Type of Article: MacTech Blog

WiGig has emerged as one of the most promising Wi-Fi standards in the recent few years with high speed data rates up to 7 Gbps operating in the 60 GHz band.

WiGig products have been on the market since 2013 (e.g. Dell Docking station) but the market has been slow to develop given a lack of compelling use cases and the need for development of new chip-sets to lower cost and drive usage. Much development work has been done in the last few years by OEMs and chip vendors.

According to a new research report from Berg Insight (www.berginsight.com), the number of North American and European homes with a smart thermostat grew by 81% to 5.8 million in 2015.

The North American market recorded a 78% growth in the installed base of smart thermostats to 4.5 million. In Europe, the total number of homes with a smart thermostat grew by 90% year-on-year to reach 1.4 million.

According to a new research report from Berg Insight (www.berginsight.com), the number smart homes in Europe and North America reached 17.9 million in 2015.

North America is the world’s most advanced smart home market and the region had an installed base of 12.7 million smart homes at the end of the year, a 56% year-on-year growth. The strong market growth is expected to last for years to come, driving the number of smart homes in North America to 46.2 million by 2020, which corresponds to 35% of all households, according to Berg Insight.

Mobile app users spend 24% more on in-app transactions than on upfront app payments, according to an online consumer survey by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). Consumer preference for in-app transactions indicates that the flexibility they offer is delivering a better customer experience than paid-for downloads, according to the research group.

Worldwide customer relationship management (CRM) software totaled $26.3 billion in 2015, up 12.3% from $23.4 billion in 2014, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).