The Seattle Times

According to research firm Parks Associates, more than 300 million people are playing games on Facebook each month. And with 20 percent of players paying cash for in-game benefits, that pushed revenues for social-gaming companies over $1 billion in 2010, the firm reported.

From the article, "Online-fame firm hooks up with rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot" by Christine Harvey

Kurt Scherf, principal analyst with Dallas-based market-research firm Parks Associates, said Netflix and others simply adapted to changing trends faster than Blockbuster.

"Blockbuster had that opportunity a few years ago to set the standard," Scherf said. "I'm just amazed that they got passed so quickly by all these other players."

"They really need to act now before Redbox really steps it up in that space, or they'll get left behind again," Scherf said.

Scherf said if B ...read more

"Those devices "have the potential to dramatically increase consumer awareness of the capabilities and convenience that control systems can provide," according to a 2007 report from Parks Associates, a Dallas research company. Parks expects home-control sales will reach $6 billion in 2012, up from $3.8 billion in 2008. Other components of the automated home are falling in place, the report said: Among U.S. homes, 42 percent now have programmable thermostats, 36 percent have home ...read more

Most people still aren't playing digital music through their home stereos anyway. Rathbone pointed to research by Dallas-based Parks Associates that found while a growing number of Internet users have digital music stored on their PCs, only about 10 percent play that music back through their home stereos.

From the article "Wireless DJ a truly plug, play system," by Brier Dudley.

Apple's iPod owns the market now, but some analysts think the market is still young and there's room for others to compete. Shipments of portable multimedia players will top 13 million units by 2010, according to consumer-research firm Parks Associates.

From the article "The next wave of cool new stuff," by Brier Dudley.

Cable companies are embracing VoIP because it generates significant revenue and uses little network capacity, said John Barrett, research director at Dallas-based Parks Associates. They are becoming multiservice providers that offer television, voice, Internet and ultimately, some kind of mobile phone service, Barrett added.

From the article "Comcast to deliver Web phone service soon," by Kim Peterson

Nextel is reportedly testing IPWireless' network technology, the standards-based TD-CDMA, though through a different type of spectrum than the Flarion service requires.  With the Flarion-based service, Nextel can market higher speeds and lower costs than cell carriers' offerings. "It leapfrogs 3G and competes with DSL," Nextel's Schaefer said

Recent research supports her claims. A report from Parks Associates found that 43 percent of Internet users said they would be intereste ...read more

Seattle Wi-Fi users may find slightly fewer hotspots because Cometa is closing its doors, but the shutdown shouldn't hurt the overall growth of the hotspot market.

Despite Cometa's big-name backers, its business focus was questionable, said Michael Cai, a senior analyst with Parks Associates. "They targeted the wrong venues. People who really need hotspots are frequent travelers, and the locations they need hotspot services are hotels, airports and maybe coffee shops," he said ...read more