Blog articles from 09/2015

Support services have become an integral part of the customer’s journey, especially in the Internet of Things. Parks Associates research shows that roughly 50% of those owning smart home devices experience problems with at least one device on a monthly basis. Additionally, smart home products and services will generate an additional seven million tech support requests in 2015 . Parks Associates and Support.com recently partnered together to co-host a complimentary industry...

Codenamed “Hendrix” during development, the newly announced Chromecast Audio streaming media device from Google enables users to broadcast music over Wi-Fi to speakers, televisions, and car stereos that have the device plugged into their standard 3.5 mm audio port, RCA port or optical input. With its product launch today, Google seeks to further solidify its position in the streaming media space. Here are a few quick observations that suggest why Chromecast Audio may or...

Market transformations are expanding healthcare into new, non-acute settings, including the connected home, where companies are actively seeking out new growth opportunities. Already nontraditional players are exploring smart home offerings such as security monitoring, which has obvious parallels to home-based health and wellness solutions as well as independent living products and services. Parks Associates research shows: One-third of U.S. broadband households plan to...

Last week, over 200 executives in the connected health space gathered at Parks Associates' second-annual Connected Health Summit in San Diego to assess market trends, technology advancements, and consumer engagement strategies. Several common themes emerged across panels during the two-day conference, all of which point in a single direction – progress. This year, panelists spoke less about trials and how to get solutions off the ground, and spoke more about refining methods,...

Like any new product category, smart watches are forging a path way into consumer lifestyles. Parks Associates research shows 6% of U.S. broadband households own a smart watch, with an additional 9% expressing an intention to buy one by the end of 2015. This growing interest in smart watches over the past couple of years has resulted in an increasing number of players throwing their hats into the smart watch ring. However, as smart watch manufacturers wrestle with taking the smart...

Adding connected health applications to a smart home platform opens up additional, complementary revenue opportunities, yet some of these paths will not result in a straight-forward replication of conventional revenue models. This is especially true for applications that touch a patient’s health and require collaboration with healthcare professionals. For others, the smart home industry needs to think outside the box to build channels and experiment with new revenue models. Parks...

Parks Associates digital health research reveals 25% of U.S. broadband households are interested in using a health portal to review doctors’ notes and nearly one-fifth would like to receive an electronic checklist after a doctor or hospital visit.  Consumer interest in broader communications with doctors and health professionals is growing. Additional Parks Associates digital health research shows: Over 50% of U.S. broadband households use two or more patient...