Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

AI and smart homes: We may not notice the future

Security experts have always known that potential end users are not always ready for what is available to make their homes more secure. That dynamic often emerges from discomfort with what is new and unknown. Brad Russell, a research analyst at Parks Associates, based in Addison, Texas, describes that discomfort as “friction”—and he suggests that it has been around longer than we realize. Parks Associates is a market research company specializing in emerging consumer technology.

“New technology always comes with friction,” said Russell. From his perspective, however, the security industry has seen “a reduction in friction between technology and usage.”

The gap closes, he said, “If I can just call [my device] rather than use three or four buttons … now you’ve got the ‘wow and delight’ factor. It sounds cliché but it’s true—fun, easy, convenient.”

From the article "AI and smart homes: We may not notice the future" by Kenneth Z. Chutchian.
 

Previously In The News

HBO Fires Back at Dish in Blackout Tussle

For its part, Univision said it extended an olive branch, but that Dish so far has shown no willingness to back down. That could be a portent of how the HBO negotiations will proceed in the days or we...

When the News Went Live... Online

A decline in local broadcast news viewership has exacerbated the decline in diversity of coverage. Consumers have been replacing local news with news from social media and national outlets. Recent...

ULE Calls U.S., Industrial Markets

The standard is used in about 580 million homes worldwide if you include cordless phones. About 50 million units are in Europe, including gateways and VoIP boxes, according to Brad Russell, a market r...

AI Raises the Bar for Home Network Security

Concerns about data security also have been shown to increase with ownership of more connected devices. Currently, U.S. broadband households own an average of 10.4 connected devices -- including enter...