More than 50% of U.S. broadband households own a smart TV

CONNECTIONS™ examines AI, connected CE, and future evolution of the connected entertainment and OTT

Parks Associates’ new report “Smart TVs vs. Streaming Media Players: Winning Over Consumers” reports more than 50% of U.S. broadband households own a smart TV and more than 40% own a streaming media player. The firm hosts CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference this week in San Francisco, featuring the session “Connected Ecosystems: Entertainment and Smart Home” on May 23, to explore the impact of crossover use cases in the convergence of connected entertainment and the smart home.

“The rise of voice control enables consumers to control their cameras and sensors and their streaming service through the same interface,” said Jennifer Kent, Director, Research Quality & Product Development, Parks Associates. “This desire for simplicity drives their choice of connected platforms.”

Kent will moderate the session with the following speakers:

• Manar Alazma, VP, Product Management, Nuance Communications
• Rob Conant, CEO, Cirrent
• John Driver, CEO, Lynx Technology
• Scott Hancock, VP, Marketing, Plex
• Arsham Hatambeiki, VP Corporate Product & Strategy, Universal Electronics Inc.

“Consumers have begun to embrace a variety of devices, including smart speakers, smart TVs with voice control, and everything from smart locks to connected thermostats, and even smart refrigerators,” said Manar Alazma, vice president of product management, communication service providers, Nuance Communications. “However, in order to truly thrive, the smart home of the future must expand its ease of use through universal interoperability standards. This common language for the smart home will facilitate the open flow of information and seamless handoff between different devices, connected services, and digital assistant platforms in the home. These standards will also provide a pathway for developers to add new features and update services throughout the home with ease.”

“Trends such as cord-cutting and consuming media on mobile devices are setting the stage for massive changes, and with those changes new challenges will arise,” said Scott Hancock, VP, Marketing, Plex. “Content discovery is one of the most pressing issues, and we are seeing apps becoming the new form of ‘channels’ as we hop in and out of services to find what we want. The technologies available today for smart homes can help to ease the pain of these challenges while the industry works on a better, more unified solution, such as one hub for all media.”

“Continuity of the experience across smart home ecosystems and entertainment platforms can play a central role in mainstream adoption of newer use cases,” said Arsham Hatambeiki, VP Corporate Product & Strategy, Universal Electronics Inc. “Entertainment systems are widely and frequently used connected computing platforms, already used as the delivery platform for new services.”

The 2018 CONNECTIONS™ Conference will host more than 650 high-level executives in an intimate networking environment. The event includes a mix of market research, analysis, and industry insight designed to capture the complexity and opportunities in these interconnected markets.