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New from Parks Associates, Smart Home & MDUS: The Property Manager View is a comprehensive and deep analysis of latest perspectives from property tech managers and developers on smart products. In the multifamily sector, adoption of smart home technology is accelerating as developers and owners are persuaded by dual business cases: operational efficiencies and increased rental revenue driven by improved tenant acquisition and retention.

From the article "Parks Associates Rel ...read more

“Smart appliance adoption is growing among US broadband households. Thirteen percent of US broadband households now own a smart appliance and smart microwaves are a leading category. Voice control is a highly-valued feature for smart appliance owners, with more than one-fifth of those who own or intend to purchase various smart appliances rating voice control as one of the most appealing features of the appliance,” said Patrice Samuels, senior analyst, Parks Associates.

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"Interoperability continues to be a leading challenge for the smart home industry," said Chris O'Dell, Parks research associate. "Nearly 75 percent of consumers who intend to purchase a smart home device in the next year report that the ability for that device to work well with other devices is an important factor in their purchase decision. This challenge intensifies when consumers purchase stand-alone devices at different times, from different brands, rather than purchasing sm ...read more

According to Parks Associates, consumers are struggling with rising technical issues brought on by DIY smart home devices. This struggle opens up opportunities for the professionally installed smart home, and thus dealers must stay on top of the latest brands, products, and installation best practices for home automation.

From the article "PowerHouse Alliance Distributor Members Invite Dealers to Automation, Security, AV Training and Events this November."

New research from Parks Associates shows that 21 percent of U.S. pay TV subscribers subscribe to an online video service through their pay TV provider, up from 10 percent a year ago.

The research firm attributes this jump to the increasing number of partnerships between pay TV and OTT providers, with operators such as Comcast adding support for Netflix in their set-top boxes.

Other insights from Parks Associates' new consumer study include:

• pay TV subscription rate ...read more

Voice shopping may also be hitting the road, as 57 percent of U.S. broadband households are interested in voice control features for their car, a new Parks Associates study shows.

The biggest beneficiary in this next wave of retail disruption will likely be Amazon, which has a head start in the voice segment through its popular Echo line of smart speakers and Alexa AI engine. OC&C pegs Echo’s current penetration at 10 percent of U.S. homes, followed by Google Home at 4 perce ...read more

“Consumer concerns about data privacy and security, including both the unauthorized hacking of devices and theft of device data, consistently rank as one of the leading concerns about connecting devices to the Internet,” noted Brad Russell, connected home research director for Parks Associates. “Companies are working to adopt best practices for IoT data security and management to allay concerns and deliver peace of mind, including more stringent efforts to secure the home networ ...read more

Fifty-five percent of U.S. broadband households find it appealing to use voice control to control or understand the status of connected devices, according to recent research from Parks Associates.

“The act of ‘waking up’ a personal assistant by simply calling its name is a natural and intrinsic way of interacting with devices and has facilitated a robust user experience,” said Dina Abdelrazik, research analyst, Parks Associates. “The strong consumer response to voice control ...read more