Apple’s stealth play to hype HomeKit devices at CES gave the home-automation platform a major boost.

A slew of new HomeKit-compatible devices are headed our way. From locks and TVs to blinds and video doorbells, they promise to make smart homes more exciting in the very near future. 

Apple doesn’t really make its presence felt directly at CES. However, at 2019’s event it has ramped up its focus somewhat. No, Apple’s not unveiling the Apple Car at the gigantic tech lover’s event, but it did invite reporters to meet with a number of third-party companies who have created HomeKit devices for smart homes.

These include smart lights, smart locks, smart door cameras, and more.

Consumer electronics company Netatmo has made a camera that is easily overlooked as it keeps a lookout outside your door.

The outdoor surveillance camera Netatmo named Presence uses an algorithm to detect whether something in its view is a person, car or animal. It then immediately sends a notification through a companion iPhone or Android app along with an option to see what the camera recorded.

AtmoBar is Mac app that works with the NetAtmo weather station you have in your back yard (or on your balcony, for city dwellers). It sits in your menubar and gives readouts and graphs with just a click.

It sure beats just looking out the window.

I probably wouldn’t written anything about the new Netatmo Weather Station Channel on IFTTT, but then I saw one of the sample automatic actions that it can trigger, and figured I had to show you. Once set up, you can have IFTTT send a Twitter DM to your roommate when his music is too loud. Amazing.

LAS VEGAS — With the throng of tech bloggers covering CES, it’s not often that the heavily covered show hands us a surprise — but here’s one.

Netatmo, the French outfit best known for its fancy cloud-connected micro/personal Weather Station (and now also a device that measures your level of sun exposure), is about to add a hard-core new component: a rain gauge.

Worried about what the sun’s harmful rays are doing to your skin? With June, a new smart bracelet from Netatmo that’s aimed at women, you can find out exactly how much exposure your skin is getting, then decide what kind of sunscreen you need to stay safe.

I’m a borderline weather geek. I don’t just like to know the temperature — both inside and out — I even keep a hydrometer in my home so I can keep tabs on the humidity, cause you know, that’s important.

So naturally, when I found out about the Netatmo Weather Station ($179), I was a little excited. With its indoor and outdoor weather modules, the Netatmo tracks a lot more than just the current temperature. Plus, unlike my crappy $5 hydrometer, it relays all its readings in a unified way, presented beautifully in an iOS app optimized for both my iPhone and iPad.

Here’s how it works.