Controlling window shades and blinds with HomeKit and Siri is easily one of the coolest smart home experiences possible today, but it’s also one of the most expensive. Eve is expanding its line of dedicated HomeKit products to include a new partnership with Coulisse that just might solve that problem.
Coulisse is a company dedicated to providing window covers from blinds and shades to curtains and more since 1992. Since Eve spun out of Elgato in 2018, the smart home product maker has focused entirely on creating HomeKit experiences. The two companies are working together on making affordable smart window coverings called MotionBlinds that are intended to be a mass-product.
Unlike IKEA’s relatively affordable HomeKit shades solution, MotionBlinds will work via Bluetooth and not require a separate bridge or gateway to operate. This should eliminate the pairing dance that can make setting up IKEA shades so frustrating. Setup will simply require scanning a QR code to pair, then software updates are managed through the Eve app on the iPhone.
Coulisse and Eve are also supporting Thread, the newest smart home protocol, with the MotionBlinds product line. This is a good sign for customers investing in a whole home of smart shades since Thread is the latest protocol to go mainstream and be adopted by Apple.
The two companies are only announcing their partnership today as part of the virtual R+T Digital 2021 event happening this week. Coulisse and Eve promise the first product from the MotionBlinds line will be a roller blind shade that will be available in Q2 2021. We’ll continue tracking the progress of the latest HomeKit smart shades as we get closer to the second quarter when we’ll hopefully learn pricing and availability details.
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