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Awareness: Voice control of smartphones is building awareness of the potential for voice control of other products, Parks Associates research director Barbara Kraus noted.

“Almost 52 percent of iPhone owners engage with Siri, and almost 32 percent of Android smartphone owners talk with their phone,” said Kraus. “Voice is ideal in certain situations.”

Amazon’s Echo has also proven the popularity of voice control. More than 40 percent of Echo owners use it to retrieve Clou ...read more

For her part, Parks Associates research director Barbara Kraus expects voice control will likely spread to all manner of consumer electronics in homes, cars and on the go. But “at this time, voice technology still has a ways to go. Voice recognition tests well in the lab, but it is a different situation in the real world. There is background noise, there are words that sound alike, there are accents and colloquialisms.”

From the article "What The Future Of Smart Home Voice C ...read more

The growth potential was underscored by a Parks Associates survey that found almost 20 percent of U.S. broadband households own at least one smart-home device, and a lot more consumers want them. About 49 percent of all broadband households plan to buy a smart-home product in the next 12 months, Parks found. Among consumers who own a security system, that percentage jumps to 65 percent.

“Security households, rather than being content with their current system, have a procliv ...read more

Smart-home products are rolling out to the masses as consumers look for ways to simplify their daily lives.

According to a recent survey from Parks Associates, more than 40 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to purchase a smart-home device in the next 12 months. Yet we are not likely to see consumers rushing out to replace all of their conventional household appliances, lightbulbs, thermostats, security cameras, and door locks with smart devices overnight.

From th ...read more

Networked surveillance cameras are leading the adoption of smart-home technology, Parks Associates said in releasing consumer-survey results during ISC West.

Nine percent of U.S. broadband households owned an IP/networked security camera at the end of 2015, and 4 to 5 percent of broadband households bought a networked camera in 2015, Parks said in citing its survey of 10,000 broadband households in the U.S.

From the article "Security Cameras Lead Smart-Home Adoption" by  ...read more

The number of broadband-connected households with a game console will fall to less than 50 percent by 2019 from today's 58 percent, thanks to the growth of gaming options on platforms such as smart TVs, media streamers and mobile devices, Parks Associates said.

Virtual-reality headsets also promise to take a toll, given that VR headsets announced to date — save for Sony’s PlayStation VR for the PlayStation 4 — are intended for use with gaming PCs or cellphones, Parks said.

Parks Associates has identified more than 15 smart-home platform players in this growing, yet competitive, market. These platforms can be segmented based on the extent of their openness through APIs and their support of either custom or DIY installation. The majority provide platform solutions and professional services to business customers who, in turn, package different smart-home services for end users (B-to-B-to-C). However, a few platforms also offer smart-home services dir ...read more

Barbara Kraus, Parks Associates director of research, also sees potential. “There are a number of potential use cases for the TV as a smart-home controller,” she said. “The TV display can be used as a notification venue for certain use cases such as detection of movement around a sensor or camera. The TV can show who is at the front door or if a package has been delivered, unlock the door for approved visitors, adjust the lighting to set a mood, or automate household routines.”