Three-fourths of home security installations last year included smart control features, said a Parks Associates report, and nine in 10 security dealers now offer at least basic interactive services with their systems. Some 36 percent reported selling security systems sales with a networked camera, and 16 percent said they sold smart thermostats, said Parks. Security dealers continue to explore innovations to increase security system adoption, said Parks analyst Dina Abdelrazik. Just 5 percent of dealers currently report including smart speakers with security system sales, but Parks expects that number to rise with availability of voice-control features from security manufacturers. ADT and Moni/Brinks have enabled Alexa skills and certain security functions to be accessible through voice assistants, for example, Abdelrazik said.

Door lock company Schlage announced compatibility with Amazon Alexa voice control for two deadbolts. Alexa users can now use the app to enable or disable the new voice unlock functionality for their Schlage Sense and Schlage Connect locks; the locks come disabled by default for security, said the company. Users will be required to log into their Amazon Alexa app using their password to enable the feature initially, and then create a unique personal identification number, which must be spoken before Alexa unlocks the door, Schlage said. The feature is immediately disabled after three incorrect voice code attempts, said the company. The new functionality is an addition to Schlage and Amazon Alexa's current features, which include verbally locking or checking the status of the front door via Alexa-enabled devices, it said. When paired with a Schlage hub or Wi-Fi adapter, users can check on the lock’s status from anywhere to ensure the door is locked, it said. Users can create and delete up to 30 unique access codes so trusted friends and family can enter using their code at the lock's touch screen, and they can schedule access codes, so guests can enter only at allowed times, said Schlage.

Amazon Alexa leads in consumer awareness of smart home platforms at 28 percent, but “consumers want robust user experiences,” said Parks Associates analyst Dina Abdelrazik. “They are not going out to buy platforms but products." She said interoperability is key to enabling a working ecosystem of devices. Citing a Parks survey of U.S. broadband households, Abdelrazik said 75 percent of U.S. broadband households planning to buy a smart home product consider interoperability to be important.

Seventeen percent of U.S. broadband households own an internet-connected entertainment device and a smart home device, Parks Associates reported Tuesday. Thirteen percent own a connected health device and a smart home device. "Adoption of multiple connected devices alters consumer behavior as connectivity opens opportunities for adjacent use cases, new means of control, and extension of preferred interfaces," said analyst Brad Russell.

Charlie Kindel, who founded Amazon's Smart Home division, left Amazon Friday "to catch his breath." Professionally, he doesn't know what's next, he blogged, but he plans to hire a "CEDIA-level installer to completely refit my home automation system," which he described as 2001-era and "a bit crusty." By making a clean break from Amazon all options are still on the table, said Kindel, including returning to Amazon.

Comcast Xfinity is sponsoring the CNET Smart Home in San Francisco, a demonstration facility to be used to teach consumers how to benefit from smart home devices, cable and high-speed internet, said the companies. The 2,952 square-foot single-family home, with a one-year lease, won’t be open to the public but will be used by CNET for creating “explainer videos” based on an Xfinity internet backbone and used by Xfinity for a series of marketing events over the year, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said. Videos include how to set up the optimum room for online gamers and another setting up parental controls for alerts and to manage children’s access to the internet, he said. CNET’s Guide to Smart Living content is designed to teach readers how to incorporate a mix of connected products and services into their lives from installation to implementation, it said. Examples include automating the morning with a scene that adjusts lights, turns on news and starts the coffee maker; using a smart pan or getting cooking advice from a stove using voice commands; and maximizing home security devices. A goal of the project is to let consumers know the smart home “is not theoretical; it’s here,” Douglas said. Xfinity Home partners Lutron and Ecobee are among the initial Xfinity Home partners featured in the home for their lighting controls and thermostats, and different devices from the Xfinity Home portfolio will be used as the project progresses, he said. The company’s X1 Voice Remote will be featured prominently in demo videos, he said. On whether Xfinity Home is looking to host similar homes in other cities, Douglas said it would be open to the idea “because it’s the first of its kind” and could be a platform for other cities. Douglas noted Comcast’s Xfinity stores are being redesigned to showcase all its services and related products, including mobile, in stations staffed with product specialists who can answer questions.

U.S. consumers strongly prefer smartphones over digital home assistants as smart home controllers, said GfK Tuesday. The company canvassed 1,000 consumers online and found that 83 percent use their smartphones at home, compared with 75 percent for laptops, 54 percent for PCs and 34 percent for videogame consoles. It's "no surprise” consumers also regard smartphones as their preferred smart home “hubs,” said GfK, “especially for the many appliances that allow controlling and viewing the home at a distance.” Users of digital assistants remain very loyal to their devices, it said. Fifty-one percent of such users regard their devices as “extremely integrated” into daily lives, even though 75 percent bought their digital assistants less than a year ago. Worries about personal privacy could account for a “major obstacle to adoption” for digital assistants, it said, with 35 percent citing privacy as a big concern.

Delta Faucet partnered with smart water management device company Buoy in a strategic relationship focused on water management, savings and usage, they said Friday. The companies cited a Michigan State University study that said in four years 36 percent of U.S. households could be priced out by their water bills. The companies said 10 percent of water used every month is wasted due to running toilets, leaky faucets, malfunctioning washers and other leaks that could be prevented by a plumber visit.

Nearly 60 percent of U.S. consumers said smart home technology is likely to change their lives in the next few years, said a GfK report Monday. The number rose to 68 percent among respondents 25-34 years old, and 57 percent of those ages 18-24 agreed, said the report. Some 27 percent of U.S. consumers have more than three smart home devices, and 7 percent own two or three, it said. Overall, half of respondents have at least one smart home device with millennial ownership at nearly 64 percent, it said. Owning synchronized devices is particularly useful for home entertainment and security systems, said Tom Neri, commercial director-tech and durables at GfK. While researchers found solid uptake and high expectations among millennial respondents, Gen Z (Ages 2-19) respondents “seem less impressed or engaged,” which Neri called a “a potential challenge" for the tech industry. He also noted that age segment isn’t yet in its “first ‘home life’ stage.” Cross-device communication could be a roadblock for smart home growth, said Neri, with 68 percent of millennials saying they expect devices from different vendors to talk to each other, “a level of compatibility the industry is still working to achieve in many cases."

More than half of U.S. broadband households would be willing to pay $5 per month for a smart thermostat service that includes setup, installation and repair/upgrades, said a Tuesday Parks Associates report. The firm tested multiple hardware-as-a-service scenarios and found that despite consumers’ general aversion to monthly fees, they’re willing to pay for services with “clear value that include tasks they cannot or do not want to perform on their own.” Many smart home industry players want to shift business models from products to services, said Parks analyst Tom Kerber, who said providers need to frame services correctly for the transition to succeed. Households with a smart thermostat paid on average $177 for the device, "so a service model at the right monthly price would be very attractive to consumers,” Kerber said, saying those customers value features such as repairs, preventive maintenance and tech support when considering such services. Survey respondents said they’re interested in hardware-as-a-service options for smart home kits, HVAC systems and solar panels, when presented with a lower price point. Kerber suggested energy and service providers could use the data from services to build additional services, such as real-time energy management. "Identifying when an appliance is operating less efficiently is also a big opportunity,” he said.