It’s no secret that telecos and cable operators are pushing to deliver smart home services alongside their other Internet of Things ventures. With offerings including connected routers, home security, and platforms that offer voice control for connected products, operators like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast already each have a foot in the smart home’s door. But top handset vendors are also increasingly turning their attention to the smart home as they seek to mine it for one key resource: data.

Parks Associates estimated earlier this year companies will sell nearly 55 million smart home devices in 2020, and the firm said adoption of smart home devices has already spread to a quarter of U.S. broadband homes. Of course, those devices will collectively generate a massive amount of data, which can then be used to improve targeted advertising efforts. And device vendors don’t want to miss the train.

From the article "Apple, Google, Samsung Eye Mobile as a Way to Capture Smart Home Data" by Diana Goovaerts.