Prior to Parks Associates’ 22nd-annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference, Scott Hancock, VP of Marketing, Plex sat down with Parks Associates' analyst team to discuss new cutting-edge innovations in the smart home.

Scott participated on the Connected Ecosystems: Entertainment and Smart Home panel on Wednesday, May 23, at 4:00 PM. Panelists who joined him on this session include:

Manar Alazma, Vice President of Product Management, Nuance Communications
Rob Conant, CEO, Cirrent
John Driver, CEO, Lynx Technology
Arsham Hatambeiki, VP Corporate Product & Strategy, Universal Electronics Inc.

Have you seen any new cutting-edge innovations that could tip the smart home scale from early adopter to mass market adoption?
As evident in the most recent report from Video Advertising Bureau, which shows the number of households that only use streaming services have tripled since 2013, it’s impressive to see the number of people moving away from traditional cable or satellite in favor of streaming media, while also staggering to see the rate of that growth, which will only continue. One of the innovations that has enabled this trend is surprisingly from one of the oldest categories - the antenna. Today’s antennas, whether they’re indoor or outdoor, provide more coverage and insanely clear, HD television from local stations. Coupled with media streaming partners, these antennas are providing free live TV, making it easier than ever for viewers to cut the cord.

When paired with software like Plex, this free content is now able to be streamed to any room or screen, whether at home or away. Plex is smart-home-ready with webhooks that will make users’ entertainment experience immersive, like connecting with lighting systems, Smart TVs, voice-controlled devices like Alexa, and wireless speakers such as Sonos. With Plex, consumers now have the tools they need to manage and access their personal media collections, view live TV from anywhere, and modernize their home entertainment. 

For more information on CONNECTIONS, visit: www.connectionsus.com.