Intel CEO Brian Krzanich delivered his keynote address at the 2014 International CES on the topic “A Revolution in The Making”, highlighting and demonstrating the latest technology developments taking place at Intel…here is the full keynote transcript…
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer Electronics Association, Gary Shapiro.
Gary Shapiro – President and CEO of CEA
Good evening everyone, and Happy New Year. And on behalf of the Consumer Electronics Association, I’d like to welcome you to the preshow keynote for the 2014 International CES. Tomorrow, when the show floor opens, you’ll see groundbreaking products and services from more than 3,200 technology companies. You’ll hear keynotes from top industry leaders, and you’ll choose from nearly 300 conference sessions to learn about new technologies and business models. You’ll also network with colleagues, and you’ll make new contacts.
You know, with some estimated 20,000 new products being introduced in 15 different categories, CES is the world’s premier innovation event. We have an incredible lineup of top executives giving CES keynotes, including Audi’s Rupert Stadler tonight at 8:30 at the Cosmopolitan Chelsea Theater. And by the way, if you’re interested in that, buses will depart from level one below right immediately following this keynote.
Other keynotes include Sony’s Kaz Hirai, Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, Cisco’s John Chambers and other top executives from Qualcomm, AT&T and many more on keynote panels.
Also, new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will also be here on Wednesday to share their views on technology issues. And now, this is what you’re waiting for. I would like to introduce to you our preshow keynote for the 2014 International CES.
More than four decades ago, two brilliant engineers started a company that would literally change the world. Those engineers, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, believed that integrated electronics could totally change modern life. They called their company Intel. When they founded the company, the personal computer hadn’t even been invented yet. The handheld calculator was a brand-new innovation, and it cost more than $500. But the work of Intel changed all of that.
So much of the consumer electronics revolution that we have witnessed the last two decades is due in large measure to the advances pioneered by Intel. Today, Intel’s technology continues to drive the world of computing, data centers and personal technology. Intel is not only a world-class innovator. It continues to set the highest standard in global technology manufacturing.
Last May, when Intel named a new CEO, I thought immediately that this was the right person to help us kick-off the spectacular CES in 2014. Brian Krzanich — that’s my fear, right there — has spent his entire career at Intel. An engineer by training, he has overseen Intel’s vast manufacturing networks stretching from the United States to Ireland and Israel and to Vietnam and China. In just his first six months on the job, Brian has reinvigorated Intel from the most powerful service in the world to innovating experiences on the PC and tablet to endless possibilities in the Internet of Things, Brian has positioned Intel to be the center of the consumer electronics world.
Tonight, he will give you a feel for where Intel’s remarkable technology prowess comes from and what it means for the future of consumer electronics. As you know, the pre-opening keynote is a very special platform for CES. And I cannot imagine a better ambassador of technology than Intel’s new leader. I was thrilled when he accepted our invitation to speak here tonight on “A Revolution In The Making”. Will you please welcome one of the leaders of that revolution, making his first appearance on the CES stage, the Chief Executive Officer of Intel, Brian Krzanich.
Brian Krzanich – CEO, Intel
Good evening. I’d like to thank Gary again for that introduction. I’d also like to thank the CEA for this invitation to come and speak with you tonight. I am absolutely thrilled to be here. This is a unique opportunity, a special place and a special platform to deliver to you Intel’s vision of the future.
I’d also like to take a second to personally welcome all of you to CES. This is a unique show and, as Gary described, something that really represents our industry. We’re also all very lucky to be here tonight. We are in the midst of a transformation. From a world of screens and devices to a world of immersive experiences, let me show you what I mean.
[Video Presentation]
Through that leading edge technology, we are building that world. Tonight we’re going to explore that world together. Timing could not be better. We’re entering a new era of computing. At the heart of this big idea and a very big change is that technology. Most of my career, computing has been something you hold in your hand. Maybe it’s something in your pocket. Something that sits on your desk. That idea is about to be transformed.
Tonight we’re going to see some amazing devices, things that will amaze you and delight you. But we’re going to look beyond those devices and talk about the experiences. I want you to be immersed in those experiences, and you’ll know what I mean as we go through this evening. To do that, I’m going to take some risks. Amazing technologies that are just completing development are going to be shown here tonight. You are getting an advance preview, an insider’s view of the technology that’s coming out of this development group. Is there any better place to show off something new than opening night at CES?
I’m going to show you tonight that revolution in three areas: in how we live, in how we work, in how we play. I’m going to begin with one of the most exciting areas of development: wearables. If you’ve read the press leading up to CES, it’s everywhere. As we started to look at wearables ourselves, we asked ourselves, “Why aren’t wearables everywhere? What’s holding back wearables in this marketplace?” In doing that, we realized two things. They don’t integrate all the features you want. You still always had to have something else with you. And you’re not solving real problems, the problems people want solved at the time. Wearables need to do that.
So then we asked ourselves, “How do you fix that? What’s the key?” And we came up with a very simple answer. Make everything smart. So how do you do that? How do you make everything smart? We started with something simple, because simplicity makes technology desirable.
I’m a runner myself. I know many runners. And anyone who runs, bikes, does any kind of active activity outside, they tend to bring their phone and their headphones to that run. But you always want something else. You want to be able to track your run. You want to be able to know your pace. As I’ve gotten older, I’d like to know my heart rate. When I was younger, I wish I’d known it because I was training harder. But what I found was that you had to have multiple devices, and it was complex.
When we looked into this, we thought there was one simple answer for us, and that was to develop the smart earbuds.
Indira is walking onstage here, and she’s just come back from a run. Literally. And as you can see on the screens, there’s her earbuds and an app on her phone. And on the app, it integrates things like her pace, how far she’s gone, what the track actually was, right? Where she is physically. But there’s something else. There’s her heart rate. And you can actually see the heart rate falling. We’re actually doing this live.
What you don’t see is that the sensors for that heart rate are built into those earbuds. Those earbuds are what’s measuring that heart rate. And there’s one other special feature that Indira, who’s actually the leader of the team who developed this, and her team developed. And that was that along with not needing a chest strap, you don’t need anything else to charge these. They get their power off the microphone jack off your phone.
So a simple solution — an app, your phone, and a smart earbud — and now all your answers are integrated simply into one device. And you can go for your run, you can go for your bike ride, you can go for your hike, and everything is there. Thank you, Indira.
That was only one of the issues with wearables and earbuds that we saw and we wanted to solve. Another one was that every time you wanted to get to your personal systems on your phone you had to take the phone out. You had to hit a button either on the phone or your earpiece. And so we spent some time thinking about that, and we said, “We should be able to make this smart.” And so we came up with the smart headset.
Larry is here. He is going to introduce the smart headset to us, but we’ve nicknamed this smart headset Jarvis. And Jarvis is right here; I’m showing it to you right now. It’s hands-free, it’s always listening, and it’s got seamless integration. We’re going to show it here tonight with a built-in personal assistant that proactively engages with your calendar; it understands the context, and it interrupts politely. So Larry is going to put us through our demonstration right now of what Jarvis can do.
Larry: Brian, as you mentioned, with this smart headset I can interact with my phone over here without picking it up. In fact, without even touching it. Now I’m going to share that experience with you right now, and what I’ll do is I will make dinner reservations for after your keynote tonight. So let’s give it a run.