Cloud Media tops CONNECTIONS 2011 Agenda

Parks Associates released the preliminary agenda for the 2011 CONNECTIONS Conference, featuring the core topic areas of mobility and communications, entertainment and content, connected consumer electronics, and cloud-based value-added services.

The three-day event, June 28-30 at Santa Clara, Californina, offers a unique mix of market research presentations, trending data, insight from industry leaders, and discussion of the current strategies and future challenges in providing connectivity and technology services for consumers.

Cloud media is an important topic at this year’s CONNECTIONS due to the challenges for this market in reaching its tremendous potential. Parks Associates research finds consumers are highly interested in the cloud concept, notably the prospect of having anytime, anywhere access to their media. However, less than one-third of U.S. broadband households see the value of the digital locker concept specifically for music, photo, or video content, due in large part to current fragmentation of the market.

For more information, visit www.connectionsus.com.

Soundbites from Analysts at CES

Some of the Parks Associates' analysts were captured highlighting the significant new products at CES 2011.

Featured analysts include:
Stuart Sikes, President
Farhan Abid, Research Analyst
Bill Ablondi, Director, Home Systems Research
Laura Allen Phillips, Research Analyst
Brett Sappington, Senior Analyst
Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research

The connected home (including refrigerators), the smart grid and personalized video were among topics mentioned by these industry experts.

To view these sound bites, visit: http://www.viodi.tv/2011/01/10/ces2011-analysts-views/

CONNECTIONS 2010 Wrap Up

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase concluded last week following multiple sessions focused on value-added services, new platforms and distribution models, and digital media consumption. Industry leaders affirmed consumer demand for online video and proliferation of connected CE are driving the shift to multiplatform access within the home.

The conference featured keynotes from Sony, Samsung, Verizon, and Intel and research from Parks Associates, including the following insights, as noted in The Viodi View and The Urban Network:

• Annual U.S. revenues for online video from PCs and mobile devices will exceed $1.8 billion by 2014.

• Limited audience reach, the lack of a single-source measurement standard, and lack of format standards are major factors that could impact the growth of online video.

• The total addressable U.S. market for online video is approximately 170.5 million users in 2010 and will grow to 220 million by 2013.

• Consumers are still cautious in their purchasing, and according to Tricia Parks, CEO, Parks Associates, “No company can let its guard down.”

• 3D is here to stay. By 2014, one-third of homes will have a 3DTV, according to data presented by Samsung.

• Energy is moving from a commodity to a service, thanks to the ongoing expansion of the smart grid in the U.S.

• According to Cisco’s Ken Wirt, 91% of all Internet traffic by 2013 will be video bits.
  

In his CONNECTIONS™ keynote “Entertainment in a Connected World,” Mitch Singer, CTO, Sony Pictures Entertainment; President, DECE, discussed current efforts by the DECE to establish a standard for distributed content.

In his keynote “TV Technology in the New Age of Consumer Buying,” Scott Birnbaum, VP, Samsung LCD Business, detailed the evolution of the television and the trends toward thinner, more artistic and eco-friendly set designs.

In his keynote “The Connected Home: Turning SciFi into Non-Fiction,” Joseph Ambeault, Director, Product Development and Management, Video Services, Verizon, discussed the significant potential of the connected home due to the convergence of devices and services.

Wilfred Martis, General Manager, Retail CE, Digital Home Group, Intel, discussed the Era of the Smart TV, plus the need for players to act quickly in this rapidly changing market, in his keynote “Smart TVs: Ready for Primetime,” which also featured Anthony Soohoo, SVP, Entertainment, CBS Interactive.

Archived videos of the keynote addresses are available at www.parksassociates.com/connvideo.

50% of U.S. households are interested in home energy monitoring

Home monitoring and controls companies will need to take alternate, more indirect routes to reach mass-market status, according to international research firm Parks Associates.

Almost 50% of U.S. households are very interested in an energy-monitoring device, with nearly 80% willing to pay $100 provided it saves 10-30% on their electricity bill. Energy applications are popular now because of the need for cost savings, but in the end, all home systems will need to be interconnected. By embedding their technologies into energy-related appliances and systems, controls and monitoring companies can get a foothold in the home and start to build traction on a mass scale with consumers.

Controls and monitoring companies can form strategic partnerships with system manufacturers, service providers, and utilities to build these inroads. Many utilities have smart grid programs, which have partnership opportunities, but the popularity of energy solutions has attracted new, nontraditional players. For example, Intel recently announced a sensor that monitors power usage throughout a home and shows the homeowner the amount of power used by different appliances and systems.

SmartLabs' CEO Joe Dada to Speak at Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer

Irvine, CA - December 9, 2009 - SmartLabs, Inc. CEO Joe Dada will be a panel speaker at the inaugural Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, January 26, 2010 in Austin, TX. Dada will be speaking on a panel regarding issues critical to "connected" home appliances and systems. SmartLabs' award-winning home area network technology, INSTEON, has also been named as an event sponsor.

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CONNECTIONS SUMMIT Agenda Announced

The CONNECTIONS™ SUMMIT Sessions, January 7, 2010, in Room S225, South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, feature commentary, insight, and debate on successful market strategies and deployment for “digital living” products and services.

Sessions include:
• Consumer Electronics Purchases: Are Consumers Back in the Buying Mood?
• The Connected TV – Displays and Beyond
• Service Provider Strategies for the Connected Home
• The Mobile Aspect of Unified Infotainment: Opportunities and Challenges
• Advances in Television Advertising
• Bringing the Smart Grid to the Smart Home
• 3D: Adding New Dimensions to Entertainment

More info at: www.connectionssummit.com

Thursday's Opening Session, Bringing the Smart Grid to the Smart Home

Bringing the Smart Grid to the Smart Home was the opening panel session on Thursday, June 4th.

Utilities and their partners are adding Smart Grid capabilities so they can shed load, accommodate alternative energy sources, and pinpoint outages. For consumers, benefits include reduced energy bills, enhanced comfort and convenience, and a smaller carbon footprint. This panel brings together companies leading Smart Grid initiatives through new technologies, systems, and business models.

Panel speakers include:
Sanket Amberkar, Marketing Manager, Network Systems Solutions, Cisco
Christopher Deutschen, Senior Manager, Product & Business Development, Direct Energy
Dr. Kenneth Wacks, Member, GridWise Architecture Council, U.S. Department of Energy
Bill Ablondi, Director, Home Systems Research, Parks Associates; panel moderator

Smart Grid, Home Monitoring, and Wireless Home Controls

Key Focus of CONNECTIONS™ Conference --

Parks Associates announced the speakers for the Home Controls and Energy Management track at CONNECTIONS™, which includes an opening keynote from Austin Energy’s CIO. Multiple sessions at CONNECTIONS™ will feature executives from energy-focused companies discussing new innovations in home monitoring and controls, Smart Grid initiatives, and wireless home controls.

Andres E. Carvallo, CIO, Austin Energy, will present the Keynote “Building the Smart Grid” on Thursday, June 4. Mr. Carvallo will discuss Austin Energy’s efforts to build its Smart Grid, which will be live by August 2009. This initiative encompasses 440 square miles, 500,000 devices, 100 terabytes of data, one million consumers, and 43,000 businesses.

The panel “New Applications and Services in Home Monitoring & Controls,” June 3 at 1:30 p.m., analyzes consumer demand and revenue opportunities for home systems. Speakers include:

Steve Cashman, Chief Strategy Officer, Exceptional Innovation
Jim Hunter, CTO & Chief Architect, 4Home
Jim Johnson, President & CEO, uControl

Mr. Ablondi will present findings from Parks Associates’ new research project Residential Energy Management: Opportunities for Digital Systems and Services on June 4, 8:30 a.m., followed by “Bringing the Smart Grid to the Smart Home,” which features panelists leading Smart Grid initiatives in the public and private sectors:

Sanket Amberkar, Marketing Manager, Network Systems Solutions, Cisco
Christopher Deutschen, Senior Manager, Product & Business Development, Direct Energy
Dr. Kenneth Wacks, Member, GridWise Architecture Council, U.S. Department of Energy

“Wireless Home Controls: New Roles and Functionality,” June 4 at 11:15 a.m., examines the trends, market opportunities, and design challenges in embedding wireless capabilities into traditional products. Speakers include:

Michelle Leyden Li, GM, Home Control Business Unit, Zilog
Ken Lowe, VP, Strategic Marketing, Sigma Designs
Mostafa Reza, Product Line Manager, IP Video Solutions Group, Motorola
Parag Sheth, VP, Corporate Marketing, Hillcrest Labs
Eric Smith, CTO, Control4

For the full press release, click here.

Houston's CenterPoint Energy & GE partner to produce Smart Grid System

Houston's CenterPoint Energy and GE team up to produce the Advanced Metering System (AMS) enabling consumers to track and manage electric usage and costs. Utilizing GE Digital Energy's MDS Mercury 3650 radios, AMS will translate electric utility meter info from homes/businesses to the CenterPoint's data center.

With this real time technology, consumers will be able access energy usage/prices and remotely control appliances via the Internet. For March, CenterPoint began installing 145,000+ of these smart meters. By the end of 2009, CenterPoint hopes to update all existing equipment with these new smart meters.

In addition, retail electric providers can offer new consumers products and services after the AMS installation.

For more information, please read K.C. Jones's article "GE Wireless Radios Power Houston Smart Grid Systems" posted to InformationWeek.