Digital Lifescapes

Remote controls for a variety of consumer electronics in the home will start to get smarter as they're being redesigned for much greater utility. The new features and capabilities will help to redefine the inherent usability and value that these devices provide. In 2013 10 percent of the remote controls shipped with major home consumer equipment will be RF-enabled. This is just the beginning of a new trend -- the quest for the ultimate remote control. Over the next five years there will be a major surge in RF technology adoption for remote controls as vendors look to differentiate their products -- driving growth in smart home services, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. While at the same time RF solutions continue to fall in price, implementations become more simplified and lower powers are achieved. "RF technology has been considered for use in remote controls for many years but its adoption has been limited by a lack of perceived need among device...

The world was a much simpler place for pay-TV providers when all their competitor user interfaces (UI) had the same unintuitive design, set-top box remote controls had dozens of tiny buttons, channel guides were not interactive and nobody cared to change the status-quo of perpetual mediocrity. Then unwelcome outsiders introduced alternative offerings and the bar of UI design expectations was raised off the ground. The result? The legacy pay-TV companies are now struggling to keep up with the superior video experiences enabled by connected TVs, smartphones and media tablets. Their apparent situation, caused by an apathetic slow-moving business model, as well as serving less technically savvy consumers, is exacerbated by suffering a significant hardware disadvantage -- as they typically rely upon cheap set-top boxes that are based upon a 5-7 year-old technology. Meanwhile, the savvy consumers are looking at video content from a much wider selection of choices -- including more c...

According to the latest market study by TDG Research , almost two-thirds of Netflix customers that subscribe to a home broadband service are now viewing the 'Watch Instantly' online streaming video service. One-third of broadband-enabled Netflix subscribers view this streaming video exclusively only on their PCs, 8 percent view the content exclusively on their TVs, and 24 percent use both their PCs and TVs. "Netflix is now the archetype for over-the-top (OTT) streaming video services," notes Michael Greeson, TDG founding partner and director of research. "Not only has Netflix eclipsed its immediate competitors in terms of online DVD rental, but it has quickly become the 'gold standard' for new OTT streaming services." The implication is significant: one-half of broadband-enabled 'Watch Instantly' users now view streaming video on their TVs -- a phenomenon unimaginable just a few years ago. Several factors are critical to this early success: -...

The traditional infra-red remote control device used to command consumer electronics (CE) equipment -- including TVs and Pay-TV set top boxes -- is somewhat limited. Even universal remotes that control multiple devices are quite one-dimensional and poorly designed, from a usability point of view. If some major CE manufacturers have their way, the next generation of remotes will be based on Radio Frequency (RF) technology. The growth curve for these products is just beginning, but is forecast to show a 55 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2014. According to senior analyst Jason Blackwell of ABI Research, the first such products are already appearing in Japan. "RF remote controls are starting to ship with a few high-end Japanese TVs such as Sony's premium Bravia models. Companies like Sony hope to start with early-adopters, then ramp up volumes, drive down costs, and move these remotes into more mainstream products." IR remotes perform the basic task, so wh...