Re/Code

Parks Associates indicates that 32 percent of homeowners with dwellings of 3,000 square feet or more own a smart home product — yet less than 20 percent of total households nationwide have smart home products. Based on these statistics, many pundits still suggest that smart home technologies have been a solution searching for a problem.

From the article "Will Home Services Finally Catapult the Smart Home Into the Mass Market?" by Nate Williams.

Amazon also has a strained relationship with Google. That’s in part because of Amazon’s decision to use a “forked” version of Android for its tablet software, but it’s mostly because Amazon is increasingly cutting into Google’s core search business. Amazon doesn’t have a video app for Google’s Chromecast or Android video devices, either.

Apple’s new box is supposed to go on the market in late October, the same time that Amazon’s ban kicks in. Amazon, Google and Roku are also ...read more

With the new 3,500-square-foot Open House space in San Francisco, Target is attempting to accomplish a few things. It already sells roughly a third of the 35 Open House products in its retail stores, and ideally would like to sell more of the most promising ones in the future. Establishing an early relationship with these companies, the thinking goes, may give Target an edge when new ones are ready for brick-and-mortar retail.

The facility will also serve as a “welcome” sign ...read more

Sometime this spring — likely in April — HBO will start selling Web-only subscriptions.

And when it does, it will take a huge chunk out of the pay-TV business.

So says research firm Parks Associates, via a new survey of Internet users.

To be clear: Parks doesn’t come out and use the words “take a huge chunk out of the pay-TV business” in the summary of its research.

But if Parks’ research is accurate — and, crucially, if the people who respond to Parks’ survey ac ...read more

The “smart” home device market — like wearables — is still relatively nascent, but is pegged for growth. Google’s acquisition of startups like Nest and Dropcam have brought attention to the category, and everyone from cable operators to home improvement retailers has a stake in the game.

Still, a recent report from Parks Associates indicated that most U.S. consumers are still in the dark when it comes to connected home products, with nearly half of all connected-home device ...read more