"smart home" articles

Cameras, whether doorbell or freestanding, are one of the fastest areas of innovation in home security. Companies are improving pixel quality, night vision, thermal vision, camera view, camera durability, battery life, and A.I. detecting capabilities. They are also adding new features to deter intruders or porch pirates. As this occurs, consumer demand increases. Parks Associate’s research finds cameras and video doorbells are the top two devices’ consumers add to their home...

One unique market for smart spaces solutions is that of smart apartments and MDUs. Smart apartments feature smart amenities for residents, community management solutions, and building automation solutions. These solutions are growing in popularity among MDU property managers and owners in the US and Europe. In Europe, this is noted by investments in property management software, such as Plentific, which raised $100M in funding from Brookfield Asset Management, Highland Europe, and Target...

Join leading industry executives and analysts in discussing the entertainment services landscape at Parks Associates’ Future of Video 2022 event series. Panelists will discuss research that analyzes industry themes such as hybrid business models, streaming measurement challenges, service stacking and churn, and consumer usage trends. AGENDA: Welcome: State of the Video Market Elizabeth Parks , President and CMO,  Parks Associates...

This growing emphasis on smart home solutions and interoperability comes as utilities are amid an enormous transition changing how energy is generated and delivered. Driven by a massive shift to renewable energy sources, growing demand, and an aging grid, utilities are moving towards a distributed renewable energy environment after over a century of central station generation. The “utility of the future” is very real and a very different concept than that of utilities of...

The MDU market is unique for its multiple stakeholders, bulk deployments, and multiple locations for installations. End-user residents, MDU property managers, and building owners benefit directly from proptech. Other ecosystem players are also in a position to capitalize on new demand and value, including smart home solution vendors, ISPs, insurance agencies, security providers, and installers. MDUs may have hundreds of units on one property, which leads to bulk device purchases and...

Consumers now have a deeper relationship with technology. The elevated use of connected devices for entertainment consumption, productivity, and access to services has proven durable even as out-of-home activities resumed. Technology demand remained strong entering 2022, and US internet households now own an all-time high of 16 connected devices on average. The consumer electronics (CE) category has displayed surprising resilience. Along with the unpredictability of the pandemic and...

Before the rise of connected devices, the product manual was typically the only resource available for users to solve product problems themselves. With the rise of home internet, self-service evolved to include options such as FAQ pages and support chat bots on product and service websites. Support forums and user-generated or expert-generated video tutorials on YouTube are also commonplace. These resources help users with general issues, but do not diagnose a user’s specific issue. The...

Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in US internet households, and consumers rely now more than ever on reliable, high-performing connectivity at home. However, consumers continue to experience problems with range issues and loss of connectivity. At the same time, security dealers are increasingly integrating Wi-Fi devices into security systems, responding to growing consumer demand for video doorbells, network cameras, and many other Wi-Fi smart home devices. Yet, dealers are not in full, end-to-end...