Rumor: Microsoft wants to make Windows 10 a ‘hub’ for smarthome

Microsoft is rumored to be working on Home Hub for Windows 10, a piece of software that will turn the operating system into a hub for sharing information with the entire family and controlling smart home devices.

The rumors come from Windows Central, which has spoken to anonymous sources about the new functionality. According to the site, Home Hub is an integrated service initially only for Windows 10, introducing a whole host of new features. Central to Home Hub are new ways to share things like documents, calendar appointments and media with family members.

New user interfaces are also being rolled out for this purpose, including a so-called family desktop. This sharing feature could also connect to family members’ smartphones, adding support for Android, Windows 10 Mobile and iOS. Elements from the previously rumored Project Neon should return to the interface, according to Windows Central. However, there are no pictures of what Home Hub will look like yet.

The fact that Microsoft wants to build a hub for the home according to Windows Central is also apparent from the possibility to connect to smart home devices, such as smart lamps. That would work via a special Connected Home app that works with connections based on OCF and OpenT2T. Cortana would also be integrated with the functionality of Home Hub.

Although Home Hub is presented as a feature for Windows 10, Microsoft would also consider offering the software on other devices. The Home Hub could serve on devices from other manufacturers, allowing, for example, competitors for smart devices such as Amazon’s Echo speaker to be built.

The new Home Hub would make its appearance with the upcoming Redstone 2 update. But only with later updates, presumably with Redstone 3 and Redstone 4, the functionality would be complete. If the messages are correct, the full rollout will not be until 2018. Microsoft itself has not yet released anything about Home Hub.