The smart home market is often seen as being dominated by Android and Alexa, but Windows has carved its own niche in the competitive market. CNET recently noted that many manufacturers were actively working towards Microsoft capability. However, a Windows-powered home will require good connectivity. Making the effort towards achieving that will bring dividends, however, as Windows may be the best platform for monitoring your devices and controlling your data.
Connectivity is key
The greatest time to set up a smart home is when its new. Mortgage lenders, real estate agents and banks are taking to the internet and espousing new smart homes. These new homes are being built either with connectivity-geared walls or wide connections that enable mesh networking, according to USA Today. All wireless gadgets will require good connectivity, but if you’re using a Windows PC as a central hub, then it will be key to have good connectivity feeding back into that spot. This is the starting point for any Windows-based smart home configuration.
Joining up your devices
A little more difficulty presents in actually joining up your devices. This is the main difficulty with having many different strands of technology, made by disparate manufacturers. One great way around this is with Raspberry Pi, which supports Windows 10 and, according to Futurism, is currently moving to release a comprehensive starter pack. This will allow both laymen and seasoned professionals to get involved with designing and deploying their own home control system.
The advantage Windows offers
Smart homes are a huge area of debate when it comes to data privacy. The data gathering and loose security undertaken by many major producers of smart gadgets has led some groups to rightly question their suitability for release at this time. This could be set to change. As TechCrunch outlines, Princeton has developed software called an IoT Inspector which will soon be released for Windows. The potential for Windows users here is great; Windows has telemetry, but is considered to be the most customizable and most transparent service. This makes a Windows-based service best placed to monitor and dictate data gathering in the home.
Windows may be seen to have lagged behind in the smart home, but the truth is that the platform has a small but well refined place in the market. New technology and techniques will boost this place further. Ultimately, this should elevate Windows to a premier smart home platform.
About Nick
Nick is a Software Engineer. He has interest in gadgets and technical stuffs. If you are facing any problem with your Windows, feel free to ask him.