Updated Eve Room With New Aluminum Design, E-Ink Screen, and HomeKit Support Available for Pre-Order

[MacRumors]

The newly-branded Eve Systems today opened up pre-orders for the second generation of its Eve Room climate and air quality sensor, ahead of a launch on September 12. The new device was first revealed at CES in January and is compatible with Apple's HomeKit platform, measuring air quality, temperature, and humidity in whatever room it's placed.

The original Eve Room was a square white box that launched in 2015, also providing data about indoor air quality, temperature and humidity, which you had to view on a connected smartphone or through Siri inquiries. The second generation makes viewing all of this information at a glance much easier thanks to a high-contrast 1.54-inch E-ink display, surrounded by an anodized aluminum body.

Four different screen layouts are available to choose from, allowing users to pick "the most relevant room parameters" that can be viewed at a distance and changed via capacitive touch controls on the front panel. It also replaces AA batteries with a rechargeable internal battery that lasts for six weeks at a time. The unit includes an energy-saving mode that limits measurements until the next full charge when it's low on battery, but users can opt to plug Eve Room 2 in permanently to a power supply as well.

"After the first, highly successful generation of Eve Room, this new version raises the bar even higher," says Markus Fest, Managing Director of Eve Systems. "No other air quality sensor offers this level of accuracy, design quality, and energy efficiency."

Of course, you can also still view readings on the company's app or by asking Siri questions like, "How's the air quality in the living room?" With HomeKit support, Eve Room 2 can talk to other HomeKit products, for example flashing Hue bulbs when the air quality drops below a certain threshold or adjusting an Ecobee thermostat if the indoor temperature rises above a certain level.

No bridge is required to operate Eve Room 2, and it connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth when you're home. To operate it via remote access, you'll need a HomeKit hub like HomePod or Apple TV to connect to the sensor while you're away from home.

Eve Systems rebranded itself from Elgato in June, announcing it would shift its focus "exclusively" to HomeKit-compatible devices and making the Eve Room 2 one of the first products to debut from the restructured company. Eve Systems previously said a few product announcements would be coming out of IFA Berlin this week, joining existing HomeKit devices like Elgato Eve Degree Connected Weather Station, Light Switch, Wireless Motion Sensor, Room Sensor, Energy Smart Plug, Button, and more.

Those interested will be able to pre-order Eve Room 2 at the Eve Online Store and on Amazon for $99.95, ahead of a launch on September 12.

Article Link: Updated Eve Room With New Aluminum Design, E-Ink Screen, and HomeKit Support Available for Pre-Order

 

[Jeaz]

Really impressed with the Eve Home products I’ve got so far. Easy setup and no hassle.

 

[beanbaguk]

Lovely products but they just fail to deliver. Eve Extend. Where are you?

BTLE is a great technology in terms of efficiency but the range is shockingly bad. It means I cannot use their products effectively around my home.

I currently own a door sensor, 2 plugs and a weather sensor. Lovely products but with a lousy range!

I would love to buy this little sensor for my son's nursery, but I'd never be able to connect to it. They either need to bring out the extender or adopt Wifi and reduce battery life.

 

[MLVC]

So they almost doubled the price, but it measures the same stuff? I'll pass.

 

[mrow]

$100 is way overpriced in my opinion.

 

[BeardMan7]

For $100 they must really solved the sync problem in their app. What is measuring airquality good for, if I get no notification about bad air in my rooms? Sold both, Eve weather and Eve room and bought a Netatmo weatherstation, I'm very pleased with it, even if it doesn't work with HomeKit.

 

[whyamihere]

Pretty big discrepancy between what it does and what it costs.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Depending on the accuracy of this, a handful of these scattered about may be a cheap way to quickly monitor several areas of our machining & composites shop with overlapping environmental req's. Handy.

 

[MhzDoesMatter]

Depending on the accuracy of this, a handful of these scattered about may be a cheap way to quickly monitor several areas of our machining & composites shop with overlapping environmental req's. Handy.

That would be a really interesting application. Might be some considerations for range. Do you have a homekit hub-capable device on site or would you survey the devices by walking around with a mobile device?

 

[Wiesenlooser]

Is this also a smoke detector ?

 

[macduke]

For $100 they must really solved the sync problem in their app. What is measuring airquality good for, if I get no notification about bad air in my rooms? Sold both, Eve weather and Eve room and bought a Netatmo weatherstation, I'm very pleased with it, even if it doesn't work with HomeKit.

I've been waiting for Netatmo to support HomeKit. I want to buy their full weather station and all accessories. I've emailed them a few times over the years but they can never tell me anything. With HomeKit only needing encrypted software authentication now, I don't understand what the holdup is for all of these companies. It has been a year—it's like they don't want our money!

Honestly the only reason I buy HomeKit is so I can control things with my voice using Siri. Hopefully the new Siri updates in iOS 12 enable companies to more easily integrate Siri for controlling things without needing HomeKit. I don't mind using another service to automate things. I just want everything to be able to communicate.

 

[BeardMan7]

I've been waiting for Netatmo to support HomeKit. I want to buy their full weather station and all accessories. I've emailed them a few times over the years but they can never tell me anything. With HomeKit only needing encrypted software authentication now, I don't understand what the holdup is for all of these companies. It has been a year—it's like they don't want our money!

Honestly the only reason I buy HomeKit is so I can control things with my voice using Siri. Hopefully the new Siri updates in iOS 12 enable companies to more easily integrate Siri for controlling things without needing HomeKit. I don't mind using another service to automate things. I just want everything to be able to communicate.

Meanwhile I don't care about HomeKit and Siri. My first intention was to control everything with HomeKit and Siri, but I don't have my iPhone anytime with me to control my smart home with my voice and I don't have the money to put a HomePod in every room, but I have the money for an Echo Dot in every room. Now I can ask Alexa to turn my lights on and off, to start my coffee machine in the morning when I'm still in bed, control my TV with a Harmony Hub and ask Netatmo how the temperature is in- and outside and how the air quality inside is, also I get notifications, if the air quality is bad. All this works with Alexa, how about Siri?

 

[JonnyBlaze]

I’ve got three of the original Eve rooms, and I find them very handy for monitoring temp and humidity in particular (I live in a very old house that is hard to heat and gets damp easily). I was considering getting another for the remaining room, but with the price increase I’ll defo wait until there’s a sale on somewhere. I only just convinced myself they were worth it at the original price.

 

[macduke]

Meanwhile I don't care about HomeKit and Siri. My first intention was to control everything with HomeKit and Siri, but I don't have my iPhone anytime with me to control my smart home with my voice and I don't have the money to put a HomePod in every room, but I have the money for an Echo Dot in every room. Now I can ask Alexa to turn my lights on and off, to start my coffee machine in the morning when I'm still in bed, control my TV with a Harmony Hub and ask Netatmo how the temperature is in- and outside and how the air quality inside is, also I get notifications, if the air quality is bad. All this works with Alexa, how about Siri?

I don't think the HomePod is useful enough to justify the price. Maybe someday, or if they come out with a cheaper version. For now I don't trust Amazon enough with being able to listen to me all day long. Also I have little kids who would mess with voice controls. It would be a nightmare, lol. I always have my iPhone in my pocket or on my desk in my studio, and it only listens for my voice, so that's why I prefer using that.

 

[DeepIn2U]

So they almost doubled the price, but it measures the same stuff? I'll pass.

To the Amazon, Robin!

$100 is way overpriced in my opinion.

Oh but wait ... Eve One is at $179CAN, link sourced in the article so what are you guys complaining about more expensive pricing when Eve Two on preorder is &99?
https://www.amazon.ca/Elgato-Eve-Room-Wireless-Generation/dp/B00YHKLR6A?tag=macr05-20
[doublepost=1535384838][/doublepost]

I don't think the HomePod is useful enough to justify the price. Maybe someday, or if they come out with a cheaper version. For now I don't trust Amazon enough with being able to listen to me all day long. Also I have little kids who would mess with voice controls. It would be a nightmare, lol. I always have my iPhone in my pocket or on my desk in my studio, and it only listens for my voice, so that's why I prefer using that.

Ah ... no digital assistant (Cortana, Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant) focuses and responds ONLY to the user that set it up! To me this is a glaring oversight by all since at least for Siri it’s trained when setting up a new device.

 

[macduke]

Ah ... no digital assistant (Cortana, Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant) focuses and responds ONLY to the user that set it up! To me this is a glaring oversight by all since at least for Siri it’s trained when setting up a new device.

No, Siri does only respond to your voice, just not on the HomePod. I used to like to troll my friends who have Android and when they try to troll me back they always fail, lol. It's great. I've heard that it's technically possible to imitate someone if you try hard enough, but it usually takes a lot of tries and often fails unless they're a parent, sibling or adult child who already sounds kinda like you.

 

[BeardMan7]

Ah ... no digital assistant (Cortana, Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant) focuses and responds ONLY to the user that set it up! To me this is a glaring oversight by all since at least for Siri it’s trained when setting up a new device.

Ha ha ha, when I'm with my friends, they set up Siri with their own voices, and I say "Hey, Siri"...guess how many iPhones wake up?...all.

 

[imola.zhp]

Does this release date support the September 12 iPhone event? Or is it just coincidental?

 

[DeepIn2U]

No, Siri does only respond to your voice, just not on the HomePod. I used to like to troll my friends who have Android and when they try to troll me back they always fail, lol. It's great. I've heard that it's technically possible to imitate someone if you try hard enough, but it usually takes a lot of tries and often fails unless they're a parent, sibling or adult child who already sounds kinda like you.

iPhone 8 x2 ...

Both my ex and I setup the "Hey Siri" and guess what.

Saying Hey Siri ... asking a question ... Siri Reponded to My Voice on her iPhone 8, and my iPhone 8 reponded to hers.

Sorry you haven't really tested this have you. Try variations of saying Hey Siri. There is no option in iOS to specify Hey Siri to listen to the owner only. And yes "ME" is set in my contacts for myself as far as Siri is concerned.

PS: vocal accent: I'm in Canada and same accent was sued. Not sure if your friends have different accents than you.

PSS: Have you found documentation of Siri listening ONLY to the person's voice that setup Siri on the iPhone, iPad?
[doublepost=1535388329][/doublepost]

Ha ha ha, when I'm with my friends, they set up Siri with their own voices, and I say "Hey, Siri"...guess how many iPhones wake up?...all.

That's what I'm saying

Siri's next major update would be to recognize and respond ONLY to the voice that setup Hey Siri (presumably the Owner). Why no assistant hasn't caught up to this is beyond me.

 

[macduke]

iPhone 8 x2 ...

Both my ex and I setup the "Hey Siri" and guess what.

Saying Hey Siri ... asking a question ... Siri Reponded to My Voice on her iPhone 8, and my iPhone 8 reponded to hers.

Sorry you haven't really tested this have you. Try variations of saying Hey Siri. There is no option in iOS to specify Hey Siri to listen to the owner only. And yes "ME" is set in my contacts for myself as far as Siri is concerned.

PS: vocal accent: I'm in Canada and same accent was sued. Not sure if your friends have different accents than you.

PSS: Have you found documentation of Siri listening ONLY to the person's voice that setup Siri on the iPhone, iPad?

Yes, it tries to. This behavior is on by default, and has no setting. And yes, I have tested it, and nobody has ever triggered my phone, and I haven't been able to trigger other people's phones, and my wife hasn't ever noticed a problem either. You shouldn't be so brazen in calling me out if you don't have accurate information. Just saying. You should read the machine learning journals that Apple posts and MacRumors comments about from time to time. Your example in anecdotal, but the actual truth is here:

https://machinelearning.apple.com/2017/10/01/hey-siri.html

“Hey Siri” Personalized

We designed the always-on “Hey Siri” detector to respond whenever anyone in the vicinity says the trigger phrase. To reduce the annoyance of false triggers, we invite the user to go through a short enrollment session. During enrollment, the user says five phrases that each begin with “Hey Siri.” We save these examples on the device.

We compare any possible new “Hey Siri” utterance with the stored examples as follows. The (second-pass) detector produces timing information that is used to convert the acoustic pattern into a fixed-length vector, by taking the average over the frames aligned to each state. A separate, specially trained DNN transforms this vector into a “speaker space” where, by design, patterns from the same speaker tend to be close, whereas patterns from different speakers tend to be further apart. We compare the distances to the reference patterns created during enrollment with another threshold to decide whether the sound that triggered the detector is likely to be “Hey Siri” spoken by the enrolled user.

This process not only reduces the probability that “Hey Siri” spoken by another person will trigger the iPhone, but also reduces the rate at which other, similar-sounding phrases trigger Siri.

 

[nutmac]

$100 is way overpriced in my opinion.

Agreed.

For $100, I expect it to be more multi functional, such as:

• Motion and occupancy sensor
• Button for triggering HomeKit scene
• Clock display

 

[baine]

I'd love to get a couple of these and some motion sensors but this stuff is just way too expensive for what it is. Ideally these would be closer to $50 (and the motion sensors in the $25-$30 range). I guess I'll keep an eye out for sales.

 

[x-evil-x]

Meanwhile I don't care about HomeKit and Siri. My first intention was to control everything with HomeKit and Siri, but I don't have my iPhone anytime with me to control my smart home with my voice and I don't have the money to put a HomePod in every room, but I have the money for an Echo Dot in every room. Now I can ask Alexa to turn my lights on and off, to start my coffee machine in the morning when I'm still in bed, control my TV with a Harmony Hub and ask Netatmo how the temperature is in- and outside and how the air quality inside is, also I get notifications, if the air quality is bad. All this works with Alexa, how about Siri?

Don’t have an Apple Watch? Easy to change scenes with your watch always on you. If you’re in bed the phone is nearby or if you are using an appletv Siri on that works with HomeKit

 

[Analog Kid]

I read the article, then read the Eve page, and still have no idea what parameters "air quality" measures. There's a reference to "volatile organic compounds", which is equally meaningless. Do they mean paint thinner, flatulence, stale beer or what?

 

[jbellanca]

iPhone 8 x2 ...

Both my ex and I setup the "Hey Siri" and guess what.

Saying Hey Siri ... asking a question ... Siri Reponded to My Voice on her iPhone 8, and my iPhone 8 reponded to hers.

Sorry you haven't really tested this have you. Try variations of saying Hey Siri. There is no option in iOS to specify Hey Siri to listen to the owner only. And yes "ME" is set in my contacts for myself as far as Siri is concerned.

For my husband and I, our HomePod responds to either of us saying "Hey, Siri", but our own iPhones & iPads only respond to one of us, whoever set it up. His will NOT make up when I say HS, and mine do NOT wake up when he says it. It's especially noticeable in the car with CarPlay when my phones controlling it, and he says HS to play a song, and his phone responds and plays and the CarPlay ignores him because it's my phone.