By Ada "Peer-Review" Sparks
BERLIN — Smart lighting has long had a look: neon, gamer-adjacent, better suited to a college dorm than a living room. At this week's IFA tech show, Philips Hue tried to shed that reputation with a run of announcements aimed at design-conscious buyers — and, notably, at a longtime rival's customers.
The headline product is Liane, a new line of architecturally minded rope lights. A Verge writer who tried them said they finally looked at home outside a teenager's bedroom — a first-hand impression, not an independent test, but a useful signal of the design shift Hue is chasing.
Hue also cut prices on its entertainment lineup. The new Sync Box 4K starts at $150, well under the $385 asking price of the existing 8K model, and the company introduced its first camera-based sync option, Play Screen Sync, at $119.99 — both on display at the Berlin show, according to The Verge's reporting.
The more surprising move: starting September 3rd, owners of Nanoleaf's Hexagon, Triangle and Mini Triangle wall panels can fold those panels into the Hue ecosystem using a $40 module. Nanoleaf pioneered the modular smart-panel category; Hue never built a direct competitor of its own. Partnering instead of competing is worth watching as a signal of how the smart-lighting market is maturing.
Separately, Hue's AI assistant now supports what the company calls Custom AI Behaviors, letting users describe automations in plain language rather than manually building scenes — a feature announced at the same Berlin event.
None of this has been verified by outside labs, and trade-show pricing promises are easy to make and sometimes slip before shipping. Whether Liane holds up outside a demo booth, and whether the Nanoleaf tie-up delivers smooth performance rather than a clunky bolt-on, are questions for reviewers once units reach real homes. For now, this is a manufacturer's own account of its own launch.
Extraordinary claims. Ordinary evidence? Then no.
— Compiled from reporting by The Verge.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."