Blog articles from 01/2017

The beginning of a new year is when New Year’s resolutions are in full force. One place where New Year’s resolutions are easily observable is the gym, as getting into better shape is often a top resolution. While the gym is not the only avenue for achieving fitness goals, it is a pretty common location to begin a fitness journey. When someone walks into a gym, one of the first things that is apparent is the music playing over the gym’s speakers. Despite the fact that free...

This is an interesting time to be in music streaming. Competition is rife, and the margins are thin. The largest players are either unicorns in search of profitability (i.e., Spotify, Pandora) or tech giants looking to lock consumers into their ecosystem (Apple, Google, Amazon). Smaller players are increasingly looking at ways to differentiate and stay afloat. For example, Sprint recently announced that it is acquiring one-third of TIDAL, a rebranding of the Norwegian WiMP service...

2017 has arrived. Among all the counting-downs and summing-ups is the exciting acceleration of the connected car industry: Parks Associates forecasts that by 2021, over 60% of all vehicles on the road will have an Internet connectivity solution . This industry is growing to have hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue; but where does the money go? Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in particular are positioned well to benefit from this growing market and are putting more marketing...

Parks Associates is supporting IoT Asia , which takes place March 29-30 in Singapore. The event has addressed the enormous potential of the IoT revolution since the event's first edition in 2014. As the first dedicated platform in Asia to address this revolution, IoT Asia has been ahead of its competition. It is seen as a transformational platform for addressing challenges and identifying real opportunities within the IoT landscape. Last year's event surpassed expectations...

As usual, CES 2017 was a four-day extravaganza of innovations from the smartest connected car innovations to the latest bendable/flexible battery. In the digital health section of the show floor, two companies caught my attention—Israel-based TytoCare and South Korea’s Partron/Croise. Both design and manufacture what I call “personal health hub” devices. TytoCare’s hub (the TytoHome model on the right) is a half-palm-sized device with accessories that currently...

Amazon and Netflix went head-to-head at the 2017 Golden Globes Sunday night, as the OTT video services’ original content was up for several awards. Original content has become an increased focus for OTT video services. Original content provides streaming services with a less expensive option to accumulate new content compared to acquiring licenses from outside sources. In addition, with over 190 OTT video services in North America, original content can create differentiation among...

Some of the most interesting news to come out of CES this year had to do with virtual reality. With the upcoming release of the Windows Holographic System and VR headsets for around $300, it seems like 2017 may be the year that VR goes mainstream. But what does this mean for fitness and healthcare? One example of what we can expect in terms of fitness is VirZOOM. The VirZOOM platform includes a stationary bicycle that works in combination with a VR headset and accompanying software...

Much like last year at CES, Amazon, without a booth or formal attendance at the show, is still a dominant presence with Alexa. With companies unveiling both built-in Alexa products and integrations, Amazon is extending its lead as a way to tie together the smart home with voice-enabled capabilities. Some announcements from this year’s show include the following alliances with varying companies and Alexa: Ford – One of the largest U.S. manufacturers of cars, Ford...