Philips Lighting expanded its Internet of Things (IoT) universe for the home, making its Hue smart bulbs compatible with an IoT system provided by Chinese information technology networking giant Huawei. The two companies jointly announced of Huawei will become a “Friend of Hue” partner and that Philips will become an official partner in the Huawei IoT initiative, called OceanConnect.
Combining Philips Hue and Huawei OceanConnect is one way to get different things in the IoT to talk together. Going forward, by combining forces, users can control Hue smart lamps using Huawei’s OceanConnect system. They can also program Hue lights to respond to or prompt actions in other things around the house controlled by OceanConnect. For example, security cameras could trigger Hue lights to flash red and blue when an intruder appears on the property.
But in order to do so, users will have to find a service provider such as a telecoms company. That’s because Huawei positions OceanConnect as a service offering for telcos and ISPs to resell. Huawei launched OceanConnect earlier this month in Shanghai as a system to help tie together disparate devices. At its launch, Huawei said it had signed up about 80 partners across industries including automobiles, oil and gas, energy, and smart homes.
