Blog articles from 01/2012

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) announced that Randall Stephenson, the Chairman and CEO of AT&T , will participate in the TIA 2012: Inside the Network Conference and Exhibition as the opening day Keynote Speaker. This year's event is co-located with the 16th annual  CONNECTIONS: Digital Living Conference .  In addition, Parks Associates will host a “Connected Home Pavilion” as part of the TIA 2012 exhibition and demonstration...

In most cases, retail experts say, the slightly older TV models are perfectly fine. Most of what people will buy this season will get them a lot of mileage. For those looking to pick up a new set for the big game. In previous years, some of the best prices were on 42" screens, but as overall prices drop, that sale competition has shifted to 55" sets. The average price of 60" plasmas fell 37% in 2011. The best sales right now are coming in around $800, nearly $200 cheaper...

Of all global markets, Latin America is the fastest growing market for pay-TV services, increasing by 18% between 2010 and 2011. Fueled by growing economies and foreign investment (particularly from Western Europe), Latin America is a hotbed for television delivery systems and services. OTT services are also popping up across the landscape to take advantage of the growth potential. As operators in Latin America invest in new technologies, expect to see advanced TV features emerge that...

According to recent research prepared by Parks Associates for HSN, women are more likely to purchase “hot” tech products than men. That includes everything from LCD TVs, to tablets, to laptops and smartphones. It turns out that women tend to engage in digital activities more frequently than their male counterparts. As a matter of fact, once a woman owns a digital product, she becomes a heavy product user over time. That usage includes everything from watching video podcasts, to...

Jennifer Kent , Research Analyst, Parks Associates will present on "Consumers and Their Mobile Devices: Data and Trends" on Wednesday, January 25th at 4 PM Eastern for the NARM Online Seminar Series. Mobile devices with anytime anywhere connectivity and powerful computing capabilities are increasingly reaching mainstream consumers. Smartphones and tablets are disrupting nearly every consumer-facing industry, including mature industries such as the pay-TV and video...

Consumer viewership of online video dramatically increased in the past few years, and this trend will continue in 2012. Nearly 70% of U.S. broadband households viewed online video on their PCs at least monthly in 2011, compared to 38% in 2006. Netflix recently announced that its members around the world viewed more than 2 billion hours of content in Q4 2011 alone. Consumers acquired an increasing number of platforms they can use to watch digital video. Throughout the course of 2012,...

You could get an inferiority complex about the televisions and appliances you own after attending this week's International Consumer Electronics Show. The way the industry's biggest names are tossing around the word "smart," you're left wondering whether any of the electronics gear you have has a high-enough IQ.Signs of the S-word in and around the Las Vegas Convention Center are everywhere: Panasonic trumpeting Smart Viera-branded televisions. Samsung proclaiming "The...

A vision of the future is taking shape that will allow communication with the ever-increasing number of gadgets in people's homes: A refrigerator suggests recipes based on its contents and keeps track of when the milk is going to expire. A wall-mounted sensor detects when a person leaves the house and turns down the temperature to a preset level. A homeowner who forgets to close the garage door can do so from across town via a smartphone application. All of these capabilities are...