Derrick Dicoi, GM, Xfinity Home, Comcast Cable gave his insights on smart home platforms prior to the Parks Associates’ CONNECTIONS Summit at CES.

Derrick will participate on the expert panel Smart Home Platforms: Creating New Experiences on Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 9:00 am. Panelists who will join him on this session include:

• Anne Ferguson, Vice President, Marketing, Alarm.com
• Amber Kappa, Vice President of Platform Partnerships & Business Development, Samsung SmartThings
• Dave Mayne, Vice President of Product Management, Alula
• Daniel Moneta, CMO & EVP Corporate Development, MMB Networks

As the number of connected devices in the home increases year-over-year, how can technology providers ease consumer concerns associated with data security and privacy?

By being transparent. We believe everyone who uses Xfinity products and services deserves a safe experience. Whether you're browsing the internet, watching TV, chatting with friends, or managing your home, we're always working hard to protect your privacy and keep your information secure. [You can learn more about our commitments here.]

Xfinity xFi gives you control over your home network. xFi provides a simple, easy to use digital dashboard that enables you to personalize your WiFi experience and manage your home network, including notification of new devices that successfully join the network, controlling how and when devices connect, seeing which devices are most active over WiFi, protecting you from accessing websites and applications that host known malware or phishing, enabling parental controls and safe search settings for sites like Google or YouTube, and pausing WiFi at bedtime or dinnertime by device.

Xfinity Home uses AES-256 encryption and two-factor authentication to secure your account and content.

How will artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and/or 5G technologies impact the smart home, IoT, and connected entertainment landscapes in 2020 and beyond? What will be the impact for consumers?

Emerging technologies will be highly impactful for connected home experiences. Smart home experiences need to be as seamless as possible. An important part of this is getting the right content to the consumer in as few steps as possible, and AI/ML can be used to do that. Our Xfinity Camera uses AI/ML to identify pets, vehicles, and people, so that our customers can filter for the video content they want to see. 

What are the best use case scenarios for voice technologies in the smart home?

We introduced our Voice Remote in 2015, and now customers give 12 billion commands annually. By speaking into the remote you can deepen your entertainment experience: find a specific show, get sports scores, vote for contestants on America’s Got Talent – and more. Because our services are integrated, you can access Xfinity Home via the Voice Remote as well; with your voice, you can arm or disarm your security system, view your camera’s live or recorded video, and control your thermostat and lights.