Technologies

Philips Hue’s Latest Update Makes Your Lights and Doorbells Way Smarter

Your Philips Hue bulbs now double as motion sensors, and the new doorbell has upgraded to a 2K camera.

Philips Hue just made a big play in the smart home space at the IFA tech expo, confirming a wave of new products after leaks surfaced earlier this week. The lineup includes motion-sensing smart bulbs, a redesigned video doorbell with a sharper 2K fisheye camera and new light strips — all designed to expand Hue’s reach beyond traditional lighting.

One of the biggest changes comes with the launch of Hue’s new Essential bulb line. The standard A19/E26 bulbs are priced lower than the company’s usual offerings, starting at $25 each or $15 apiece in a four-pack. That’s as much as a 50% savings compared with earlier Hue bulbs, making it easier for more people to get started with smart lighting.

Philips Hue also launched new tech that adds motion detection to its bulbs — the Bridge Pro hub. You’ll need to change out your existing Bridge, but the upside is you won’t have to swap out any of your current Hue bulbs. Also, the Bridge Pro has triple the capacity of the Bridge, allowing it to pair with 150 lights and 50 switches and sensors, and also store up to 500 personalized light scenes.

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The company says that with «just a few clicks,» you will be able to transfer the settings of all your Hue devices from the Bridge to the Bridge Pro. If you have more than one Bridge, you’ll be able to transfer those to a single Bridge Pro by year’s end.

«I like seeing Philips Hue introducing a budget smart light option in the Essential line, since their bulbs can get pricey,» says CNET home tech editor Tyler Lacoma. «It’s a bit disappointing that they still require a hub to enable Wi-Fi when so many other brands have ditched the requirement. On the plus side, those hubs now enable new features like that clever motion sensing technology — which I can’t wait to try out myself.»

New bulbs add Thread

The new Essential bulbs and the updated E27 bulbs now feature Thread, as well as Zigbee and Bluetooth. These bulbs can now be integrated into a Matter smart home protocol without having to use a Hue Bridge.

At IFA, Philips Hue also introduced five new light strips — providing more brightness and flexibility of use — and all of them will be available in the coming months:

Hue OmniGlow Lightstrip ($140, November)
Hue Flux Gradient Lightstrip ($70, March)
Hue Flux Ultra Bright Gradient Lightstrip ($100, October in EU)
Hue Flux Gradient Outdoor Lightstrip ($150, March)
Hue Neon Gradient Outdoor Lightstrip ($140, March)

Doorbell gets a big upgrade

The Hue Doorbell was announced earlier this year and will be available in October. The resolution will be upgraded to 2K with a fisheye lens, and there will be no extra charge to view the most recent 24 hours of video recording.

The doorbell will trigger the lights you choose and also send real-time notifications, while the Smart Chime sounds alerts. The Hue Secure cameras will be integrated into Apple Home.

Technologies

Facebook Brings Back Local Job Listings: How to Apply

One of Facebook’s most practical features from 2022 is being revived by Meta.

On the hunt for work? A Local Jobs search is being rolled out by Meta to make it easier for people in the US to discover and apply for nearby work directly on Facebook. The feature is inside Facebook Marketplace, Groups and Pages, Meta said last week, letting employers post openings and job seekers filter roles by distance, category or employment type.

You can apply or message employers directly through Facebook Messenger, while employers can publish job listings with just a few taps — similar to how you would post items for sale on Marketplace.

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Facebook offered a Jobs feature before discontinuing it in 2022, pushing business hiring toward its other platforms. Its return suggests Meta is attempting to expand Facebook’s usefulness beyond social networking and to position it once again as a hub for community-driven opportunities.

«We’ve always been about connecting with people, whether through shared interests or key life events,» the press release states. «Now, if you’re looking for entry-level, trade and service industry employment in your community, Facebook can help you connect with local people and small businesses who are hiring.»

How to get started with Local Jobs on Facebook

According to Meta, Local Jobs will appear as a dedicated section in Facebook Marketplace starting this week. If you’re 18 or older, you can:

Tap the Marketplace tab on the Facebook app or website.
Select Jobs to browse available positions nearby.
Use filters for job type, category and distance.
Tap Apply or message the employer directly via Messenger.

Businesses and page admins can post jobs by creating a new listing in Marketplace or from their Facebook Page. Listings can include job details, pay range, and scheduling information and will appear in local searches automatically.

The Local Jobs feature is rolling out across the US now, with Meta saying it plans to expand it in the months ahead.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.