Smart Home (connected home, home networking) News

Altice USA smart speaker offers hands-free Altice One voice control
Aug 7, 2019 – Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS) has unveiled its Altice Amplify home speaker. The device features Devialet's sound technologies and has Amazon Alexa Built-In. Altice Amplify also offers hands-free voice control of the Altice One entertainment and connectivity platform.
News categories: Altice USA, Devialet, Hakim Boubazine, Franck Lebouchard, Cable TV, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Smart Home, USA, UX

DISH activates Google Assistant on Hopper receivers
Jul 31, 2019 – DISH has began rolling out a software update on the company's Hopper family receivers that allows customers to access the Google Assistant via the DISH voice remote, The capability builds on the voice remote's existing ability to control the TV.
News categories: DISH Network, Google Assistant, Rob Sadler, Digital TV, Satellite, Set Top Box, Smart Home, USA

LG rolls out Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit in the U.S.
Jul 30, 2019 – LG has announced that Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit are now available through a firmware update on select LG OLED and NanoCell 4K UHD TVs with ThinQ AI capability in the U.S. LG is the first global TV manufacturer to support HomeKit.
News categories: LG Electronics, Digital TV, Smart Home, Smart TV, USA

Voice Assistants used to control Smart Homes to grow by 769%
Jul 29, 2019 – According to Juniper Research, the number of voice assistants used to access smart home devices will reach 555 million by 2024; up from 105 million in 2019. By 2024, Juniper Research expects more than 90% of voice assistants to be used to control smart home devices.
News categories: Juniper Research, China, Market Research, Smart Home, Worldwide

Virtual Assistant shipments to exceed 2.3 billion in 2023
Jul 22, 2019 – The market for virtual assistants (VAs) shows strong positive momentum, driven forward by a combination of rising consumer demand and improvements in the enabling technologies, according to Futuresource Consulting.
News categories: Futuresource Consulting, Simon Forrest, Market Research, Smart Home, Worldwide

Altice France unveils SFR Box 8
Jul 18, 2019 – SFR has unveiled its SFR Box 8. The 4K HDR box integrates voice assistance, a personalised user experience and WiFi 6 support. Altice will market the box first in France, with availability from August 20, 2019.
News categories: SFR, Altice, Grégory Rabuel, Apps, Digital TV, France, IPTV, Set Top Box, Smart Home, UX

U.S. consumer technology sales to exceed $400bn in 2019
Jul 15, 2019 – The growing popularity of streaming services, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled emerging devices and in-vehicle technology will help drive the U.S. consumer tech industry to a record-breaking $401 billion in retail revenues in 2019, according to the CTA.
News categories: Consumer Technology Association, Gary Shapiro, Digital TV, Market Research, Smart Home, Smart TV, USA

Google leads European Smart Home market in 1Q19
Jul 1, 2019 – In the first quarter of this year, the smart home market in Europe grew 23.9%, reaching 21.3 million units shipped to the region, according to IDC. Video entertainment devices shipped 12.7 million units in 1Q19, increasing 11.2% annually.
News categories: IDC, Antonio Arantes, Digital TV, Europe, Market Research, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Smart TV

Growth in smart homes poised to decline slightly this year
Jul 1, 2019 – Smart home technology pushed into 34 million new homes worldwide last year, according to ABI Research. However, new home growth is poised to decline slightly this year as the market transitions from entering new homes to extending the scope of existing deployments.
News categories: ABI Research, Jonathan Collins, Market Research, Smart Home, USA, Worldwide