CONNECTIONS(TM) at TIA concluded today with a keynote from Best Buy, where Kristen Bowring, Senior Director, Platform Lead Home and Energy Management, discussed the retailer's efforts to expand its home energy and appliance offerings based on consumer research. The conference, which ran June 5-7, also featured keynotes from AT&T, who presented the company's new Digital Home initiative, and Verizon, who discussed the provider's efforts to increase speed to the home to enable the "borderless lifestyle."

Hosted by international market research firm Parks Associates, the 16th annual CONNECTIONS(TM): The Digital Living Conference and Showcase focused on value-added services for services providers including customer support, cloud services, voice and gesture controls, mobile platforms and applications, TV everywhere services and more.

"Parks Associates added extra value to our attendees and sponsor with our successful collocation with TIA," said Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates. "We were pleased to host major players in the consumer and services markets at CONNECTIONS(TM), with three days of informative sessions, networking, and product displays in the Connected Home Pavilion."

Parks Associates presented new research and findings at the event, highlighting new opportunities, market growth, and consumer trends:

Connected home apps worldwide will grow to 13 billion by year-end 2016

Two-thirds of consumers who use Siri at least weekly are highly satisfied

37% of current iPhone 4S users "definitely want" Siri-like capabilities on their next TV set

75% of U.S. consumers are interested in a cloud service for photos; 47% for movies

The percentage of U.S. smart-TV owners playing games on their sets has grown 31% since 2010, while the increase for watching TV shows is 42% and movies is 36%

14% of U.S. tablet users watch TV Everywhere services

18% of U.S. tablet users share comments on social sites while watching TV

45% of U.S. consumers are comfortable with targeted ads based on their viewing habits

Tablet owners are five times more likely to desire a multiroom music system than all consumers

Worldwide growth of consumer support services from $5.0 billion in 2012 to $17.5 billion in 2016

"The number of households with connected devices is on a steep rise," Sikes said. "For example, North American consumers will buy 32 million media tablets in 2012. Our data show U.S. consumers plan to continue CE purchasing, with significant percentages planning to increase their CE spending in 2012. These factors, in combination with the proliferation of IP, is changing the business models for service providers, retailers, manufacturers, and technology companies, and every year, CONNECTIONS(TM) is the place to discuss the implications of these changes."

From the article, "Best Buy Keynote Concludes CONNECTIONS(TM) Conference at TIA 2012, highlighted new developments and opportunities in the connected home."