John Driver, CEO of Lynx Technology, answers several industry questions before speaking at the 2016 CONNECTIONS Summit, hosted annually by Parks Associates at CES:
What is the most important next step to engage consumers in smart home solutions, connected entertainment services, and/or value-added services like tech support and connected health?
Our review of customer support sites of smart home offerings in the market, reveals a consumer base that questions the reliability of these offerings. The expectations that consumers have and the reality of what they are buying seems to be out of synch. There is still a lack of awareness about the smart home so the industry has to educate the consumer and launch products and services that are more reliable and do a few things really well.
What is the biggest challenge your company faces in 2016?
Implementing technologies that allow device manufacturers and content providers to protect premium content when it is shared in the home.
What is the biggest driver for the connected consumer market?
It remains the penetration of broadband access in the home, and at sufficient speeds. Also, our customers claim consumers still suffer from a lack of awareness of the media sharing capabilities of the devices they already have in the home.
What are the most important initiatives your company is taking in 2016?
Implementing technologies that allow device manufacturers and content providers to protect premium content when it is shared in the home.
Describe your vision for the smart home and entertainment markets in 2020.
- Truly smart services and devices that learn and anticipate consumers needs without their intervention
- Interoperability between smart home devices and services regardless of protocol (zigbee, zwave, thread etc.)
John Driver will be speaking on the panel session "Cloud-based CE and Virtualization: Converging Video Services" on January 6 at 1:10pm. He will be joined onstage by speakers from AirTies Wireless Networks, Comcast, Gracenote, Sling TV, and TiVo. If you plan to attend CES, make sure to add the session to your schedule!
For more information on the speakers and sessions at this year's CONNECTIONS Summit conference, visit www.connectionssummit.com.
