Blog articles from 04/2014

Parks Associates' digital music report, Evolution of Digital Music on Connected Devices , finds that since 2011, the number of consumers in U.S. broadband households listening to streaming audio services has grown 130%. This rapid growth can be attributed to the expansion of connected CE devices such as such as A/V receivers, all-in-one home theater systems, wireless speakers, speaker docks, speaker bars, multiroom digital music systems. In this report, Parks Associates analysts...

Google updated its terms of service informing users that their incoming and outgoing emails may be analyzed by software to deliver targeted ads.  Google says, "Our automated systems analyze your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising , and spam and malware detection. This analysis occurs as the content is sent, received, and when it is stored." The initial reaction...

In the latest Parks Points newsletter , Parks Associate analyst Brett Sappington discussed the role of user interface in video content discovery. As the main point of interaction between a brand and a user, the interface becomes an extremely important component to discovery and use. "In general," Sappington writes, "the optimal method of video discovery depends on several key factors: the type of video service, the viewer, and the viewing environment."...

Parks Associates research predicts that comprehensive technical support will remain the most relevant service as the market continues to grow and evolve. Published in the firm's 4Q 2013 research report, The Evolution of Tech Support: Trends and Outlooks , analysts find that 55% of smartphone owners want a service that protects their device from viruses and identity theft, and approximately 50% want a service that repairs or replaces their device if accidentally damaged. Short...

Today marks the day, and the only day, that Google sells its much hyped and controversial Google Glass to the public. After almost a year of invitation-only trials by a few thousands tech junkies (I am still sour on the fact that Google has not sent me a pair even I consider myself a “junkie”), the public finally has a chance to test themselves. No one knows what the market response will be like, but we will know pretty quickly if the stock will be sold out quickly, or otherwise....

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Facebook is preparing to offer financial services. According to the report, Facebook plans to allow its users to send money to each other and make international money transfers, though details on other potential payments services – such as electronic bill pay or payments for goods and services outside of Facebook’s own ecosystem – are slim.  Facebook’s move into the payments market is not surprising; its top tech competitors...

New Parks Associates industry reports show that emerging revenue opportunities exist for utilities and providers within the smart home and home energy management markets. The reports emphasize that increased consumer adoption (and therefore increased revenue) will occur as utilities, providers, and smart home vendors find valuable partnerships within the smart home space. In Leveraging the Cloud for Home Energy Management , the research firm notes that, of the 160 million meters in...

The dust has settled after a three-month carriage dispute. The Weather Channel will resume programming on DirecTV , but at a considerable cost—this time, it isn't the TV operator but the network making concessions. The Weather Channel has agreed to reduce its reality program offerings as a result of its new carriage agreement with DirecTV. This change affects not only DirecTV viewers, but all viewers of the Weather Channel, no matter their TV provider. A TV operator exercising...