Smart Home

The future of housewares is quickly moving toward the smart home. Connectivity is being incorporated into nearly every corner of the home - from light bulbs to coffee brewers, from thermostats to ovens - connected products, once only a dream, are fast becoming a reality. Smart products too are making an impact - from Alexa to Siri, from vacuuming robots to trash cans - intelligent sensors are changing the way we live in, and interact with, our homes.

What’s Ahead for the Smart Home in 2018

By Ashley Daigneault A few years ago, we were talking about the concept of a “smart” home and integrating connected devices into living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms to make everyday life safer, easier and more convenient. But most of the chatter was happening inside the tech and surrounding industries, and the phrase “smart home” had almost no visibility in actual consumer…

Continued Innovation Crucial to Smart Home Device Adoption

By Brad Russell Continued innovation and messaging are crucial for smart safety and security device manufacturers that want to capitalize on new opportunities in the emerging Internet of Things. Early adopters of smart devices are often drawn to the innovative design and technological gadgetry. However, mass market adoption depends on clear and compelling…

Advancements in Smart Security Creating a Safer Smart Home for Consumers

By Brad Russell Recent advances in smart security and safety devices offer consumers new and expanded solutions to help them trade in worry for peace of mind. Companies invested in IoT technologies are leading that effort by producing smart, connected products and services that promise to make the smart home safer than ever. Home security is the most influential market…

Smart Home Mass-Market Adoption: Are We There Yet?

By Lou Lenzi, FIDSA The Consumer Technology Association predicted significant growth in the sales of smart home technologies last year, forecasting 29 million units shipped into the channel in 2017, an impressive 63 percent increase over 2016. Revenue forecasts were equally robust at $3.5 billion, a 57 percent increase over 2016. Such dramatic growth forecasts have met…

How to Succeed in the Kitchen Without Really Trying

The Joys (and Concerns) Over Assisted Cooking By Carley Knobloch It’s 6:30 p.m., and I’m pulling a juicy roast beef from the oven. The roast is perfectly crusted with rosemary and ringed by caramelized onions and golden potato wedges. I slice into the buttery-soft meat and practically swoon—this dinner deserves a Michelin star. Ambitious for a weeknight dinner? Not if you…

Being Smarter About Smart Home

by Joe Derochowski, The NPD Group In the first 11 months of 2017, U.S. dollar sales of home automation products increased 40 percent, with strong growth across all device types, according to The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service. Home automation products were among the fastest selling items during the 2017 holiday season – over Thanksgiving week and Cyber Week, home…

Technological Advancements in IoT Transforming the Way Consumers Interact With Their Products

By Dina Abdelrazik Dina Abdelrazik, research analyst at Parks Associates, recently sat down with Research and Markets to discuss technological advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) and how they’re transforming the way consumers interact with their products. The Connected Lifestyle How have technological advancements affected the adoption, usage and retention of the…

Speak, Swipe, Smile: How Virtual Assistants Are No Longer Just About Voice

By Chris Albrecht Amazon’s Alexa plays a central role in my family’s morning routine: she tells us the weather, plays the radio and sets timers so we can catch the bus. Alexa is great for simple tasks, but she and other smart speakers stumble when it comes to more complicated requests. That’s just a limitation of having only a voice and speaker interface. But the way we…

Housewares Are Becoming Connected. Is Your Company Ready?

By Michael Wolf The housewares industry is changing, but I wouldn’t blame you for missing it. That’s because industry evolutions happen subtly and slowly and, as a result, it’s often easy to miss the big shifts. Most of us, after all, are busy doing our job. But the old adage “the days are long but the years are short” applies just as much to market evolutions as well as…