EE Times

Research carried out by the Femto Forum and international research firm, Parks Associates, finds improved indoor wireless coverage and fast access to advanced data services are drivers for consumer interest. The small wireless base stations designed to provide five bars of local wireless signal strength are climbing up global consumer 'want' lists as determined by the survey of consumer attitudes toward femtocells in developed markets.

“Despite the survey covering mature mob ...read more

Coming in to the season, market watchers at Parks Associates (Dallas) predicted flat sales of electronics. In a Parks survey only 38 percent of heads of broadband-equipped households in the U.S. said they intended to buy a CE product before January, down from 49 percent at the same time last year.

From the article, "Santa brought fewer gadgets in 2010" by Rick Merritt

Only 38 percent of heads of broadband-equipped households in the U.S. intend to buy a CE product before January, down from 49 percent at the same time last year, according to a survey by market watcher Parks Associates (Dallas). Sixty-two percent of respondents said they do not plan to purchase a CE product by January, up from 51 percent last year.

"2010 will not be a stellar year," said Yilan Jiang, manager of consumer research at Parks. "It may end up a little bit up in un ...read more

At the Consumer Electronics Show this coming January research firm Parks Associates will host a day-long Connections Summit dedicated to analyzing market trends and strategies for connected consumer electronic devices including tablets, smartphones, and video services.

Participants will include Intel and home entertainment connections provider Rovi, Best Buy, and other home network entertainment leaders as well as vendors of 'smart energy' products and networks such as Direc ...read more

Home health care monitoring for wellness, disease management and elder care is a $2 billion market today, said Stuart Sikes, president of Parks Associates (Dallas). It is expected to grow as security and broadband service providers start to offer health care services over the next few years.

However, convincing insurance companies to reimburse for such services will be a slow process and consumers will be price sensitive about paying for them directly, Sikes said. For exampl ...read more

Consumers are interested in smart appliances and energy monitors needed for more efficient homes. But utilities are moving slowly into home energy networks, opening a door for independent services, according to market watchers at Park Associates (Dallas).

As many as 53 million smart electric meters will be installed in the U.S. by the end of 2014, up from just 23 million today, Parks forecasted. However, even by 2014, only 6.8 percent of them—3.6 million smart meters—will ha ...read more

More than 350 million households worldwide will have some form of home network by 2013, many focused on video-on-demand services, predicted Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at Parks Associates in a Webinar Thursday (August 27). By contrast, the biggest application for today's home nets is printer sharing (49 percent) followed by file sharing (35 percent), he said. "It's surprising that we still see relatively limited use of even these basic home networking features," Scherf said.

Market watcher Parks Associates estimates four million smart meters have been deployed in the U.S. to date, though many have not been enabled for two-way communications. An estimated 50 million could be installed in five years, the group said.

"Its been going faster than anticipated in part as a result of government stimulus funds," said Bill Ablondi, a Parks researcher.

From the article, "DoE puts out call for $3.9B in smart grid projects" by Rick Merritt