Innovation at CES 2019 Unites Industries, Fuels Global Economy

LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Technology innovation across every major and emerging industry has been
unveiled this week at CES®
2019, including the latest in AI, 5G, entertainment, sports,
automotive, resilience and smart cities. With keynotes from the leaders
of AMD and AT&T, sessions featuring executives from Twitter, the
National Football League, Walmart and Intel, along with thousands of
product debuts, CES is the global hub for innovation that will transcend
industries and fuel economic growth. Owned and produced by the Consumer
Technology Association (CTA), CES 2019 runs through Friday, January 11.

Dr. Lisa Su, president and CEO of AMD, took to the CES keynote stage
Wednesday morning and announced the new Radeon VII processor. Available
in February for $699, it’s the first 7nm processor built for gaming and
ensures impeccable performances, running smoothly during live demos for
the upcoming games Devil May Cry 5 and Tom Clancy’s The
Division 2. The Radeon VII is not only proof of AMD’S dedication to
high-performance gaming computers, but also its applications for
creatives and students. Dr. Su shared how Radeon VII and other AMD
products will be used by the esports team Fnatic and in a STEM-focused
high school in New York. “It’s our job to bring power computing to the
largest ecosystem we can,” Su told attendees.

Later in the day, the “New Frontiers in Mobile” keynote gave attendees a
glimpse into the future of 5G. MediaLink Chairman and CEO Michael Kassan
kicked off the keynote by declaring to the crowd that “CES 2019 is, for
all intents and purposes, the dawn of 5G.” Kassan was joined on stage by
AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan and the two discussed AT&T’s
efforts to make 5G a reality. Imparting on the crowd the significance of
5G, Donovan told attendees, “This network, really simply stated, is not
just faster and more efficient – which we’ve grown to appreciate – it’s
a real-time network. So it’s a game-changer.” The two discussed the
recent launch of AT&T’s 5G Evolution network, as well as AT&T’s work to
make Rush Hospital in Chicago the first 5G-enabled hospital.

Following their discussion, Philip Thomas, chairman of Cannes Lions,
moderated a panel discussing the possibilities of 5G. Executives from
Adobe, Deloitte Digital, Magic Leap, National Geographic and The
Stagwell Group explored how 5G will impact our lives. The panelists
agreed that beyond supporting technologies such as self-driving cars and
VR, 5G promises to transform areas such as storytelling and marketing.

During the keynote talk, “The New Mobility Revolution,” Chris Urmson,
co-founder and CEO of Aurora stated, “We’re here to stop fatalities on
America’s roads and globally. The status quo is not acceptable and we
should do something about it.” Aurora, along with the other panelists
from Audi, Intel and the National Safety Council, are members of the
newly-launched PAVE coalition which aims to educate the U.S. public on
the benefits of self-driving vehicles. From a global perspective, Amnon
Shashua, president and CEO, MobilEye said, “the best area for mobility
as a service to launch is the U.S., but we could not wait for the right
regulations. In Israel, we’ve had a lot of support from government.”

Reinforcing the benefits of self-driving vehicle technology, Waymo CEO
John Krafcik touted the safety and societal changes that self-driving
vehicles will create at CTA’s Leaders in Technology Dinner on Wednesday
evening. Once put into action, self-driving vehicles have a chance to
eliminate the 94 percent of car accidents caused by human error, making
our roads much safer. “This technology has the chance to really make a
difference, and that’s why we are so excited to expand,” Krafcik said.
Interviewed by Fox Business News anchor Liz Claman, Krafcik described
how Waymo’s self-driving cars can take riders home safely no matter the
weather, road condition or traffic. As self-driving cars gain more
popularity, Waymo plans to continue developing their technology,
expanding the number of cities they have a presence in and introducing
electric cars into their fleet.

The intersection of 5G, AI and vehicles was a recurrent theme throughout
Wednesday’s conference sessions. The “Connected Car with 5G” session,
moderated by Julian Mitchell of Forbes, included executives from
BlackBerry Certicom, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, TomTom and Flex. The
panelists deliberated how 5G will transform future cars into a private
data center, touching on topics such as smart cities, affected
industries, autonomous vehicles, mobility and privacy protection.

The “Applied AI” session – held in Eureka Park and hosted by Bruno
Morency, Techstars; Karen Holst, LinkedIn Learning Instructor; Gregory
Pal, Automat; and Allan Benchetrit, Algolux – delved into the complex AI
space within the tech industry. Panelists tackled personalizing the AI
experience for the consumer and having the capability to interpret,
share and apply data across the entire tech ecosystem. Building
relationships with consumers is key in educating the public about AI and
deep learning in a time when everyone advertises themselves as an AI
company. “If everyone claims they are an AI company, then no one truly
is an AI company,” said Gregory Pal, CBO, Automat.

Examining the effects 5G will have on the storefront, the “What IoT and
5G Bring to Retail” session featured a discussion between Michelle
Grant, international head of retailing at Euromonitor, and Dr. Charis
Christopoulos, GlobalLogic SVP, CTO, and EMEA. The two discussed IoT and
smart homes’ impact on retail, and how shopping via home appliances is
becoming embraced in everyday life. Following the discussion, Dan Tynan
of Improbable Ventures moderated a panel featuring executives from
Verizon, which looked at how shopping will be affected by the emergence
of 5G.

Delving into the international retail landscape, “Understanding the
Asian Retail Market” featured moderator Deborah Weinswig, CEO and
cofounder of Coresight Research and executives from Tencent and JD.com.
“WeChat has evolved the way that people shop,” said Cecilia Tian, vice
general manager, smart retail strategic partnership department, Tencent.
Tian explained how WeChat has become ubiquitous in Chinese culture and
is creating boundless opportunities for retailers. Chinese consumers
spend an average of 100 minutes a day on WeChat and nearly all utilize
its QVC code service to purchase products, enabling a better
retailer-shopper relationship. Chen Zhang, CTO at JD.com, discussed the
new challenges that come with these benefits.

Taking the discussion beyond the checkout counter and into consumers’
homes, the “Technology Deployment into the Home” session, moderated by CE
Pro, examined how products are making their way into people’s homes,
who is installing them, and who supports this process. Leaders from
Amazon, VIVINT, DISH and Starpower discussed topics including enabling
technicians with correct diagnostic tools, setting up customers from the
start with proper installation to mitigate support issues down the road
and a future where products will no longer need in-person service
management.

During the “#NBATwitter” session, part of the CES Sports Zone Conference
Track, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
discussed how their partnership is a perfect fit for the younger
demographics watching basketball – many of whom are hungry for an
accessible source of information. Moderated by ESPN anchor Rachel
Nichols, Silver and Dorsey explained how loyal viewers have used Twitter
to create their own fast-paced channel to report the game and share
their thoughts. Silver described the NBA’s relationship with Twitter as
a “virtuous circle” because the league also finds out news and trends
from the social media site, keeping the online community vibrant and
flourishing.

During “The Next Era of Sports Media: A Conversation with Turner
President David Levy” audiences were given the Turner president’s
perspective on of advertising in sports: The future, Levy says, is
“strong and getting stronger.” Moderated by CNN anchor and correspondent
Brian Stelter, Levy noted that TV content is going beyond the TV and
companies should look into alternative ways to get viewers interested in
more sport games, such as notification options, personal pay-per-view
options and bundles with sports gambling.

Also part of the CES Sports Zone Conference Track at C Space, the
“Immersive Media” session, moderated by Michael Davies, senior vice
president, Fox Sports, explored how technology is revolutionizing how
fans consume sports content. Executives from Intel, the National
Football League, NextVR, and Yahoo! Sports discussed technological
advances such as VR and 5G, and the opportunities and challenges they
present to marketers. Topics included VR’s potential to bring fans with
disabilities into the game, and the effect 5G will have on everything
from VR to sports betting.

Further examining audience consumption and engagement, the “New Rules of
Engagement in the Disruptive Age” panel at C Space, moderated by Janko
Roettgers, senior Silicon Valley correspondent for Variety,
offered attendees advice on how best to engage audiences across a range
of social platforms. Panelists included executives from Ey, MGM Resorts
International, Reddit, Spotify and YouTube, and the spirited discussion
covered topics ranging from the expanding landscape of platforms,
catering engagement based on those platforms, and how best to foster
user trust in this disruptive era.

How to keep maintain that trust by securing users’ data was the focus of
“Cyber Network Security”, which featured executives from the Center for
Strategic and International Studies, AIG, nDimensional, and was
moderated by Bloomberg’s Commercial Director, Sime Jurac. Topics
included resilience, employee education, risk management and
cybersecurity awareness in the product design stage. “Achieving and
maintaining trust around these devices is essential to enjoying the
benefits they can offer us,” said Suzanne Spaulding, senior advisor at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The benefits that diversity offers the technology industry continue to
be a main theme of CES 2019. During “The Diverse Workforce Tech Needs to
Thrive” session, Bernard Coleman, Global Head, Diversity and Inclusion
at Uber noted, “If you don’t understand them, how can you serve them?”
Coming on the heels of CTA’s
announcement to invest $10 million of venture capital in minority-owned
businesses, this policy session focused on the business case for a
diverse workforce.

Do members of the Latinx community interact with technology differently?
And if so, why? The C Space Storytellers session, “Authenticity + Tech,
Winning Latinx Engagement” – featuring speakers from Nielsen, Walmart
and Univision – set out to answer this. As longtime early adopters,
cultural experience drives the Latinx community’s technological use, as
familial importance and the desire to share information are common.
Latinx also favor brands that contribute to social change or seem to
understand their heritage.

Visit CTA.tech/CESLiveUpdates
to get live updates from CES 2019 – including keynote, session, product
announcement and show floor coverage. Also, download CES
b-roll and view the high-res image gallery here.
For breaking news, visit CES.tech.

Check out the Featured
Speakers page to see some of the 1,100 industry visionaries slated
to speak at CES 2019.

The CES App has everything you need to plan for and navigate CES 2019.
Download the CES 2019 App by searching “CES 2019” in your app store or
visiting CES.tech/CESApp.

About CES:

CES® is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business
of consumer technologies. It has served as the proving ground for
innovators and breakthrough technologies for 50 years-the global stage
where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. As
the largest hands-on event of its kind, CES features all aspects of the
industry. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)^TM,
it attracts the world’s business leaders and pioneering thinkers. Check
out CES
video highlights. Follow CES online at CES.tech
and on social.

About Consumer Technology Association:

Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™ is the trade association
representing the $398 billion U.S. consumer technology industry, which
supports more than 15 million U.S. jobs. More than 2,200 companies – 80
percent are small businesses and startups; others are among the world’s
best-known brands – enjoy the benefits of CTA membership including
policy advocacy, market research, technical education, industry
promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and
strategic relationships. CTA also owns and produces CES^® –
the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of
consumer technologies. Profits from CES are reinvested into CTA’s
industry services.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• CES
  2019
  January 8-11, 2019, Las Vegas, NV

• CES
  Asia 2019
  June 11-13, 2019, Shanghai, China

Contacts

Sarah Brown
703-907-4326
sbrown@CTA.tech
www.CTA.tech
or
Justin
Siraj
703-907-7415
jsiraj@CTA.tech
www.CES.tech