CES 2022 – News Roundup
Even though it looked in doubt, CES 2022 is now upon us, and so you can expect all manner of announcements to do with electronics, new innovations, as well as pie-in-the-sky inventions that may never see the light of day! Still, what we’re interested in hearing about are smart home products generally, and HomeKit related stuff specifically. With that in mind, we’ll update this post every time a news item drops.
AURA AIR GAINS HOMEKIT SUPPORT
The latest company to get the HomeKit ‘badge of honour’ is by an Israel-based company called Aura, who today at CES 2022 announced HomeKit compatibility for their Aura Air Purifier. (full article HERE).
TUYA ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR MATTER STANDARD
Tuya Smart, a leading IoT development platform service provider, today officially affirmed its support for Matter, a commitment to ensure that Tuya’s customers and business partners can seamlessly join in the new smart home connectivity standard and provide users with a more convenient smart home experience. (full article HERE).
WEMO UNVEIL NEW HOMEKIT VIDEO DOORBELL
The new video doorbell is exclusive to HomeKit (until Matter arrives…), and is also compatible with HomeKit Secure Video, with a 178º Vertical FoV. Priced at US$2.49.99, the doorbell is available to pre-order now, with the release occurring sometime in February to March. (full article HERE).
TP-LINK BRAND TAPO COMING TO HOMEKIT
Tapo, the sub-brand of WiFi accessory manufacturer TP-Link, is set to get a HomeKit makeover sometime later in Q1 of 2022, with new products being launched in the US. The initial lineup isn’t anything to get too excited over however, with a colour bulb and light strip in terms of lighting products, although the power strip, smart plug mini and dimmer switches may be of more interest.
ARLO ANNOUNCES ITS SUPPORT FOR MATTER
Arlo has announced support for the upcoming smart home standard, Matter, a standard that will make it easier for both consumers and manufacturers to make their products compatible and cross-compatible with other Matter-certified products. this comes off the back of the announcement for their latest suite of products, a security system that includes a multi-sensor with eight separate functions, which includes motion, contact (ie doors, windows etc), water leaks, light measurements and temperature changes, as well as the ability to identify the sound of their own smoke alarms. The system also includes an alarm panel that is NFC enabled, allowing you to arm or disarm your system with your iPhone or Apple Watch as long as they have NFC built-in. Assuming this will become Matter compliant, then chances are high this will, in turn, become HomeKit compatible, although, with Matter still to make its debut, things are still unclear on these kinds of situations.
SENGLED INTRODUCE NEW TV LIGHT STRIP AND OUTDOOR BULBS, AND MORE
Sengled, who only relatively recently got into the HomeKit game with their Zigbee hub, are introducing new lighting products at CES, namely a new strip designed for your TV, as well as outdoor string lights, and even a portable lamp. All devices use WiFi, and all will be HomeKit compatible.
The TV strip is capable of multiple colours along its length and is designed to change colours based on the content of your screen, much like the Hue Sync system. How it achieves this, we’re not sure but it should be a lot cheaper than Hue’s offering. The string lights are designed for outdoor use, like gardens and patios, and offers up to 48ft of bulbs, all capable of producing different colours.
EVE UNVEIL NEW OUTDOOR CAM WITH FLOODLIGHT, THREAD ENABLED BLINDS
Eve announced two products today, one of which was a new outdoor camera with a built-in floodlight, much in the same vein as the Netatmo Outdoor Camera. It also features a PIR motion sensor and is of course capable of night vision. Unlike the Netatmo, it doesn’t contain a siren.
The company also officially announced its highly anticipated collaboration with Coulisse, to create smart blinds using Thread. The blinds with the special Thread-ready motors are available to purchase now, and we’ve also released our own video (see below) and written review, to show our experience with these new blinds provided by OmniaBlinds in Sweden.
