In order for a virtual helpmate to run your life, it needs to engage with the providers of all the services you rely on, from your calendar app to your Uber ride. Those providers must either partner with the company operating the assistant, or design their app to integrate with the assistant. So Spotify will stream music upon request via Alexa, and Honeywell's smart-home thermostat, via Assistant, will bump up the temperature 15 minutes before Grandma's expected arrival.
For providers, "if there is a competitive advantage to be gained, then absolutely they will do it," said Brett Sappington, senior director of research at market research firm Parks Associates.
From the article "One Bot To Rule Them All? Not Likely, With Apple, Google, Amazon And Microsoft Virtual Assistants" by Ethan Baron.
A Parks Associates report finds that makers of smart TVs and streaming media players (SMPs) are shifting strategies to focus on the user experience (UX) as device sales start to flatten out. Accord...
Indeed, Apple TV trails Roku and Google for most-used streaming devices, according to research firm Parks Associates, while it is almost neck and neck with Amazon's Fire devices. By offering lower-pri...
That streaming service is one way AT&T wants to ensure that younger consumers will still flow its way. A study by research firm Parks Associates found that nearly a quarter of millennial households ju...
The smart home market is young, but it's growing rapidly as IoT makes its way into virtually every product that can benefit from some level of connectivity. Smart home device ownership in the United S...
