PC Magazine

When it comes to tech gifts, most consumers are thinking Apple this holiday season.

The Cupertino tech giant is the top consumer electronics brand for planned holiday purchases, topping Dell for the first time as the most popular desktop maker, according to new research from Parks Associates. Apple is also the top brand this year for tablets, laptops, smartphones, home networking routers, MP3 players, and streaming media devices, like Apple TV.

"Apple topped the list of ...read more

The Roku is the most popular streaming video device in the U.S., trumping the Apple TV, according to new data from Parks Associates.

Of the 10,000 people polled by Parks, 37 percent of those with a streaming video media device used the Roku most while 24 percent used Apple TV. Overall, use of these types of devices has doubled since 2011 to 14 percent this year.
Given that smart TVs - particularly 4K/UHD sets - are still rather pricey, it's less risky and more financially ...read more

AT&T last month announced a three-year upgrade to its wireless and wired networks dubbed Project Velocity IP (VIP). As part of the plan, the service provider will spend $8 billion over the next three years beefing up its wireless network.
The company also plans to buy more spectrum for a total of 118 MHz nationwide and push for the FCC to release more. AT&T also pledged to deploy small cell tech, macro cells, and more distributed antenna systems to boost the performance of its ...read more

When it comes to 4G LTE, rival carrier Verizon is leading the charge in the U.S., currently serving more than 440 cities. Meanwhile, Sprint is planning to bring its own 4G LTE network to more than 100 new cities over the coming months. T-Mobile expects to upgrade to 4G LTE in 2013.

Global 4G LTE subscribership is expected to skyrocket from 9 million last year to more than 560 million in 2016, according to a recent report from Parks Associates.

From the article, "AT&T Lau ...read more

Piper Jaffray's findings echo a July study from Parks Associates, which found that more than half of U.S. mobile phone users have some knowledge of the term 4G, but just 20 percent understand what LTE entails.

Confusion about the network technologies is good for Sprint, which has a much smaller LTE footprint than Verizon and AT&T. Given that many consumers don't really care about 4G, "we are somewhat optimistic that the lack of a substantial 4G LTE network will not materiall ...read more

AT&T said it expects its LTE deployment to be "largely complete" by the end of next year.

Rival carrier Verizon is leading the 4G LTE charge in the U.S., with plans to extend its super-fast network to 400 markets by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Sprint last month fired up its 4G LTE in a handful of markets and T-Mobile expects to upgrade to 4G LTE in 2013.

Global 4G/LTE subscribership is expected to skyrocket from 9 million last year to more than 560 million in 2016, a ...read more

Global 4G/LTE subscribership is expected to skyrocket from 9 million last year to more than 560 million in 2016, according to a new report from Parks Associates.

Still, the technology research firm estimates that in 2016, just 8.8 percent of worldwide mobile subscriptions will be for 4G/LTE services. As of last month, a total of 83 carriers had launched LTE networks in 43 countries. An additional 40 carriers are expected to deploy LTE by the end of the year.

Also, the Asia-Pa ...read more

Less than a year after Apple introduced Siri — marketed as the iPhone 4S's most important feature — a report from Parks Associates in March reported that more than 50 percent of users were "very satisfied" with Siri. Another 21 percent were simply "satisfied."

From the article, "Will Apple's iOS 6 Bring Siri to iPad?" by Stephanie Mlot.