FollowFrom what we covered earlier today, Internet of Things will be a massive market share battle ground. Most experienced tech companies realize they cannot have a bigger piece of the cake without joining forces. Already two super groups, Open Interconnect Consortium and AllSeen Alliance are trying to impose industry standards for the Internet of Things platform. Home Depot Smart Home business is an important example of how the Internet of Things will be a part of our lives.
The new domain lies at the interaction between home appliances and software integration. Thus, witnessing home appliances distributors working along in the same direction is not a surprise at all. Until the tech company actually deliver full platforms, Home Depot follows Staples in introducing a smart home hub. Together with Quirky, Home Depot created Wink, a smart home platform.
Home Depot Smart Home includes garge-doors and sprinkler systems
According to Tomsguide.com, digitally operated appliances from Chamberlain, Dropcam, GE, Honeywell, Philips and Kwikset are already available. The list covers a total of 600 products, which is less than the 150 products offered by Staples. There are two product categories. One comprises directly controllable products through Wink app, and the other category requires the Wink Hub. Clients can purchase Wink Hub for $49, but if you buy more than two Wink enabled products, the price drops to $0.99. The good news is that Wink products are compatible with Android Wear, which will slightly decrease the fragmentation.
For example, “With the Wink app, our customers can monitor and update their sprinkler system from the same app they’re already using to control their smart home,” Rachio CEO Chris Klein declared at Wink’s announcement of the launch, USAToday reports. Home Depot CEO, Jeff Epstein, states that the company will try to integrate every platform available.
So two more contenders are trying to capture the Internet of Things market. Home Depot Smart Home comes shortly after Staples, with its Staples Connect system, already announced a line expansion, according to Goodhousekeeping.com. We are sure that both Open Interconnect Consortium and AllSeen Alliance will keep a close eye on how the sales will evolve and how consumers react to the new devices. We hope that Home Depot Smart Home, one of the first real exercise in the Internet of Things realm will benefit future users of any platform.
Probably we should expect smart furniture coming from Ikea soon. The possibilities are huge. Imagine a bed which will be able to track health indicators such as heart and blood pressure monitors and register your sleep cycles. Or Ikea could team up with the conational clothing company H&M to design closets offering color matching software.
