Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

The Apple Watch Has Gotten Simpler, But That’s OK

Apple’s decision to simplify the watch speaks to a larger issue facing makers of wearables: Advanced biotracking sensors would have made the Apple Watch less of a multipurpose consumer device and more of a medical device used to diagnose diseases or track chronic conditions — which could have opened the watch up to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“I don’t think Apple wants to be a health-monitoring device maker,” said Harry Wang, director of health and mobile product research at Parks Associates. “They do want to leverage their popularity on the iPhone as a device platform, integrating all health data that can be collected for different devices.”

That information is being gathered through Apple’s new Health app, a dashboard of users’ health data, and HealthKit, a developer tool that lets wellness apps share data. The watch could be populated with messages from external devices and services that track specialized health information.

From the article "The Apple Watch Has Gotten Simpler, But That’s OK" by Stephanie M. Lee.

Previously In The News

Network Security: Hacking Fears Could Scare Consumers Away from Smart-Home Devices

The rising occurrence of high-profile security hacks and privacy breaches, as well as being personally victimized, are contributing to ever-increasing consumer anxiety about smart home devices and pla...

How Do Consumers Research Smart Home Gear?

Parks Associates research reveals manufacturer websites are No. 1 source for researching smart home equipment. Integrator websites are No. 2. Those are the results from new smart home research by P...

How Home Automation Can Provide a Good Night’s Sleep

A hot topic in health today is the importance of getting a good night's sleep. According to research by Parks Associates 25% of consumers are very concerned about a lack of quality sleep. This is not...

Amazon Details ‘Custom Home Service’ Featuring CEDIA Smart Home Pros

Why are integrators important to Amazon? Quigley calls custom integrators “the new architects” of the smart home. He cites data from Parks Associates that even though 60 percent of consumers say th...