For a virtual helpmate to run your life, it needs to engage with the providers of all the services you rely on, from your calendar app to your Uber ride. Those providers must either partner with the company operating the assistant or design their app to integrate with the assistant. So Spotify will stream music upon request via Alexa, and Honeywell’s smart-home thermostat, via Assistant, will bump up the temperature 15 minutes before Grandma’s expected arrival.
For providers, “if there is a competitive advantage to be gained, then absolutely they will do it,” said Parks Associates.
From the article "Battle of the Bots: A Truly Useful Helper Is Approaching Fast" by Ethan Baron.
Sales of smart thermostats in Western Europe are set to rise from less than 700,000 units in 2016 to more than one million units by 2020, according to a report on smart energy and water products by Pa...
A growing number of U.S. broadband households is spending more time watching user generated live content on social media, according to a new industry report from Parks Associates. The growth in this s...
Advanced voice control technology is a growing good bet, especially when it comes to consumers on the younger end of the demographic spectrum. Millennials show particular comfort with voice control of...
Tom Kerber of the research and consulting firm Parks Associates said the cheaper thermostat could persuade more shoppers to try Nest. Just 11 percent of American households with broadband Internet hav...
