Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

US startups aim to help seniors 'age in place'

Monitoring devices for the elderly started with products like privately-held Life Alert, which leapt into public awareness nearly 30 years ago with TV ads showing the elderly “Mrs. Fletcher” reaching for her Life Alert pendant and telling an operator, "I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!"

Now companies like Nortek Security & Control and small startups are taking that much further.

The challenge though is that older consumers may not be ready to use the technology and their medical, security and wellness needs may differ significantly. There are also safety and privacy risks.

“There’s a lot of potential, but a big gap between what seniors want and what the market can provide,” said Harry Wang, director of health and mobile product research at Parks Associates.

From the article "US startups aim to help seniors 'age in place'" by Reuters. 

Previously In The News

Why You Should—or Shouldn’t—Buy a Home Security Camera

Home surveillance cameras—from Ring, Nest, Arlo and others—are the eyes and ears of many neighborhoods. Around 14% of U.S. households with broadband have installed an internet-connected camera, accord...

Roku Swings to Second-Quarter Loss on Slower Ad Spending

San Jose, Calif.-based Roku is the nation’s largest maker of streaming hardware—accounting for about 37% of the U.S. market, according to Parks Associates—but it derives most of its revenue from adver...

Voice Recognition Software Drive New IoT Use Cases

“Over 70% of voice-recognition users are satisfied with the experience of using this solution on their smartphones, which is driving experimentation with this functionality on other platforms, includi...

You don’t have to feel guilty about sharing your TV log-in

Last year, research firm Parks Associates found that 16 percent of U.S. households with broadband admitted either borrowing video log-ins or sharing their own credentials. For many people under 40, sh...