A smart home manufacturer known primarily for its sensors, smart plugs, air quality monitors and lighting products, Eve Systems unveiled its first security camera back at CES, and it now says the indoor Eve Cam will ship later this month.
Designed to work exclusively with HomeKit Secure Video, an Apple protocol that helps to ensure the privacy of recorded video clips, the Eve Cam will sell for $150 when it ships on June 23. The camera can be pre-ordered now from the Eve Store, and it will be available from Amazon and the Apple online store next month.
First announced in January during CES in Las Vegas, the Wi-Fi-enabled Eve Cam is capable of recording 1080p video with a 150-degree field of view. It’s a “presence-based” system, meaning that when everyone is at home, the camera can automatically deactivate to increase privacy protection.
The wall-mountable Eve Cam comes equipped with an infrared motion sensor and offers night vision up to five meters, while a built-in speaker and microphone allow for two-way audio.
Eve Systems
The HomeKit-enabled Eve Cam can be placed on a shelf or mounted on a wall.
The Eve Cam is the latest smart security camera (after the recently announced Logitech Circle View and the Anker EufyCam 2, among others) to support HomeKit Secure Video, an Apple protocol that allows captured security videos to be analyzed locally on an iPad, HomePod, or Apple TV, rather on a third-party cloud service. The analysis helps to determine whether a person, an animal, or a vehicle accounted for the motion that triggered the camera to record.
Once a video from the Eve Cam has been analyzed, the recorded clip can be uploaded to the user’s iCloud account using end-to-end encryption, so that only the iCloud account owner can access it.
Beyond its HomeKit Secure Video capabilities, the Eve Cam’s motion sensor can also trigger HomeKit-compatible lamps, light switches, and power outlets.
HomeKit Secure Video requires a so-called “home hub” device, such as an iPad, an Apple TV, or a HomePod. Users will also need a 200GB iCloud storage plan for one camera, or a 2TB plan for up to five cameras.
We’re expecting to receive an Eve Cam review sample soon, and we’ll have a full review once we’ve given it a thorough test.