Eve Systems Partners with Samsung
Eve Systems announced a new partnership with Samsung that brings Eve Energy’s energy monitoring features to SmartThings. Though Eve’s Thread based smart plug and power meter work with SmartThings via Matter, the standard only allows for basic features currently. Eve’s smart plug previously only supported energy monitoring on Apple’s Home platform. At $40 Eve Energy is more expensive than smart plugs that do not feature energy monitoring.
The Circana Take:
- Many smart plugs are bought for convenience; however, energy consumption is a growing purchase driver for these devices. Enabling energy monitoring on a wider array of devices should help consumers looking for an energy solution in their smart plugs.
- The increased availability of this feature may also persuade some users to start monitoring their power usage.
Tapo and Kasa Come Together
TP-Link, owner of both the Tapo and Kasa smart home brands, will unite the two assets under a single app. After a recent Tapo software update, TP-Link will allow users to port their Kasa devices into the Tapo app- allowing control within a single application. Routines and automations can also be integrated into the Tapo app. TP-link notes some devices will have to wait for a future migration date and links to any third party services like Google Home or Amazon Alexa will have to be relinked.
The Circana Take:
- The move to combine the two brands within a single app will help users control their devices more easily. With the two brands very similar to each other, there are likely other opportunities to combine the brands which would further improve the consumer experience.