Commentary

Consumers Want Their Home And Car Connected To Each Other

Connecting is the key component in the Internet of Things and consumers seem to want those connections to be pretty much wherever they are.

The smartphone obviously is one of the most obvious of connected devices today and consumers look to that device as a connection for other things.

It turns out that many consumers also want to link the connections in their homes with the connections in their cars, based on a new study by Parks Associates.

More than a quarter (27%) of U.S. car owners would like a feature that enables their car to communicate with Internet-connected devices in their home. Opening a garage door or unlocking the front door from their car seems to appeal to consumers.

The reality is that where connections reside does not live in a vacuum.

The connected car and smart home markets are growing in parallel with each other, and remote home security and controls, entertainment on-the-go and home energy management are expanding consumer interest in connected cars, according to the report.

The first preference of consumers is to have the connecting capability built into cars, followed by using a link via their smartphone. Least desirable is to use a smartphone in a car.

This has potential implications for marketers, since advertising is more likely going to travel directly through car screens and speakers rather than through smartphones. Location added to the mix of targeting mobile (as in driving) consumers adds an additional twist.

And how consumers pay for these connections also has to be worked out, with 61% of car owners preferring to bundle vehicle data with smartphone data under one billing plan.

But the linkage between home and car already is underway, with companies like Nest, ADT, Alarm.com and Hue already creating partnerships with companies in the automotive area, according to Parks Associates.

The general idea is that friction between home and away will be reduced by linking home and car, according to the report.

That essentially means that messaging will have to reside in both places as well. And be connected.

12 comments about "Consumers Want Their Home And Car Connected To Each Other".
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  1. R MARK REASBECK from www.USAonly.US , May 4, 2016 at 10:03 a.m.

    "The general idea is that friction between home and away will be reduced by linking home and car, according to the report."  (From article above)
    Can someone please describe what in the world is the "Friction" we are trying to avoid?  Is it the friction that your finger creates as it slides across the smartphone screen?  How patheticly lazy is your life that you have to press a screen to unlock your house door sitting in your car.  We are grooming a genration of high-tech, low energy people who will be unable to do any physical task, because there MUST be a button we can push , or an APP we can download to do life for us.
    The only thining I can connect here is the lack of Friction, creates a "Fluid" situation which requires a completely different button to click.

  2. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, May 4, 2016 at 10:32 a.m.

    Bad, bad, bad, bad...................................idea forever. You will wind up fricking yourself for life. Just one tiny thing and you are fricked.

  3. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin replied, May 4, 2016 at 10:44 a.m.

    Well said, Mark, which is why I inclduded that section of the report

  4. R MARK REASBECK from www.USAonly.US , May 4, 2016 at 11:12 a.m.

    So Chuck,  WHAT is the "Friction" ???

  5. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin replied, May 4, 2016 at 11:21 a.m.

    Was not stated in the report, which did point to the ease of opening garage doors (which could be done before IoT, of course) and unlocking doors, turning on heat/AC before arriving home, that sort of thing.

  6. R MARK REASBECK from www.USAonly.US , May 4, 2016 at 11:50 a.m.

    yeah that garage door openener on the visor of your car is just so hard to operate.  It creates friction under my armpit reaching up to click the button.  So cars are now marketed as an appliance, rather than a vehicle.  

  7. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin replied, May 4, 2016 at 12:07 p.m.

    That is the way the market is moving. Consumers either will -- or will not -- ride along.

  8. larry towers from nyu, May 4, 2016 at 7:49 p.m.

    People are just getting stupider and lazier and unfortunately this fits in well with marketing. All of the solutions searching for problems find them easily in the endless needs of the pampered minority with plenty of disposable cash. While real problems, that require real work,  to create real solutions, don't get addressed.

  9. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin replied, May 4, 2016 at 8:25 p.m.

    Well said, Larry, though the 'solutions' just keep coming.

  10. John Bowers from JC&C Bowers, May 5, 2016 at 8:53 a.m.

    Chuck Martin, 

    I'm a CEO of a UK based tech company whom have built a Connected-World solution. Your post represents the first real forward thinking media piece I've seen, that, outlined cross-environment potential for both IoT and the Connected car. Something we consider ourselves industry leaders on. I would welcome an exchange of details and a formal/informal conversation. 

    I'm not surprised by the negativity surrounding the concept this item has received and thoroughly agree that there is little benefit in 'tit-bits' of functionality that further aid laziness, however, there are a myriad of functionalities that are of significant importance that can be derived from cross-environment IoT capabilities, such as, our patented ability to intelligently utilise Solar power across the home - turning off all [unneeded] electronic devices upon communication that the last home keyholder has left the premise or identification of unauthorised/attempted access of the premises irrespective of where you are (again patented), the ability to address lost keys, vistors, deliveries remotely (patented yet again).

    This is just the tip of the iceberg in relation to what we can already do and almost insignificant in what can be and will be done in the future. Imagine being able to drive down the cost of your home insurance whilst, ensuring you energey bills were as low and as unreliant on the grid as possible whilst protecting your families security or even being able to turn that hob off which you left on in your hurry out the door. 

    Happy to discuss further and remember, when ICT was originally introduced; it was considered unproductive and only for the really techy types. 

    John - JohnBowers@jccbowers.com

  11. R MARK REASBECK from www.USAonly.US , May 5, 2016 at 9:52 a.m.

    Hi John,
    I'm a "BOOMER". we saw the world  explode with new ideas and technology.  It blows me away that our smart-phones have more power than the lunar landrers that put us on the moon. BUT , it just seems to me that we are (tech wise) creating solutions , that we have to justify making up  a problem. As I stated before, The generations behind  us , can't do anything but swipe a phone screen.   Where does personal responsibility come to play for your life?  It's like  we want to set a thermostat for getting through life.  The one that really pushes me off the cliff, is the self driving cars.............INSANITY.  Some of the tech stuff that "Drives me nuts" of seeing the restaurant's picture on your windshield................WHY?
    I get Conservation and anything that can relieve waste of resources is a good thing, but some of this stuff like a smart watch, so you don't have to check your "bulky" phone in your purse or pocket, Come on?  I think most of this technology is ushering in the "Laziest Generation"
    I do have to ask , what is a "hob"?


  12. Mark Mellynchuk from BDC Inc replied, May 5, 2016 at 5:21 p.m.

    hob = stove

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