Philips’ Hue will be seamlessly integrated with ABB’s i-Jia, a smart home control system, to give Chinese consumers an amazing connected lighting experience and further the adoption of smart homes in China.

Royal Philips, the global leader in lighting, and ABB, a global leader in power and automation technologies, announced a collaboration which will involve the seamless integration of the Philips Hue connected lighting system for the home with ABB’s i-Jia home automation system. The two companies will also collaborate to help to promote the smart home sector in China.

Three Philips LED hue bulbs on a kitchen counter. (Philips/LEDinside)

Using i-Jia, consumers will be able, via the i-Jia dashboard app to control Philips Hue lighting, as well as TV, curtains and other household equipment. With Philips Hue, they can choose from a palette of 16 million colors to create and personalize their perfect lighting ambience and enjoy amazing connected lighting experiences. 

An important aspect of this collaboration is ABB working with Philips to undertake market education with on and offline promotions to stimulate the smart home concept and connected products and applications amongst Chinese consumers. All these actions are intended to drive the adoption of smart homes in China.

“Advances in the area of intelligent and connected technologies are driving the development of smart homes and buildings.  As a technology leader in this area, ABB looks to meet consumers’ desire for increasing comfort in their home, while minimizing energy consumption and the environmental impact. Our partnership with Philips and the integration between our ABB i-jia and Philips Hue lighting enables people to control their environment at the touch of the button,”Pohcheng Gay, Head of ABB China Low Voltage Products, remarked.

Eric Yu, Vice President of Philips Lighting Greater China, said, “Philips believes that connected lighting is the cornerstone of the Internet of Things, and is actively collaborating with world leading companies to accelerate the application of lighting in the development of the smart home market. This latest move with ABB extends our existing collaboration in the professional market that combines our connected lighting systems with ABB’s building automation systems for mid- and small-sized commercial buildings. The new collaboration with ABB will enhance Chinese consumers’ smart home experience and steer the sector’s development in China in a healthy and pragmatic way.”

ABB’s i-Jia System
 “i-Jia” is a smart home system that adopts wireless networking and infrared technologies, eliminating the need for separate wiring. Through a smart phone, users can control lights, temperature and electrical appliances anytime, anywhere. The user-friendly “Wizard’s Interface” was designed for convenience and practicality. Users can also add and delete the types and quantity of electrical appliances on the control panel to personalize their smart life. “i-Jia” is a simple plug-and-play installation that can upgrade the user’s life to a smart level by replacing the existing traditional sockets and switches with smart ones. No additional renovation is required for the installation of the system.