E-commerce Times

Parks Associates believes that new health reforms from the GOP would incorporate many elements of Obamacare, but the political mess could delay implementation of new care models and disrupt the pace of population health management programs' technology adoption, including that for wearables.

From the article "The Technological Evolution Of US Healthcare" by by Harry Wang.

"It's a bit of a cumbersome experience," said Glenn Hower, an analyst with Parks Associates.

"It's cool and there's a novelty aspect to it, but right now it's a tough sell for the mainstream markets," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"There's still some work to do with user experience," Hower added. "2016 may see some more significant implementations, but I'm hesitant to say it will make the jump from novelty to mainstream."

From the article "PCs May Not Be Ready for VR ...read more

Several factors have contributed to the sudden expansion of connected car services available or coming to the market, most notably the expansion of mobile broadband networks, high penetration of smartphones in the consumer market, and auto manufacturers' re-evaluation of connected services as a competitive advantage and means to generate new revenues.

While the connected car and smart home ecosystems haven't yet entered the mainstream, neither is in its infancy. Crossover be ...read more

The connected car and smart home markets are both at an early stage of development, but in many ways they have been growing in parallel. Both markets are enabled by the falling costs of sensors, networking technologies and data, as well as by expanded cloud services, the mass penetration of smartphones, and consumer demand for the connected lifestyle.

In 2015, these ecosystems are beginning to converge, with use cases such as remote home controls, entertainment on the go, an ...read more

The Apple TV came in fourth, behind Amazon's Fire TV, Google's second-place Chromecast and Roku's pack-leading set-top devices, in Parks Associates' tally of streaming device sales in 2014. Amazon and Netflix have displayed some weaknesses, though.

Amazon has been focusing on disrupting the status quo in fashion similar to Apple's ecosystem- building strategy, according to Pund-IT's King, but in some cases, those bets have blown up in the company's face.

"Netflix has bee ...read more

Growth of the Internet of Things in broadband households extends the life, utility and functionality of all connected solutions in the home. It also puts new pressures on existing support solutions to meet consumers' expectations.

Sixteen percent of U.S. broadband households owned a smart home device, and nearly 40 percent planned to buy a smart home product in the next 12 months, suggests a research report Parks Associates released last month. Many of those devices will be ...read more

OTT video service providers must climb the learning curve quickly in order to keep the doors open. Often, content license terms require companies to grow revenues quickly in order to cover minimum guaranteed payments for their content. In a very real sense, the profitability clock is ticking from the time that they open their doors. Pay-TV providers also are taking careful note.

Being on the cutting edge is exciting... so long as you are not the one getting cut. The global e ...read more

The global access and entertainment services marketplace continues its pace of dramatic change, as broadband services have achieved new levels of penetration and speed worldwide.

Emerging markets in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia are experiencing rapid growth, as many homes obtain high-speed broadband services for the first time. While penetration growth has slowed in mature markets in North America, Western Europe, and Asia, competition is driving an industry push t ...read more