Apple’s HomeKit Devices
Apple’s HomeKit
is finally starting to roll out to actual consumers, via the first crop
of HomeKit-enabled accessories from third-party manufacturers. This
means you’ll soon be able to get your hands on a range of products for
the connected home that work with Siri on your iOS device, and that
you’ll be able to do so as soon as today, since some of the new HomeKit
accessories start shipping now.
The accessories in question range from sensors, to lights, to
thermostats, to smart outlets, and come from a group of accessory-makers
with a trusted reputation in the connected home industry. HomeKit may
have taken a while to arrive, but it’s doing so in grand fashion, with a
practical lineup to get your home connected to your iOS ecosystem in an
essential way.
Elgato Eve
The Elgato Eve
is a set of connected wireless sensors that monitor key factors like
indoor air quality, temperature, humidity as well as conditions outside,
like temperature, humidity and air pressure. Four sensors are included
in the box, including Room for indoor monitoring, Weather for outdoor
stats, Door & Window for checking open/closed status of those entry
points, and Energy for checking what’s drawing power and switching them
on and off remotely.
Using HomeKit, iOS device users with 8.1 or above can check on all
the stats gathered by the Eve from their devices, and even do so when
they’re away from home using Apple TV (generation 3 or later with OS
version 7.0 or later), thanks to its ability to act as a HomeKit remote hub.
Pre-order for the Even sensors kicks off today, at Walmart.com and
Amazon, and you’ll be able to pick them up from the Apple Store starting
in July when they hit shelves. Sensors are sold individually at $79.99
for Eve Room, $49.95 for Eve Weather, $49.95 for Eve Energy and $39.95
for Eve Door & Window, and the app is free.
ecobee3
Connected thermostat maker ecobee is adding HomeKit to its ecobee3 hardware,
which is designed for houses that have multiple rooms in need of
climate control. Remote sensors help it monitor temperature in multiple
rooms at the same time, letting you save energy and maximize comfort in
every area.
With HomeKit, ecobee3 owners can group actions together for control
via Siri, and control things remotely with the Apple TV component. It
starts shipping later this month, and will be in Apple Stores, Home
Depot, Best Buy and Amazon in July for $249, with additional remote
sensors available as add-on purchases for $79 per pair.
Lutron Caséta Smart Bridge
The Caséta Smart Bridge is a wireless lighting hub that makes up a core part of the Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit
from the company. This HomeKit version lets users control lights in
specific areas, as well as check with Siri to see if lights are either
on or off in specific areas of the house you might not be able to see at
any given moment.
With HomeKit, you can control specific rooms or groups of lights
separately, or turn everything off with voice commands. You can also
control things remotely provided you have that late-generation Apple TV.
Lutron’s HomeKit-enabled Caséta Smart Bridge is part of the Lighting
Starter Kit that also includes two dimmers (which work with your
existing bulbs), two remotes and two pedestals to hold them. It’s
available at Apple Stores starting today, with a retail price of
$229.95. Additional dimmer/remote combos sell for $59.95.
Insteon Hub
The Insteon Hub
with HomeKit allows users to control the whole range of Insteon
connected devices from the company, including LED bulbs, plug-in lamps,
thermostats, wall outlets, cameras, door locks and more.
And in addition to its full range of first-party products, the
company is also now offering up a brand new version of its Insteon+ app
for iOS 8.1 or later, which will also work with HomeKit-enabled devices
from other manufacturers. Instead is clearly looking to be a one-stop
shop for users looking to create an Apple-friendly connected home,
letting you group a range of devices and functions together.
The new Hub is available at Amazon.com and Smarthome.com right now
for $149.99, and will make its way to physical retail stores starting in
early July.
iHome iSP5 SmartPlug
Accessory maker iHome
is getting in the smart home game with a new HomeKit-enabled smart plug
model, the iSP5. The smart plug allows you to turn anything that plugs
into an outlet into an intelligent device, and to use multiple iSP5
plugs to create “scenes” which turn on or off multiple gadgets at once.
The SmartPlug itself is designed to be low-profile, and to allow for two
to work in a standard wall outlet at the same time, or to keep one
outlet free.
The iSP5 SmartPlug will be on sale in retail beginning in late June
or early July, but pre-orders kick off at iHome.com starting on June 15.
The plug’s pricing is not yet announced.
HomeKit Basics
In case you’re hazy on the details of HomeKit, here’s a quick primer:
Devices that work with the protocol can be controlled via Siri so long
as you have their app installed on your device, and are running iOS 8.1
or later. Set up and discovery is handled automatically just by tapping,
and yo can use groups to control different collections of devices. If
you also have an Apple TV (generation 3 or later) you can also control
HomeKit-enabled devices remotely, when you’re outside of your home Wi-fi
network.
Apple had told us the first HomeKit accessories were coming in June,
and this crop of initial partners delivers that. It’s interesting to see
Apple announce this ahead of WWDC, the keynote for which is next Monday
– it implies they’ve got so much to talk about that a HomeKit partner
parade didn’t necessarily fit the agenda.
Courtesy: TechCrunch
