Smart home company Eve Systems announced its first outdoor camera and the availability of its Thread-powered smart shades at CES 2022 this week. A floodlight camera designed for Apple HomeKit Secure Video, the $250 Eve Outdoor Cam launches on April 5, 2022 and features 1080p video, a 157-degree field of view, infrared night vision, and 100-degree infrared motion detection at distances up to 30 feet. The Wi-Fi-powered camera joins the Eve Cam, the company's indoor camera. This is only the second HomeKit Secure Video-enabled smart floodlight camera to launch; A floodlight camera is an outdoor security camera to which motion-activated floodlights are mounted. The Netatmo Outdoor Camera is the other option currently available (Arlo has a HomeKit floodlight camera, but it doesn't work with HKSV). There are a few key hardware differences between these two HKSV cameras: The Eve version does not have a siren, which is an option on the Netatmo camera. But Eve does offer two-way communication with a built-in microphone and speaker, which the Netatmo doesn't. The Eve Outdoor Cam is compatible with the Apple Home app and the Eve app. Image: Eve The Eve camera is also very small: only 6.7 inches high, 2.6 inches wide and 6.3 inches deep. That's smaller than the Netatmo, though they both share a similar aesthetic, ditching the traditional "googly" eyed look of floodlight cameras (where the two lights are separated from the camera) in favor of a sleeker, more streamlined design with a built-in, powerful light. The disadvantage of this is that you have less flexibility in positioning the floodlights. But Eve's CEO Jerome Gackel tells The Verge the lights are "super bright," though the exact lumens haven't been disclosed. The Eve Outdoor Cam needs to be plugged into your home's electrical system, which is pretty standard for most floodlight cameras, and it works over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. It also requires a connection to a HomeKit home hub (such as an Apple TV or HomePod Mini) to process and store video recordings. The camera uses HomeKit Secure Video to store videos and processes all data locally. Live video is not sent to the cloud and recordings are encrypted and stored in your iCloud Plus account. With an iCloud Plus account, users get 10 days of video history and the option of smart alerts for people, vehicles, pets, and packages. As a HomeKit camera, Eve Cam can be accessed both through the Home app and through Eve's own app. Eve MotionBlinds are smart motors in Coulisse awnings. They will work with Apple HomeKit at launch. Image: Eve Eve launches first threaded smart shades The highly anticipated Eve smart MotionBlinds, announced earlier this year, will go on sale today, January 3, 2022. Prices vary based on fabric and size, but start at just under $400 per color. They can be ordered through any Coulisse reseller, including selectblinds.com, and you can install them yourself. Coulisse is a Netherlands-based window covering manufacturer and a full list of sellers can be found at motionblinds.com/eve. The first Thread-powered smart shades (they also use Bluetooth), the Eve MotionBlinds are HomeKit-compatible and "Matter-ready," according to Gackel. As a refresher, Thread is an energy-efficient mesh network protocol that offers better speed and reliability than many of the current smart home protocols. It's also an important part of Matter, the new smart home standard due out in mid-2022, which aims to unify the smart home under one standard and remove the confusion about which products work with which smart home platforms. Eve's MotionBlinds will be available as smart roller blinds first, with other styles coming soon. They'll be compatible with HomeKit and Siri, Apple's voice assistant, at launch, but aren't the only HomeKit smart displays: Lutron, Hunter Douglas, and Ikea all offer HomeKit options. This video from Eve gives you a good, albeit shiny, look at what the MotionBlinds should look like in action. The shades are powered by a rechargeable USB-C battery-powered motor, and unique to smart shades, have the option of manual control with a pull cord. There are also schedules on the device so that the blinds can operate independently of a smartphone app or smart home network. Because Eve MotionBlinds work via HomeKit, they don't require a separate bridge or gateway, which most smart window treatments do. However, they need a HomeKit hub, like a HomePod Mini, if you want to set up HomeKit automations. Smart shades are some of the most useful additions to a smart home, providing light and climate control plus an undeniable wow factor. But they are also very expensive. Eve's entry into space isn't a game-changer when it comes to price — it looks like the shades will be comparable in cost to Lutron's Serena line. However, since they work over the non-proprietary Thread protocol and are Matter compatible, they should integrate more easily into your smart home than most existing offerings, which are largely locked into their own ecosystems. That is, as soon as the standard arrives later this year. In the meantime, they're just HomeKit.