Wink’s Connected Home Collection Arrives At Home Depot

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 its success will be making sure that consumers can control all of their connected devices reliably and with consistent results.

I’d still bank on Google or Apple to build the platform that ultimately undergirds and popularizes the smart home, but watching how early players address the issue, and how they falter or succeed will be key to determining what does eventually win out.