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CES 2010 Keynotes

October 27th, 2009

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is more than just a showcase of the world’s latest and greatest technologies, it is where industry movers and shakers often announce new innovations and set the tone for how technology will move forward in the coming year. For many years Bill Gates of Microsoft led the keynote lineup, but with Gates’ retirement to pursue the objectives of the mega-philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates foundation it is now Steve Ballmer who effectively “opens” CES with his keynote talk the night before the official conference begins.

We’ll also be live blogging the CES Press Event on Tuesday where several highlighted innovations from the conference make their debut.

SOURCE:  International CES

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

6:30 p.m. Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Center

Steve Ballmer

Microsoft CEO

Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 after being the first business manager hired by Bill Gates and was named chief executive officer in 2000. With Microsoft’s goal of delivering an integrated platform to enable a seamless experience for consumers across PCs, devices and services, Ballmer is focused on continuing Microsoft’s leadership across the company’s seven businesses.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

8:30 a.m. Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Center

Gary Shapiro

Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO

Gary Shapiro will deliver his annual state of the industry address immediately before the 2010 CES opening keynote from Ford President and CEO Fred Mulally. Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the U.S. trade association representing some 2,000 consumer electronics companies and owning and producing the world’s largest tradeshow for consumer technology, the International CES. Shapiro is an active leader in the development, launch and marketing of HDTV. He has testified before Congress on HDTV and other technology and business issues more than 20 times. He co-founded and chaired the HDTV Model Station and has served as a leader of the Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC). He is a charter inductee to the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers, and in 2003 received its highest award as the industry leader most influential in advancing HDTV.

Update:  Yahoo’s Carol Bartz will not be speaking at CES 2010:  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355792,00.asp

Thursday, January 7, 2010

8:30 a.m. Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Center

Alan Mulally

Ford President and CEO

President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally, will deliver the opening keynote address at the 2010 International CES. “Alan Mulally has positioned Ford as a leading innovator in the automotive industry, and we are pleased to welcome him back to CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “For the auto industry and all other businesses that use technology, CES is the single must-attend event where business gets done.” Mulally will deliver his keynote address, following a State of the CE Industry keynote address delivered by Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. Mulally joined Ford in 2006, after serving as executive vice president of The Boeing Company and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Mulally is known for his innovation and focused leadership, while working to transform Ford into a lean, global enterprise. He has served as a past president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and is a former president of its Foundation. Additionally, Mulally served as a past chairman of the Board of Governors of the Aerospace Industries Association. He was named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2009, “Person of the Year” in 2006 by Aviation Week magazine and one of “The Best Leaders of 2005″ by BusinessWeek magazine.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

11 a.m. Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Theater

Carol Bartz

Yahoo! CEO

Carol Bartz has served as chief executive officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Yahoo! since January 2009. Previously, Bartz served as executive chairman, president and CEO of Autodesk, Inc. During her 14 years at Autodesk, the company diversified its product line and grew revenues from $285 million to $1.523 billion in FY06.

She previously held positions at Sun Microsystems, most recently as vice president of worldwide field operations and an executive officer of the company. Before joining Sun, she held product line and sales management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation and 3M Corporation. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Medals of Science and Technology Foundation. Ms. Bartz also serves as a director of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

4:30 p.m. Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Center

Paul Otellini

Intel President and CEO

Paul Otellini became Intel’s fifth CEO in 2005, succeeding Craig R. Barrett. Otellini previously had served as Intel’s president and chief operating officer, positions he held since 2002, the same year he was elected to Intel’s board of directors. Otellini is now focused on continuing Intel growth by extending Intel Architecture into adjacent market segments of embedded, handhelds and consumer electronics and to continue building new businesses by tackling big problems.

Friday, January 8, 2010

9 a.m. Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Theater

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo

Nokia CEO

Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo is preparing to deliver a keynote address at the 2010 International CES as part of the third annual Technology and Emerging Countries (TEC) program, which focuses on technology’s role in furthering economic and sustainable development.

Kallasvuo was appointed president and CEO of Nokia in 2006. He has held several executive positions after joining Nokia in 1980 as corporate counsel, including executive vice president, North America; Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Kallasvuo has been a member of the Group Executive Board of Nokia since 1990, and was nominated to the Nokia Board of Directors in May 2007. He has been Chairman of the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks since its formation in 2007.

Friday, January 8, 2010

4 p.m. Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Theater

Zhou Houjian

Hisense Chairman

Zhou Houjian, chairman, Hisense, will deliver a keynote address at the 2010 International CES as part of the third annual Technology and Emerging Countries (TEC) Program, which focuses on technology’s role in advancing economic development.

Under Zhou Houjian’s leadership, Hisense Group Co. Ltd. has grown from a small regional multimillion dollar company to a large global multibillion dollar conglomerate. With a worldwide workforce of more than 60,000 employees, Hisense has over 300 sales companies and more than 60,000 service outlets around the globe. It has 13 manufacturing facilities in China, as well as in North and South Africa. In addition, it has three R&D facilities in China, as well as in the U.S., South Africa, and Belgium. Its products are exported to 130 countries and regions throughout the world.

Zhou has twice won the honor of China Central Television’s Business Man of the Year (2000 and 2005), a similar award to Time Magazine’s Man of the Year. He is also recognized as one of the most influential persons since China’s economic reform policy was established in 1978 and has been named as one of the “Top Ten Electronic Information Leaders since China’s Economic Reform.

CES, CES10, Product Reviews, Science & Technology, Vehicle Technology, Web 2.0, conferences, portable computing , , , ,

CES Sneak Peeks: Classmate PC, 60 GB for the Road Warrior

December 20th, 2008
Includes XP w/Stylus

Includes XP w/Stylus

By John Ghysels, Special to Technology-Report.com

Sometimes it pays to manufacture chips and the surrounding hardware feeding input into those chips.  Intel is proving this by diving into select portions of the PC market with this low cost, netbook class, convertible PC it will soon be introducting at CES next month.  We’ve never seen such a cheap, flexible machine before with such power and it could be a real show stopper in Vegas. Although branded obviously for the student market, it promises to bring portable power to anyone.

This Classmate PC has an 8.9-inch swivel screen with touch and stylus input, a Web cam, and 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 60GB hard drive running Windows XP, with a few Intel touches to make XP work for the convertible form factor. It includes Vision Objects Pen Input, which makes anything input via the stylus editable as text. It also includes a virtual keyboard, for when operating in pad mode.

Note that this model has far more memory and power than the original Classmate PC, which will continue to be sold.

Technology-Report has been told that the rumored price for this tiny, convertible Classmate PC will be somewhere around $250 to maybe $400, though the company declines to put a specific number out there just yet. Guess we have to wait to bug the reps at CES.

John Ghysels, 12/20/2008

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Portable Power for Road Warrior; Acer Aspire ONE

November 28th, 2008

 

 

By John Ghysels, Special to Technology-Report.com

Product Review: High computing power in a small package; the Latest Acer Aspire One

A while back, I started a “sales journal” using ACT to track notes on my sales calls. I was using a fragile, old 50 GB mini-laptop to write in notes on my clients immediately after calling on them. This practice became an invaluable tool on tracking little details and items for follow up that usually didn’t make it to my easily lost or otherwise non-transcribed paper notes. Needing more memory, I tried carting around a full size laptop for this purpose for a time, but I found I just didn’t bother to take notes when it came to wedging that big computer into my lap in front of the steering wheel for a few minutes after every call (yes, while still parked, you smart alecs!). Also, when it came time for trips, I kept reaching for the mini when packing, despite the obvious advantages of my more powerful laptops. 

For car seat road warriors like me, I was excited when I saw the low price on this relatively powerful ACER machine.  For a mere $350, you can have the power to run RAM hungry programs like ACT, while still pulling off the usual suite of Office programs and email.  At 2.2 lbs with the included 3 cell battery, the weight can’t be beat, and with 1 GB of RAM and 120 GB Hard Drive, it offers plenty of flexibility and room for those needing portable power.

Thoughtfully, Acer loaded Windows XP Home Premium, rather than RAM hog Vista, which keeps the little machine speedy enough, and saves the trouble of having to rollback to XP for some business applications. 

If you are a photo bug like me,  I have found that having the ability travel with a camera and bring along the ablility to download, share, email and upload pictures tends to make one a helpful and popular family travel companion.  It is actually a bit amazing that of this still comes in at about $100 less than the well known and popular Lenovo S10.  In fact, this laptop costs about half the price of many mid-level consumer SLR cameras, yet would be a invaluable part of a traveling photographer’s pack. 

Some have faulted the 3 hour battery life on this lightweight unit, however, given the added outlets at many new airports and the ease of adding regulated AC converters in the car, I can’t say this worries me much. If it is a concern, a 5 hour, 6 cell battery is available, that boosts the weight to only 2.8 lbs. 

I find when it comes to making a quick trip, from making a few sales calls to a family overnight, nothing beats a tiny package of power when you need it.  Adding in the 5 in 1 card reader wraps up this package nicely, especially given the rapidly falling prices of SD memory.

Editor’s warning:  BEWARE there are TWO versions of this computer for sale at the moment, under the same name, and nearly the same price. The earlier version is a Linex version, with one a 16 GB “solid-state” hard drive. The newer version has a 120 GB hard-drive and runs on Windows XP Home. So unless you have an affinity for Open Office, stick with the bigger hard drive of new version of the Aspire One. 

November 28, 2008

John Ghysels

Cameras, Mini laptops, Travel Aids, computers, gadgets, laptops, portable computing, technology , , , ,

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