AAA Nevada is offering smart home monitoring with preconfigured hardware solutions, it said Monday. AAA Smart Home provides 24/7 monitoring with a remote concierge installation process for the systems, which are tested before shipping to customers. Self-install kits come with quick start guides, installation manuals and digital resources, said the company. Monitoring links users to the AAA Smart Home emergency dispatch center, which has multiple backup centers. The systems have “military-grade” encryption, Bluetooth disarming and a built-in camera and glass break sensor. Users can arm and disarm the system using a mobile app. Plans start at $19.99 monthly for basic monitoring, which includes 24/7 professional monitoring, real-time notifications, and Siri, Alexa and Google Voice integration. Smart monitoring, starting at $29.99 monthly, adds video analytics and cloud storage, live-streaming video, two-way audio and smart home automation. There are no long-term monitoring contracts or cancellation fees, AAA said.

Yale introduced smart solutions for delivery boxes and cabinets, enabling customers to manage and monitor package deliveries and cabinet contents from a smartphone. The devices are available with a Yale Connect Wi-Fi bridge and controllable by Yale’s Access app, said the company Tuesday. The Yale Smart Delivery Box (starting at $229), designed with Kingsley Park in two styles, can be used outside and tethered or weighted with sand in the base. When users enable “delivery mode,” the box is unlocked until a delivery is made; it then automatically locks and sends the user a notification. Users can lock, unlock, share access with others and receive notifications via the Wi-Fi bridge. Users can also give delivery personnel an entry code for a Yale smart keypad that’s included with some models. The Yale Smart Cabinet Lock ($79 with Bluetooth, $129 with Wi-Fi) installs inside cabinets or drawers to guard valuables. A smart safe is due in 2021, the company said.

Global smart home device unit shipments will grow 4.1% this year to 854 million, remaining “quite resilient” during the pandemic, forecast IDC Monday. Through 2024, that number will reach more than 1.4 billion, it said. Though the market lost some ground vs. pre-COVID-19 forecasts, smart home devices remained popular with consumers as they shifted spending from vacation, travel and restaurants. Video entertainment devices are expected to remain the largest category throughout the smart home forecast, generating 31.3% of all shipments in 2024 due to falling prices and advanced functions, including 8K video, higher refresh rates, HDR, large screen sizes and integration with smart assistants and streaming platforms. TVs are expected to hold 60% share in the category by 2024. In-home bandwidth requirements are growing as consumers spend more time indoors and add to the number of connected devices within the home, noted analyst Jitesh Ubrani. That will “force upgrades to the in-home network infrastructure and further drive the importance of Wi-Fi 6 in upcoming smart home devices." Market growth over the next few years will be limited by concerns about security and privacy, consumers' price sensitivity to upfront and ongoing costs of devices and services, and “the underlying uncertainty in labor and financial markets around the world.” Fear of missing out, along with security concerns, will drive demand for smart cameras, door locks and doorbells. Smart speakers are seen growing at a rate of 11.1% as emerging markets begin to adopt the voice-driven devices. IDC expects the category will be challenged for growth as smart speaker functionality gets incorporated into other device types and replacement rates stretch.

Smart building platform provider 1Valet named Ecobee its preferred smart thermostat partner for the Canadian market, it said Tuesday. 1Valet cited Ecobee’s SmartBuildings application programming interface for the high-rise multidwelling unit market.

Thirty-five percent of U.S. consumers own at least one smart device, NPD reported Monday. Ownership rates vary widely among product categories, with security cameras leading at 15% ownership. Smart doorbells, doubling as monitoring devices, are driving the highest unit volume changes, adding 1.8 million units through January for 64% year-on-year growth. Smart light bulbs and power devices, seen as convenience products, have fallen to low single-digit unit growth, said NPD. Ownership in the highest income households is more than double that of lower-income households, and households earning over $150,000, 15% of the population, are more likely to own a broader portfolio. Device cost isn’t the primary factor driving purchase decisions, said NPD: Consumers of all income levels gravitate more to security cameras when starting their smart home collections, it said. “Even as the smart home market continues to develop and other products become more readily available, consumers today are still most likely to take that first step into the smart home market with the purchase of a security camera,” said analyst Jill Aldort. Data is based on a survey fielded in January among 5,044 adults.

A fifth of new multifamily dwelling units will have smart home technology by 2025, blogged Parks Associates Wednesday. Some 57% of U.S. multifamily home builders say smart home devices create additional revenue in their properties through increased rental value. Fifteen percent of new MDU builds have smart home tech installed, with smart locks, lights and thermostats the most common devices, said analyst Brad Russell.

Security companies are the top choice to provide smart home services for consumers, Futuresource said. Most consumers prioritize safety for themselves and their family, emailed the researcher Monday. Security companies topped the list of providers consumers would buy a home service from, followed by utility companies and then ISPs, said the survey of consumers in the U.S. and Europe. Only one in four consumers will consider buying a smart security device or smart-home-as-a-service (SHaaS) due to lack of perceived value, said analyst Julian Issa. The tech giants -- Google, Amazon, Samsung and Facebook -- consider the rise of the smart home an opportunity to further extend their engagement with users, but it’s the security and monitoring space that has presented the biggest opportunity to implement a SHaaS model for these firms, said Issa. Benefits of SHaaS are a “consistent revenue stream, data capture and regular customer interaction leading to higher retention rates,” he said. As SHaaS will play an increasingly important role in the future of the smart home sector, “security is the sweet spot that can convert consumers to a SHaaS model,” said the analyst. For the do-it-yourself consumer, smart speakers and security devices remain the gateway products for the smart home world. For the service model, security video cameras with recording capabilities are the gateway product, he said. On a Parks Associates webinar last week, anti-virus company Bitdefender presented the internet service provider as an optimal provider of SHaaS (2006260025).

Connected light bulbs will be the fastest growing smart home device over the next five years, fueled by affordable products that mimic Philips' Hue, said Strategy Analytics Tuesday. The research firm’s consumer survey showed Philips Hue was the most frequently mentioned smart bulb brand, cited by more than half of respondents, more than double that of the next brand, Ikea. “Dozens” of companies are mimicking Hue’s features and selling them “at a fraction” of Philips Hue’s prices, it said. Over the next few years, Ikea, Amazon, Google and dozens of other brands will drive the bulk of smart light bulb units sold, “largely by undercutting Philips Hue’s pricing,” said analyst Bill Ablondi. As smart bulbs become commoditized, consumers will look beyond price for distinguishing features, he said. User experience will likely be a differentiator, “given the strong emphasis consumers placed on how well smart light bulbs work straight out of the box, and how many other devices they can be controlled by, such as smart speakers, surveillance cameras, or motion sensors.” Smart bulbs come in behind the most popular smart home categories, smart thermostats and surveillance cameras, said SA. Smart light bulbs, with a favorable benefit-to-cost ratio, are “the perfect smart home ice-breaker,” said analyst Jack Narcotta, citing low cost and easy installation and use.

One in four smart homes in the U.S., Germany, France and U.K. has a video doorbell, said Strategy Analytics Wednesday. They're the fourth-most popular smart home device despite being on the market for far less time than smart thermostats, surveillance cameras and smart light bulbs, it said. The devices are installed in millions of smart homes, in spite of concerns about privacy and hacking, indicating perceived benefits outweigh risks, said the research firm. Ring was the most frequently mentioned brand in a survey, mentioned some 50% more often than second-place Nest. The two brands, owned by Amazon and Google, have influenced how video doorbells are sold, established the price points, determined primary selling locations and outlined installation processes, said analyst Jack Narcotta. The devices are on the way to becoming mass-market as prices have dropped and self-installation has become easier, said analyst Bill Ablondi. Feature gaps separating brands will close over the next few years, he said.

InnoPhase announced low-power wireless SoCs with integrated microcontrollers for edge IoT products. The INP1010 and INP1011 Talaria Two modules include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth low energy, an embedded Arm Cortex-M3 for system control and user applications, plus security elements for device safeguards. They’re targeted to battery-based, direct-to-cloud devices in smart home and commercial applications such as smart door locks, remote security cameras and connected sensors, said the company Tuesday.