San Francisco Chronicle

According to a May report from the consultancy Parks Associates, 27 percent of U.S. homes with a broadband internet connection owned at least one smart speaker, yet about 45 percent of their owners “strongly agreed with the statement that it is impossible to keep my data completely private from the companies I purchased goods and services from,” said Dina Abdelrazik, a Parks Associates research analyst.

From the article "Alexa and other smart speakers may endanger privacy ri ...read more

Nest’s doorbell, called Nest Hello, marks its first entry into the $334 million video doorbell market, according to 2017 data from research firm Parks Associates. Last month, Amazon announced it had purchased video doorbell company Ring. Companies are battling to get the most access to the front door, according to Dina Abdelrazik, a Parks Associates research analyst.

From the article "Nest, now a Google subsidiary, starts selling video doorbell" by Wendy Lee.

For years, home security has been relatively expensive, with homeowners paying an average of $44 per month for a professionally installed and monitored system. About 22 percent of U.S. homeowners subscribe to such services, according to the research firm Parks Associates.

But the spread of high-speed broadband access, coupled with the rise of smartphones, opened the doors — almost literally — for a new breed of wireless security cameras and sensors that homeowners can instal ...read more

For years, home security has been relatively expensive, with homeowners paying an average of $44 per month for a professionally installed and monitored system. About 22 percent of U.S. homeowners subscribe to such services, according to the research firm Parks Associates.

From the article "Doorbell live-cams fight back against porch pirates filching packages" by Benny Evangelista. 

A recent survey by the research firm Parks Associates of adults age 40 and over found that 80 percent expected to still be living in their own homes when they were 80 years old.

That expectation, however, is contingent on maintaining the financial means and the physical abilities to continue to live independently. While smart-home technology can’t help boost financial security, it could help seniors with health and safety concerns.

While seniors want more than the social ...read more

According to research released this week by Parks Associates, Apple and Samsung own more than 76 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, widening their lead over also-rans LG and Motorola. While Google made a splash with its Pixel phone and is running ads for its Pixel 2, as of August, it had less than 1 percent of the market. Moreover, Apple’s newest flagship that some pundits are already calling a potential game changer, the $1,000 iPhone X, hits stores Friday.

From the art ...read more

Meanwhile, August Home and Walmart are testing a service that uses a smart lock to open the door for a delivery person to leave an online-ordered package inside.

The Assa Abloy acquisition gives August Home some deep pockets to further develop its products and a broader distribution system, said Brad Russell, research director for connected home products for Parks Associates.

“They’ve made strong strides getting into retail and started building a dealer network in (th ...read more

Only about 22 percent of U.S. homeowners have a professionally monitored home-security system, and most of those have been installed by the companies, said Parks Associates senior analyst Brad Russell. ADT has about a quarter of that market, leading competitors Vivint, Comcast’s Xfinity Home and Moni.

The overall market has remained flat for several years, but should generate $15 billion in revenue this year, Russell said.

From the article "Samsung, ADT team up on home s ...read more