to Philips Hue smart lights, whether you’re streaming a movie, listening to music or playing games. The idea is to make whatever you’re watching feel more immersive by extending the colors to the rest of the room. Neat! Not so neat is how much Signify is charging for the Philips Hue Sync TV app. It costs £115, which works out to $138.
In fairness, that’s still around $100 less expensive than the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, a device that connects to your TV and syncs your lights to whatever’s playing. The app supports all image formats and you can customize the settings. You’ll be able to tweak the lights’ brightness and how intense the syncing is. You can choose to auto-start the experience and whether the lights should be in video or game mode. There’s the option to pinpoint where lights are in relative to your TV too.
If you’re somehow interested in paying $138 for the app instead of snapping up disco lights for, like, $12, you’ll need a 2022 or newer QLED TV in the Q60 range or above. You’ll find Philips Hue Sync TV on the Samsung TV app store starting on January 5th.
Elsewhere, Signify announced more Philips Hue devices. The Resonate downward wall light can brighten up outdoor spaces. It costs £110 ($132) and will be available on January 24th.
You may need to wait until March 14th for the latest Philips Hue Tap dial switch, which has a round mini mount that can be placed on magnetic surfaces, like a fridge. That will run you £45 ($54). Signify has also revealed when the Go portable table lamp it debuted last year will go on sale in the UK. You can snap it up for £140 ($169) on February 21st.
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