Blog articles from 02/2014

This morning, Comcast Corporation and Time Warner Cable, Inc. announced a deal wherein Comcast would acquire Time Warner Cable for north of $45 billion. Naturally, a few regulatory hurdles remain, but the potential impact of the purchase is palpable. The acquisition would make Comcast by far the largest pay-TV provider in the United States; according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association the two companies combine to serve approximately 30 million customers, which would...

Virtual care programs and telemonitoring platforms are at the heart of the connected health industry. Allowing patients to stay on top of their health goals while remaining in contact with physicians and healthcare professionals, telehealth solutions provide solutions for patients looking for convenient, connected care. New Parks Associates research finds that over a quarter of U.S. households have used some type of virtual care communication tool in the past 12 months. This figure...

Residential demand response is in transition.  Smart meters, participation in energy markets, and connected products are all forcing executives to consider new approaches and business models that take advantage of the new environment. Smart meters and the associated meter data management systems enable utilities to create new DR programs that reward participation.  At the Smart Energy Summit panelist will evaluate the impact of smart meters on DR programs and discuss the...

Last week, TV Everywhere delivery platform provider Azuki Systems was acquired by Ericsson. The acquisition by Ericsson , an internationally-renowned provider of communications technology and services, will add new technologies and capabilities to the company's long list of services. "Azuki Systems further positions Ericsson to help customers deliver on the Networked Society’s global demand for customized and personalized media experiences that include content on any screen,...

Thanks to new marketing initiatives by T-Mobile, competition in the wireless service industry is heating up, poising 2014 to be a year of the consumer "loyalty story." In the past, mobile users have had limited choices in terms of service providers and contract details, making the wireless market a generally stable environment. But this is no longer true—with a plethora of phones, new contract perks, and a slew of services, consumers are inundated with appealing offers from...

New data shows that connected home device users experience problems with their various devices anywhere from a few times a month to almost daily. However, only slightly more than half of these consumers have a protection plan or service in place for a single device. As the Internet of Things and smart devices in homes become more commonplace, it's time for solution providers and support teams to put strategies in place to solve these problems. On Thursday, February 20, Parks...

NAB announced last week that Roy Sekoff, the founding editor of the Huffington Post and president of HuffPost Live, will be the keynote speaker at the Disruptive Media Conference, part of the 2014 NAB Show . Parks Associates is a key partner for the conference, sponsoring programming and sessions relating to disruptors in the mobile and broadband space. Along with Digital Media Wire and the Mobile World Congress , Parks Associates will be presenting headline speakers whose...

Parks Associates, HIMSS , and Intel-GE Care Innovations ™ are co-hosting an upcoming webinar, " Extending Care to Drive Behavior Change ," on Thursday, February 13 at 2p.m. EST (11am PST). As the demand for healthcare increases, the need for providers to offer tailored services to patients becomes increasingly important. New initiatives in telehealth and remote care provide expanded services to patients while decreasing costs for providers.Additionally, new next-gen...