"tech support" articles

The outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent shelter-in-place mandates by government officials in many states have led to a dramatic shift in how consumers live and conduct business, including an increase in adoption and use of technology. Social distancing guidelines dictate that work, education, and entertainment activities are all centered on the home. In addition, brick-and-mortar retail store shopping is severely restricted, and consumers must find other ways to attain services that...

Industry perspectives vary on the extent to which product returns impact growth in the smart home. Through its consumer studies, Parks Associates finds that only approximately 3% of US broadband households report returning a smart home device in the past 12 months. When return rates are assessed among smart home device owners versus all broadband households, the numbers are higher. For example, only 2% of all US broadband households have returned a smart video doorbell. However, 16% of...

LG has announced that its new appliances will be equipped with “Proactive Customer Care.” The feature is designed to improve user experience and help customers maximize the lifespan of their products. The feature will first be enabled on the new bottom-freezer refrigerators and front-load washing machine. The Proactive Customer Care feature will support consumers in the following ways: Sends tips to prevent misuse of appliances – For example, for refrigerators the...

In January, a little over a month after the device became available, Amazon pulled the Echo wall clock from store shelves, citing connectivity issues. Similarly, in February Arlo pulled its 4K security cameras from store shelves, approximately one month after the product was released. The security cameras were pulled after a series of firmware updates failed to completely address the issues reported by early adopters, including connectivity, streaming quality, and battery life issues....

Prior to Parks Associates’ 13th-annual CONNECTIONS Europe: Strategies for the Smart Home and Consumer Iot conference, Simon Trudelle, Sr. Director Product Marketing, NAGRA shared insights with the analyst team to address the challenges and revenue opportunities with growing the smart home industry in Europe. Simon will be participating on the Enhanced Experiences: Tech Support in the Smart Home panel on Tuesday, November 13 at 16:30. Panelists joining him on this session...

The market for consumer electronics products and services is increasingly competitive. As brands seek to achieve and maintain competitive advantage, many recognize the importance of intuitive user interfaces and ample support. This need is born out of the desire to reduce consumer effort as brands recognize the connection between low customer effort and low brand loyalty. The use of augmented reality (AR) is one of the latest attempts to leverage new technologies towards this end....

Prior to Parks Associates’ 22nd-annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference , Jon Clay, Director, Global Threat Communications, Trend Micro spoke with the analyst team to discuss how DIY solutions are impacting traditional security landscapes. Jon will be participating on the Tech Support & Privacy: Creating Consumer Confidence panel on Wednesday, May 23, at 1:15 PM. Panelists joining him on this session include: Colin Barceloux, CEO, Axius J.B....

CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference , which was recently held in San Francisco, featured a very vibrant discussion where panelists and audience members attempted to determine if there was a significant market opportunity for the support of connected healthcare and fitness devices. Parks Associates presented research which highlighted the fact that the majority of connected health and fitness device owners (more than 90%) set up their devices on their own or with...