Philips Hue Introduced ZigBee 3.0 Security Sensors

Headquarter in Netherlands, Philips is a diversified technology company which engages in lighting, home appliances (TV, Refrigerator, Kitchen products and more), white accessories manufacturing. The company is one of pioneer lighting equipment and solution providers. Philips Hue is the new product portfolio for smart light products for home and business. On last smart home equipment exhibition, the Philips Hue unveiled its new products - ZigBee 3.0 based security sensors include a humidity & temperature sensor, a wireless door/window sensor and a wireless PIR motion sensor.

It seems Philips is going to join the smart home automation battle. Undoubtedly, with the rapid developing of smartphone and smart wearable devices, it becomes a hundreds of billions US dollars market.  Z-Wave, ZigBee, Insteon, DECT are four most popular wireless protocols (standards) in smart home automation industry. All these four standards are ideal for short range distance wireless communication/connection. Why ZigBee? Let's to learn some basic information about it.

ZigBee was firstly introduced in the late 1990s when Wi-Fi and Bluetooth becomes primary wireless protocols for small home appliances. Similar to Wi-Fi standard, ZigBee has a long history, the ZigBee Alliance was established in 2004, ZigBee 3.0 is the latest standard. Compared with ZigBee, Z-Wave is a quite bit new, it's established on 2008.

Additionally, ZigBee is an open source standard, which means there is no patent renting fee. Companies can join ZigBee Alliance to design and produce products which are based on this ZigBee standard. (Z-Wave is not open like many wireless standards, Z-Wave chips are available from only one source, Sigma Designs. They sell only to OEMs, ODM, and other major clients. )

ZigBee and Z-Wave target the same general applications. Of the two, ZigBee is by far the more versatile since it can be configured for virtually any short-range wireless task. Profiles are readily available to minimize development time for common applications. 

On this smart home automation show, Philips also bring another fantastic product - Philips Hue Tap Switch, which is a wireless switch without running a battery. This device is compatible with Green Power of ZigBee 3.0. This product is available on Apple Store for selling at price US$59.95  "Philips Hue tap switch puts control of your Philips Hue bulbs at your fingertips whenever your iOS device is charging or already in use by other family members. In addition to turning on the lights, Hue tap's four buttons let you instantly select favorite scene creations you've set up with the Hue app or control groups of lights".