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Analyst Parks Associates announced just a couple of weeks ago that according to its estimates, Roku is increasing its lead in the streaming media player landscape, now accounting for 37 percent of streaming media players. The ability to turn all those active users into viewers of subscription or ad supported channels that Roku does make money on will be its main challenge, but so far the company's mostly content-agnostic approach has worked for publishers and viewers alike.

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The elephant in this room is, of course, the Apple Watch, which is gently eroding everyone else's position in the smartwatch world. Parks Associates believes that, across 2016, the company sold 12 million devices, which rings true enough. Whatever the third-generation device brings, it's likely that it will, again, use the combination of Apple's brand and its utility to embarrass the rest of the field.

From the article "The wearables battlefield is strewn with casualties" by ...read more

Now that it's launching via Apple, companies like Comcast and Verizon may not have as much of a choice to sit out, or pull stunts like locking down access to HBO Go. Our other question is how much it will cost if anyone else offers it, as an official FAQ mentions "prices may vary" across providers. Exactly how much money Apple is making from the deal is unknown, so we'll be interested to see if someone like Amazon could choose to offer HBO Now access for a lower price, or maybe ...read more

In a second phase launch planned for this year, Samsung Smart TV viewers will be able to opt-in to shop directly from television programming and advertising while simultaneously viewing. In addition to completing transactions, this functionality will allow viewers to receive targeted offers or request additional information from programmers and advertisers, all via the remote control.

Parks Associates estimates that of the 136 million TV households in North America projected ...read more

By providing straightforward visibility and control over the home network, Skydog ushers in the next generation of home network management, enabling the entire household to save time and improve their connected experience.

"The home network market has been static for a few years now, with the focus primarily going to 'speeds and feeds,'" said Patrice Samuels, research analyst at Parks Associates. "While some in the industry have taken preliminary steps to offer advanced home ...read more

By simply screwing in the bulbs, consumers can immediately begin to control their lights. The solution comes pre-configured with "home," "away" and "night" Smart Controls. For example, before bed, consumers can simply press the "night" Smart Control to turn off all lights, eliminating the need to go from room to room to turn lights off. Consumers can also create their own custom Smart Controls to fit their lifestyle, such as having outdoor lights automatically come on at dusk an ...read more

According to a study by Parks Associates, 26% of all U.S. broadband households still connect a computer to their TV to enjoy locally stored or online content that is only accessible throughtheir desktop or laptop. The Push2TV Wireless Display Adapter frees content from a small PC, tablet or smartphone screen and allows you to watch sports, a movie, view photos or stream online content on your HDTV without connecting cables from your laptop to your TV. Instead, you can wirelessly ...read more

Backing up data is an absolute necessity that many people put off until after it's too late. According to a 2011 study by Parks Associates less than one-quarter of the households in the survey have a weekly backup plan for their systems and only 4% are diligent enough to manually perform a backup on a daily basis[1].

"The idea of providing a backup of photos and videos from Facebook is an interesting one, which I believe may help people come to realize the importance of main ...read more