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Connected Entertainment to Drive Development of the Digital Home

7:00 am on July 24, 2006 | Category: Mobile Devices, Multimedia, Wireless Technology

The total number of American households with connected entertainment networks will reach 30 million in the year 2010, according to a recent Parks Associates research report entitled â€œNetworks in the Home: Connected Consumer Electronics.â€

The report defines connected entertainment networks as a PC connected to at least one consumer electronic device, or two or more consumer electronic devices connected together within a home. A whole-house DVR system would be one example of such a network.

“Broadband proliferation is a fundamental driver of connected entertainment opportunities inside the home,” said Parks Associates analyst, Harry Wang. “But more importantly, better network configuration tools and easy-to-navigate user interfaces will assuage consumers’ concerns about setup difficulties or application glitches.”

The Parks report predicts that connected entertainment will one of the primary components driving the development of the digital home. At the moment, consumer electronics manufacturers and video service providers are working independently to take advantage of connected entertainment, but they will likely find themselves working together more and more to take advantages of opportunities in this exciting new market.

“Consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers are still searching for the Rosetta stone of the connected entertainment market,” Wang explained. “To move beyond the early-adopter stage, CE manufacturers must ally with content and service providers, software developers, and silicon designers to build elegance and usability into the product design and bring popular digital content to consumers’ fingertips anywhere in the home.”

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