Intel's Barrett Says IT, Consumer Electronics Gap Bridged
2005 International Consumer Electronics Show
In a keynote at the Las Vegas conference, Barrett also described a PC industry that has established a pipeline for digital media delivery that solution providers can now exploit.
"We're going to upgrade your life and upgrade some of the equipment in your life," Barrett said.
Intel&'s delivery of dual-core processors later this year will fuel performance gains in home networking and digital applications, Barrett added. He also presented demonstrations of several notebooks optimized for digital solutions.
Barrett framed Intel&'s focus on the digital home and extended network--a strategy that the chip giant has pursued the past two years--as enlightened self-interest.
"Three-quarters of Americans planned to give digital gifts for Christmas," Barrett said. "The wave is sweeping over now."
Barrett delivered his address at the official launch of the CES, which is expected to be attended by more than 120,000 vendors, integrators, solution providers and consumer-electronics professionals--surpassing Comdex as the premier technology trade show.
Though technology such as Intel processors and chipsets and Microsoft&'s Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system have fueled the rise of the digital home, Barrett said his company is now focused on adapting PC technology to improve everyday life. During his speech, an Intel researcher demonstrated a test-version application that uses network and Internet-based technologies to help monitor the movement of vulnerable senior citizens in their homes, as well as help them keep track of people, conversations and details they may be prone to forgetting.
To underscore his point that much of this type of technology has been delivered and is ready for use, Barrett shared the stage with rock singer Steven Tyler of Aerosmith during a demonstration of Umixit recording software. Tyler said that upon learning about the software's capabilities to let listeners remove single tracks of a recording and replace it with their own bass, guitar or vocals, he asked producers of Aerosmith&'s latest DVD, "You Gotta Move," to delay its release by a week to include an audio CD with Umixit&'s software.
Barrett later invited filmmaker and actor Robert Redford on stage to discuss uses of technology in assisting creation and delivery of independent films.
"One of the great pluses is what it&'s done for the democratization of film," said Redford, whose Sundance organization in part was launched to provide an outlet for independent films.
The appearances of Redford and Tyler gave Intel among the highest-profile entertainment endorsements for its technology to date.