Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Trust and Value Will Bring IoT Home

The connected car and smart home markets are both at an early stage of development, but in many ways they have been growing in parallel. Both markets are enabled by the falling costs of sensors, networking technologies and data, as well as by expanded cloud services, the mass penetration of smartphones, and consumer demand for the connected lifestyle.

In 2015, these ecosystems are beginning to converge, with use cases such as remote home controls, entertainment on the go, and home energy management emerging at the intersection.

U.S. vehicle owners living in broadband households reported using a variety of connected features in their vehicles, and many expressed interest in car-to-home crossover features, in a first-quarter 2015 consumer survey conducted by Parks Associates.

Parks Associates tested emerging connected vehicle features, including several scenarios which overlap the smart home and connected car markets:

Automatic away mode for the home. The car and home communicate so that when the consumer is leaving or coming home, lights, locks, thermostat, etc., automatically turn on and off or adjust to the appropriate setting.
Home entertainment on the go. Passengers in the car can access the same TV shows, movies, games, photos and computer files that the consumer has at home, including programs from pay-TV services.

Parks Associates also presented owners of plug-in hybrid or electric cars with two connected car-smart home scenarios specific to plug-in vehicles:

Optimum recharging of electric cars. The plug-in vehicle communicates with the home's thermostat, appliances and other devices to optimize energy consumption and ensure that the vehicle charges when electricity rates are lowest.
Electric car as backup power. If the home loses power, the consumer could use a plug-in vehicle to provide backup power for the home.

From the article "Trust and Value Will Bring IoT Home" by Jennifer Kent.

Previously In The News

PayPal, Starbucks top consumers' mobile payments preferences, study says

Nearly 20 percent of U.S. smartphone users have used a mobile payment app at a retail location, according to new mobile research from Parks Associates. The report, 360 View: Mobility and the App Ec...

Amazon Echo Show Ushers in Smart Home Transformation

One of the hurdles to smart home adoption has been the complexity. What happens now is someone orders a bunch of devices or buys some things in a big box store, and they plug them all in at home, and...

Hulu CEO Plots A Way To Stand Out From The Crowd In Online TV

Hulu isn’t the only company to recognize that trend. A host of live-TV streaming services are cropping up online, and the marketplace is growing crowded. Dish Network Corp.‘s Sling TV and Sony Corp.‘s...

Music streaming leads on smartphones

Streaming music is the most popular way consumers spend time on their smartphones, according to market research firm Parks Associates, significantly outpacing playing games and watching video clips....