Intel CEO Craig Barrett: Innovation Unwires The Consumer

INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9, 2003 - Intel CEO Craig Barrett said that technology innovation will unwire consumers, giving them more freedom to connect to people, information and entertainment at any time from any place on any device.

"Unwiring the consumer is the next logical advance in consumer electronics," Barrett said from the 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show, where he will deliver a keynote speech later today. Barrett will describe the technology forces shaping the marketplace, industry innovations that are unwiring consumers, and the need to bring interoperability to computing and consumer electronics devices within the home.

"All consumers will be digital consumers," Barrett said, explaining that a worldwide digital conversion is being driven by the personal computers, proliferation of digital devices and content, the rapid adoption of broadband and wireless technologies, and the ongoing Internet build-out. "At the same time, young people who have grown up alongside powerful home PCs, cell phones and the Internet are now coming into the marketplace as digital consumers. They are connected by technology that permeates and enriches their lives in ways not experienced by previous generations."

Brought up in an era of fast-moving technology innovation, these digital consumers have higher expectations of what tomorrow's devices must do.

"Consumers will be drawn to devices that give them greater mobility, productivity and style, as well as new ways to enjoy digital music, movies, photos and games in more places," Barrett said. "Unwiring the consumer minimizes physical connections and inspires people's imaginations to explore new ways to work, live and play through easy-to-use technology."

To accelerate the process of unwiring the consumer, Intel is bringing more capabilities to silicon and creating new computing and communications architectures.

"This developmental work will lead to the creation of unwired digital devices, more users and more opportunity," Barrett said, adding that in the future all devices will be able to communicate and compute. "Consumers want technology to be available at any time and any place," he said.

Since introducing the Extended PC concept two years ago at CES, Barrett said powerful PCs connected to the Internet and a vast array of such new digital products as digital cameras, MP3 players and personal digital assistants (PDAs) have become a reality for consumers worldwide.

"The PC remains the most powerful and flexible device available to consumers, and it continues to evolve with new capabilities," Barrett said. "The PC is becoming unwired; wireless technologies are being integrated into the PC, which will offer the user more freedom and flexibility."

Barrett said that in the first half of this year, Intel will introduce the Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology for notebook computers. The technology includes a wireless capability as well as features designed to enable extended battery life, thinner and lighter form factors, and outstanding mobile performance.

"The Intel Centrino mobile technology will bring more communications capabilities to the notebook PC," Barrett said.

Citing the recent introduction of Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology, Barrett said that Intel will continue to bring innovation to the desktop PC. The PC is extending wirelessly to enable consumers to view images, music and video any where in the home. HT Technology, available on the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor at 3.06 GHz, enables a new class of desktop PCs to work simultaneously among several computing applications, such as playing a realistic PC game while burning a CD, or running a virus scanning program while editing family photos.

Intel® XScale® Technology is a third Intel architecture that merges communications and computing capabilities within a single device. XScale technology allows for new cellular phones, PDAs as well as new types of handheld devices such as Personal Media Players and Smart Displays. Smart Displays are wireless flat-panel displays that are used as monitors when docked to a base desktop PC, but when detached, become a mobile monitor using 802.11b wireless LAN technology to access information and applications from the desktop PC.

Barrett said these architectures and devices will be connected and interoperate through advances in software and wireless technologies.

In 2003, Intel will pursue greater cooperation among PC and consumer electronics industry leaders to advance the inevitability of the Digital Home where personal computing and consumer electronics devices work together simply and easily. Interoperability among devices in the home and solutions for content protection are critical components to enable the Digital Home so that consumers can create and distribute personal content and acquire and distribute premium content within the home.

Barrett's keynote will feature unwired demonstrations of the extended wireless PC, Intel Centrino mobile technology and the future of the Digital Home.

Intel's CES Booth Will "Inspire, Unwire"
Under the theme "Inspire, Unwire," Intel's CES booth will feature three theaters where attendees can participate in the latest experiences in gaming, multimedia and convergence. Each theater will showcase PCs based on the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor at 3.06 GHz with HT Technology, notebooks based on the Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor-M and Intel Centrino mobile technology, and handheld devices based on Intel® XScaleTM Technology. Every demo is wireless, operating on either an 802.11a or 802.11b network. The booth (#14607) is located in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Important Information: Wireless connectivity requires additional software, services or external hardware that may need to be purchased separately. Availability of public wireless access points limited. System performance, battery life and functionality will vary depending on your specific hardware and software.

Intel, XScale, Pentium and Centrino are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.