Get ready to start building the smart home of your dreams. Home Depot and Wink announced today a series of Wink-enabled connected appliances, such as light bulbs, window shades and water heaters. The products are available for sale at the retailer’s 2,000 U.S. stores. The Wink-enabled products are operated through either the Wink app, which is available for free on Android and iOS, or the Wink hub. With the app, you can control gadgets such as your air conditioner, blinds, door locks and garage door. Home Depot has close to 60 products available right now that work with the Wink platform, including appliances from Chamberlain, Dropcam, GE, Honeywell, Philips and Kwikset. That’s less than half the 150 devices Staples announced last week would work with its new connected-home hub, but it’s a start.
Everyone’s gunning to be the platform for your smart home, including Apple and Google, but Quirky spin-off startup Wink has its range in stores as of today at The Home Depot, giving it access to a market of average consumers. The Wink platform is basically a central hub for devices from manufacturers including Dropcam, Honeywell, Quirky, Schalge, Kwikset, Honeywell and more, giving users a single app for either iOS or Android from which to customize and control them all. Sound familiar? It should, because it’s what startup SmartThings set about to do since its founding in 2012. Nest has also debuted a project with a similar end goal in mind, called “Works with Nest” and offering developers a way for makers of connected devices to link their gadgets to the Google-owned company’s smart learning thermostat. Wink gets its compatible products on store shelves in over 2,000 U.S. retail locations today, with branding tied to 60 Wink-certified products ranging from light dimmers, to air conditions, to smart locks and beyond. It’s admittedly a good head start, but as Sarah Perez pointed out in her original profile on Wink and how it works, the key to success will be making sure that consumers are happy with the end result, and can control all of their connected devices reliably and with consistent results.