I have made another batch of the LivingColors Arduino (Genduino ?) shield. The PCB’s are by DirtyPCBs.
I made an adapter board so i can use different CC2500 modules without having to change the boards.
Drop a line in the comments if you want one.
Category: LivingColors
Philips changes support for 3rd party lamps from Hue, twice.
It seems a firmware update for the Hue bridge and Hue bridge 2 has removed compatibility to 3rd party lamps, that version of the firmware will only work with “Friends of Hue” lamps and no longer support generic Zigbee Light Link lamps.
There was a lot of backlash on this as it can make existing, working, setups useless and raised questions about Philips still effectively being a member of the TCLA and if Hue bridges are still Zigbee complaint ?
So, Philips have announced they will (or have) reverse(d) the update on twitter and on meethue.
One sore point seems to remain : Apple HomeKit certification apparently not only applies to the Hue bridge but also to the lamps connected to the Hue Bridge :
Before the 1.11 software update, a bug in the Philips Hue system allowed some non-Apple HomeKit certified lights to work with Apple HomeKit. Our 1.11 software update removed the bug with the result that non-Apple HomeKit certified lights no longer work with Apple HomeKit. This remains the case.
(from meethue). Welcome to the long arm of Apple‘s Walled Garden.
The discovery and confirmation of the update that removed support :
iPhone-Ticker : http://www.iphone-ticker.de/firmware-update-fuer-philips-hue-verhindert-das-einbinden-von-osram-lightify-90450/
Meethue on Twitter : https://twitter.com/tweethue/status/674248181425774592
The announcement of the reversal :
Meethue : http://www2.meethue.com/en-us/update
Twitter : https://twitter.com/tweethue/status/677597933638955008
Philips redesigns LivingColors, breaks compatibility
Philips has recently introduced a new generation of the LivingColors lamps called “LivingColors 2nd Generation“. These lamps are incompatible with existing remotes and the new remotes cannot be used with “old” lamps (as described in the manual on page 3).
This also means kits like the CC2500 Arduino shield can not control the new “LivingColors 2nd Generation”.
The exterior and user interface of the LivingColors has not been changed as far as I can see. Internally, a lot has changed.
Instead of the CC2500 + MSP430 combo (shown here) :
Philips has used a CC2530 which is a 8051-alike and a IEEE 802.15.4 RF :
(you can see the PCB here)
The CC2500 and CC2530 are entirely different devices.