Los Angeles Times

"There's a growing sense among analysts and technology vendors that cellphone users would prefer advertiser-supported entertainment too. For example, see this report from Parks Associates and USC's Entertainment Technology Center, which urges Hollywood to offer free content to mobile users as a way to promote other sales."

From the article, "Ads Are Back," by Jon Healey

Spending on ads in games is expected to grow 33% a year for the next five years, compared with just 3% for television advertising, according to Parks Associates. Part of that growth has to do with supply and demand.

"Overall, gaming is virgin territory for advertising compared to other media," said Michael Cai, an analyst with the Dallas-based media research firm. "TV is saturated. It's very hard to insert another 30-second commercial. But for games, there are a lot of unuse ...read more

"It's not the old media world anymore," said Michael Cai, analyst with Parks Associates in Dallas, who estimates that spending on advertising within games will grow to more than $800 million in 2012, up from $90 million this year. "You now have lots of new platforms, new media, new business models. Nielsen is trying to branch out. They've learned from the past, and now they want to make sure they're on top of any emerging media."

From the article "Nielsen to track video game ...read more

Until recently, the price tag for home automation systems ranged from $30,000 to $50,000 and kept the industry stagnant, says Kurt Scherf, a market researcher at Dallas-based Parks Associates, which studies emerging technologies.

These days, a slew of companies such as Control4 are automating homes for $3,000 to $15,000. Best Buy has rolled out a $15,000 system called ConnectedLife.Home, which allows you to manage light switches, the thermostat and security cameras by remote ...read more

With the software, retailers could download specific films requested by customers, who can place their orders online. The DVDs would then be delivered by mail or picked up at in-store kiosks similar to those used to print photos from digital cameras, said Kurt Scherf, an analyst at Parks Associates.

"Because of shelf space limits, retailers can't stock all the titles consumers want," said Scherf. "This would let retailers stock the titles that sell the most and still have a ...read more

Online photo companies have a high level of customer loyalty, said Harry Wang, a research analyst at Parks Associates. After a customer accumulates a lot of pictures on an online photography site, it is hard to switch to another online site, he said.

Wang expects the segment of the digital imaging industry that lets customers pick up pictures at retail stores to increase to $11.5 billion in sales by 2010 from $5.4 billion this year, and the segment that mails prints to custo ...read more

John Barrett, an analyst at market research firm Parks Associates in Dallas, is more skeptical. At a recent conference in Universal City, he asked a panel of college students about file sharing and piracy. With so many of their friends illegally downloading, the students said, they were confident they would never be punished.

"There wasn't a kid on that group," he said, "that had the least bit of fear."

From the article "Crackdown on Piracy Hits Barrier," by Lorenza Muño ...read more

According to the technology research firm Parks Associates, more than 30% of all U.S. households had high-speed Internet connection by the end of last year, and more than 15% had home networks. Meanwhile, more than 13,000 restaurants, hotels, airports and open spaces offer high-speed Internet services that the public can connect to wirelessly.

From the article "Moving to Cut TV's Ties to the Living Room Set," by Jon Healey and Alex Pham.