Dallas Morning News

HBO Max has become the bellwether that investors are watching to see whether AT&T can execute its entertainment vision.

“Out of all their financials, it’s just a small part of AT&T,” said Brett Sappington, senior research director for entertainment at Addison-based market research company Parks Associates. “It seems to be the tail wagging the rest of the AT&T dog at the moment.”

Elliott has criticized the slow rollout of the streaming service. It also noted how AT&T has ...read more

About one-third of internet users stream cable TV without paying for it by using credentials of someone they don't live with, according to Parks Associates. The TV industry's losses from password sharing are expected to rise to $9.9 billion by 2021 from $3.5 billion this year, the research firm estimates. That lost revenue is especially important because the pay-TV industry is already losing subscribers to cheaper online rivals like Netflix.

From the article "Do you share yo ...read more

Voice-activated personal assistants have gained popularity across the U.S. About 12 percent of U.S. households with broadband had a voice assistant by late 2016, according to market research firm Parks Associates. That was up from 5 percent a year earlier.

By 2018, about 30 percent of interactions with technology will be through conversations with smart machines, according to a report by consulting firm Gartner.

From the article "Alexa, can you pay my water bill? Dall ...read more

"You have industries that weren't traditionally impacted by each other all colliding and trying to figure out how to benefit from this change, while at the same time trying to protect their existing core business," said Brett Sappington, senior research director at Dallas-based Parks Associates and an authority on the changing landscape.

From the article "AT&T's Mega-Deal With Time Warner Banks On Your Connected Future" by Conor Shine.

Roku is the most popular brand of streaming media players in the U.S., according to a study by Parks Associates, a Dallas market research and consulting firm that specializes in consumer technology products. Streaming devices are becoming more and more popular. About 36 percent of U.S. households with broadband have at least one streaming media player — up from 27 percent last year, the study found.

From the article "Meet The Texas A&M Grad And DVR Inventor Who Turned Us Int ...read more

Harry Wang, director of mobile and health products research at Dallas-based Parks Associates, said the digital fitness tracker is the fastest-growing category in the connected health device market, and Fitbit is the clear leader, with a more than 50 percent market share. There will be demand for various types of fitness trackers. Some older people, for example, may want a wearable just for measuring walking distances and steps.

From the article "Watch, Meet Smartwatch: Fossi ...read more

If anyone can get us to use our smartphones as wallets, it’s Apple.

That’s what experts think about the launch this week of Apple Pay, the first mobile wallet to work on an iPhone.

Two previous attempts — by Google and a partnership of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile called Soft Card — haven’t pushed consumers to pay for things with their Android phones. Now it’s Apple’s turn.

Apple Pay is in line with the Apple playbook, said Jennifer Kent, director of research at Dallas ...read more

Apple is expected to unveil a new tablet tomorrow.

In case you are keeping score, Dallas-based Parks Associates released new first quarter tablet data today.

About 16 percent of U.S. households with broadband own an Amazon tablet and 14 percent own a Samsung tablet.

From the article "Apple’s iPad market share has been shrinking" by Maria Halkias.