Joe Branca

The recent flurry of smart speaker unveilings from Amazon, Sonos and Google significantly expands the options available to consumers but will also lead to increased scrutiny by buyers of their own particular needs and preferences.

ANALYSIS: Since Apple revealed in June that it will start shipping an intelligent home speaker, HomePod in December excitement has focused on its audio capabilities. This focus suits Cupertino which is giving little away on its smart home capabilities which will have to play catch-up with Amazon and Google.

Smart home service companies are missing opportunities with the wrong messages sent to the wrong people, says Boston-based Strategy Analytics.

Strategy Analytics has released the results of its competitive analysis of US providers of fee-based smart home services such as self-monitoring, notification, automation and energy management services — apart from or in addition to professionally-monitored interactive security.