NEW YORK, July 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Wink-enabled products are available today for purchase in The Home Depot's U.S. stores and on www.homedepot.com, marking the retailer's further expansion in the connected home market and its selection of Wink as its signature platform. The Wink platform unites close to 60 devices, creating the broadest set of connected home products in one ecosystem, with fifteen leading manufacturers of home products ranging from light bulbs and locks to window shades, irrigation systems and water heaters. Wink makes the connected home accessible by providing one quick and simple way to connect consumers with the products they rely on every day.
"The Home Depot's nearly 2,000 U.S. stores offer consumers the broadest network of connected products from brands that they and their family rely on," said Brett Worthington, Vice President of Wink. "Together we are offering the simplest way to connect to products in the home from trusted brands like Leviton, Honeywell, Rheem, Lutron and Schlage."
"When looking for new products and services, we believe it is critical The Home Depot provide our customers the connected home options and convenience they desire – one that is easy, affordable and gives them the choice in products they need. With Wink, we've found a partner that supports the industry leading brands we already carry on our shelves and online," said Jeff Epstein, Home Automation Merchandising Vice President of The Home Depot.
Products and Partners
There are close to 60 Wink-enabled products covering a variety of categories that impact consumers' daily lives in a meaningful way, from garage door openers and dimmers to ovens and air conditioners. Manufacturer partners include Bali, Chamberlain, Dropcam, GE, Honeywell, Kidde, Kwikset, Leviton, Lutron, Philips, Quirky, Rachio, Rheem, Schlage and TCP.
For Kidde, partnering with Wink means offering customers even more simplicity and accessibility. "Kidde has been a leader in combining innovative technology with life safety products to offer simple solutions for homeowners," said Jim Ward, president of Kidde Fire Safety, a global leader of fire safety products. "Kidde's Wireless Talking alarms link together so that when one sounds, they all sound, and thanks to Wink, they can also alert users who aren't home. Wink's focus on simplicity and accessibility makes it a great fit for homeowners. We look forward to working with them, The Home Depot and other leading brands on this new solution."
For Kwikset, the partnership extends the convenience and ease of use they can provide to their customers. "We're excited to partner with Wink to provide homeowners with another simple and convenient way to access their home locks," said Keith Brandon, director, residential access solutions at Kwikset. "With Kwikset SmartCode 910 Deadbolts and the Wink app, customers can remotely check their door lock status while on the go and lock or unlock their doors from wherever they may be. This is the type of convenience our customers crave, and we're thrilled to be working with Wink to deliver it."
For partners, like Rachio, the Wink partnership represents one of their first integrations with any brand. "We're excited to offer our customers yet another great way to take all the work out of maintaining sustainable lawns and gardens," said Chris Klein, CEO Rachio. "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."
The Wink App
All Wink-enabled products are operated through the Wink app. Free-to-download through the Apple® App Store and Google Play, the app features a simple, intuitive design that makes engaging with Wink-enabled products intuitive.
Whether starting with one Wink-enabled product or many, the Wink app lets consumers personalize their experience to what works best for their home. For example, a consumer can operate just one light bulb or all of the light bulbs in a particular room, or they can group the light bulbs with other products in a particular area of their home. The Wink app makes consumers' lives easier by letting them adjust the thermostat or turn lights off after leaving the house, or control energy savings by shutting off the air conditioner when leaving and turning it back on right before getting home.
Additionally, today the Wink app will be available to download for Google's Android Wear™, allowing Android users to receive alerts and operate their connected home products from anywhere. Consumers can connect to Wink's collection of smart home products through their Android Wear, which they can download from the Google play store along with Wink's Android and iOS version.
The Wink HUB
As part of Wink's commitment to an open ecosystem, it has developed the Wink HUB to support products that do not connect directly to the Internet. The Wink HUB offers consumers choice by working with connected products from leading brands, allowing for control of any favorite smart product from the Wink app. The Wink HUB MSRP is $79.99. However, through Labor Day at The Home Depot, the Wink HUB is priced at $49.99. With the purchase of one Wink-compatible product from The Home Depot, the price of the Wink HUB drops to $24.99, and with the purchase of two Wink-compatible products, it drops to $0.99. The Wink HUB has no monthly fees or contracts and supports leading protocols including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Lutron ClearConnect, so consumers can easily set up the products without worrying about their compatibility.
All Wink-enabled products are labeled with a seal that makes it clear whether the Wink HUB is required or not.
Wink, The Company
Originally created as a platform to connect Quirky's products to mobile devices, Quirky established Wink as a standalone business and expanded its business model to now support close to 60 different products from a variety of manufacturers. Wink is a wholly owned subsidiary of Quirky, with its own leadership and office locations.
Availability
Wink-enabled products are available for purchase today at The Home Depot stores, www.homedepot.com and Amazon.com, with the plan to make Wink available to consumers in many ways over time.
