Elgato has announced the Eve Button at CES 2018. It’s a device that can control your Apple HomeKit devices without you needing to use the Home app on your iOS device.
The $50 device (around £37) is around 5cm square and works off a watch battery and could be useful for those in your home who don’t have an iOS device, such as kids or visitors who don't have a device associated with the same Apple ID that your HomeKit devices are.
It could also be useful when you get home, enabling you to activate devices from inside your front door without having to get your phone out.
If you don’t know HomeKit, the smart home system works using “scenes”; essentially a collection of devices (usually the devices contained within a single room, but not necessarily). It works by connecting to your HomeKit home hub, whether you’ve set that up as an Apple TV or an iPad. That is a requirement.
The Eve Button can activate up to three HomeKit scenes depending on how you press it; single, double or long press. Installation takes place via the Home app.
Elgato also announced a second-generation of its £70/$100 Eve Room HomeKit sensor to measure air temperature and humidity.
The new device will be available in March and now has an e-ink display as well as a USB-rechargeable battery. Elgato also says it is even more accurate than previously thanks to better sensors.
The company has also revealed a new portable Thunderbolt 3 dock for PC and Mac with HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3, and gigabit Ethernet ports.
Many other Thunderbolt 3 docks are quite hefty and are only really practical for use at home or in the office.
This one has a retractable USB cable and will be available in the Spring. No pricing has been released.