Blog articles from 12/2016

Ahead of the CONNECTIONS Summit at CES , Parks Associates has released its predictions for the future of IoT in a new whitepaper,  Top 10 Consumer IoT Trends in 2017 . The whitepaper focuses on key industry trends that will impact various markets both in the New Year and well into the future. This new whitepaper is free to download and covers major markets across the Internet of Things, including smart home, healthcare, digital media, connected cars, wearables, and...

Chester Chen, Director of International Market, Galaxywind Network Systems Co., provides insight on several key industry trends for Parks Associates’ 11th-annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit conference , which will be held January 5 at CES 2017 in Las Vegas: What is the most important next step to engage consumers in smart home solutions, connected entertainment services, and/or value-added services like tech support and connected health? A universal standard connection protocol...

Kevin Meagher , SVP Business Development, ROC-Connect, provides insight on several key industry trends for Parks Associates’ 11th-annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit conference , which will be held January 5 at CES 2017 in Las Vegas: What is the most important next step to engage consumers in smart home solutions, connected entertainment services, and/or value-added services like tech support and connected health? Raising consumer awareness is the most important next...

Earlier this month, details of Microsoft’s "Home Hub," a Windows 10 feature, were detailed by various news outlets as a possible move by Microsoft to get its Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution in consumers' homes. If this update will indeed let Cortana be a part of the smart home, Microsoft will join Amazon, Google, and Apple who all offer voice-controlled, virtual assistants for the smart home. As a potential competitor to Amazon, Google, and Apple in the smart home...

Isaias Sudit , Founder, TROVE, provides insight on several key industry trends for Parks Associates’ 11th-annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit conference , which will be held January 5 at CES 2017 in Las Vegas: What is the most important next step to engage consumers in smart home solutions, connected entertainment services, and/or value-added services like tech support and connected health? Remember ‘show me the money’? The most important next step to engage consumers in...

Descriptions of Microsoft’s upcoming Home Hub are surfacing, joining the debate over which voice control hub to buy—Amazon Echo or Google Home. Microsoft’s version, however, won’t be delivered in the form of a coffee table or bookshelf cylinder. It will be delivered as a feature of Windows 10, running on a PC or Surface tablet. The fact that Microsoft is delivering its product in the form of software suggests that it be accelerating this evolution of device interfaces to...

After a week-long rumor mill about Fitbit acquiring the struggling smart watch maker Pebble, the suspense ended today when Fitbit announced that it is acquiring Pebble’s software assets and IPs , not the latter’s hardware business. Though it is a smart move to skip Pebble’s hardware business, the rationale for Fitbit to acquire Pebble’s software business remains unconvincing to me. We don’t know the price tag of the deal so have no idea how much value Fitbit attaches to...

According to Parks Associates research, 63% of U.S. broadband households are not familiar or know nothing about virtual reality (VR), leaving a wide opportunity for industry players to educate and market these new products and services. Currently, only 3.5% of U.S. broadband households, or roughly 3.4 million households, own a VR headset. However, a new market snapshot by Parks Associates shows experience is key for wider adoption VR headsets. Consumer Strategies and Use Cases for...