AppleInsider Staff
Accessories maker Elgato expanded its HomeKit-enabled product offering at the Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday, announcing the debut of a revamped "Eve Room" sensor with embedded e-ink display and "Eve Button," a new wireless device capable of triggering HomeKit scenes remotely.
A reworking of Elgato's original Eve Room indoor sensor, the second-generation version measures the same air quality, temperature and humidity metrics using technology developed by Swiss manufacturer Sensirion.
The new Eve Room ditches the old plastic shell and electrical cord for a sleek, self-contained aluminum housing. Elgato managed to pack an e-ink display, Bluetooth LE radio and built-in USB-rechargeable battery into the 2.1-inch square housing, allowing users to quickly access readings without pulling out an iPhone. Integration with HomeKit means sensor readings can also be viewed in the Home app and via Siri.
Eve Room will be available in March for $99.95.
Eve Button borrows Eve Room's design language with a beveled aluminum chassis and polished composite face. The portable remote features a single operational button that can be configured to activate up to three HomeKit scenes through single, double or long press gestures.
Elgato's first HomeKit remote, Eve Button leverages Bluetooth LE to connect directly to a HomeKit hub, meaning no hardware bridge or third-party cloud configuration is required to communicate with the Home app or Eve iOS app.
Eve Button is on sale now for for $49.95 from Amazon and will be available at Apple retail stores later this year.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
2 Comments
I just pre-ordered the Eve Button on Amazon. It has a scheduled release date of January 16 here in Germany. We have a relatively uncomplicated coffee maker connected to an Eve Energy and my wife dislikes using Siri to activate it. On top of improving that use case, it will also solve the issue of when we have house guests that want to make coffee for themselves who don't have access to our HomeKit setup. I'll update this post with any relevant details once it arrives.
that bezel tho! /s
I really like the Eve lineup, it's just the lack of wi-fi or a networked hub that's holding me back. Bluetooth-only connection would require a ridiculous amount of apple-tv's in my home to have them all connected at once.