Twice

Smartphones owners can’t keep their content on their phone, a Parks Associates survey of broadband households found.

Thirty-five percent of smartphone owners stream music to speakers, and 24 percent stream video to a second screen, such as a TV or PC, Parks said.

From the article "Everybody’s Doing It: How People Use Their Smartphones" by Joseph Palenchar.

Younger households adopt smart-home devices at a higher rate than older households, but older households with smart-home devices own more devices on average, Parks Associates found in a survey.

Smart-home adoption also increases with house size, Parks said.

Among U.S. broadband households with a head of household ages 25 to 34, the adoption rate of smart-home products is almost 30 percent, the highest of any age group. Among heads of household ages 35 to 44, adoption is ...read more

A total of 21 percent of U.S. broadband households with at least one Internet-connected CE device use a streaming-media player as their primary platform for streaming online video, up from the year-ago 12 percent, Parks said. In contrast, streaming-video usage declined for connected gaming consoles, and it increased modestly for smart TVs, the research company said. Game consoles, nonetheless, are still used more than streaming-media players to stream video, Parks said.
In the ...read more

Younger households adopt smart-home devices at a higher rate than older households, but older households with smart-home devices own more devices on average, Parks Associates found in a survey.Smart-home adoption also increases with house size, Parks said.

Among U.S. broadband households with a head of household ages 25 to 34, the adoption rate of smart-home products is almost 30 percent, the highest of any age group. Among heads of household ages 35 to 44, adoption is only ...read more

Many consumers who own or plan to buy a smart watch will use it to control smart-home devices, a Parks Associates survey found.

More than one in five U.S. broadband households that own or plan to buy a smart watch intend to use this device to control such home-automation devices as lights, garage doors, thermostats and the like, Parks said. Almost 20 home-automation suppliers have created Apple Watch apps, the company noted.

“The accessibility of a smart watch makes it a ...read more

TWICE: Which segments of the DIY market are growing the quickest?

Nathan Smith, Wink: We see many people starting out on their smart home with lighting (given the ease of installation and affordability) and adding additional products like thermostats and door locks over time. One of the fastest growing categories currently is security as more and more people understand how smart cameras, sensors, smoke alarms, and the like can be used to give you peace of mind while you’re a ...read more

What’s needed is a continuous service wrapper – support services that help the buyer with the purchase, and once that buyer becomes a customer, helping her or him do more than install the new “thing,” but also gain immediate value from that thing that is now part of their ever-evolving, personalized technology envelope.

The absence of a continuous service wrapper can lead to failed adoption, skyrocketing returns and unhappy customers – all of which have a negative impact on ...read more

New research from Parks Associates reports that more than 6 percent of U.S. broadband homes currently own a robotic vacuum cleaner and adoption will exceed 11 percent by 2020. Home robots are emerging as a new category within the connected home and Internet of Things by focusing on single tasks that provide a compelling value proposition for consumers.

Robotic floor cleaners are the first phase of the consumer robotics market, which will gradually expand to include healthcar ...read more