CES Session Includes will.i.am On Innovation, Verizon's McAdam On TV Over LTE

Panel

The BLACK EYED PEAS' will.i.am joined other business "founder CEOs" for the 2013 INTERNATIONAL CES "Next Generation of Innovators" keynote event TUESDAY morning at the LVH in LAS VEGAS, as the convention opened its general sessions.

will.i.am, who, besides leading his band is the founder and Chairman of i.am plus llc, appeared with ROCKMELT INC. CEO and co-founder ERIC VISHRIA, ZOCDOC CEO and co-founder CYRUS MASSOUMI, and BUMP TECHNOLOGIES CEO and co-Founder DAVID LIEB, plus moderator and ANDEREESSEN HOROWITZ partner JEFF JORDAN.

The panelists recounted the genesis of each of their projects, the formation of their companies (LIEB noting that his company, founded with a college buddy, had many users before the founders expended practically any money on creating its app), and whether starting a company is easier or harder then they thought (will.i.am said it was easier -- "difficult but not as hard as I imagined... music is harder").   VISHRIA warned that the financial rewards of entrepreneurship may not be as great as working a "regular job" and advised that would-be founders do what they are passionate about.

The day opened with the CEA's President and CEO GARY SHAPIRO touting "Ninja Innovation" and the consumer electronics industry's "Ninja moment" in his keynote introduction, calling on the industry to "innovate or die" and on government leaders to cooperate to solve the nation's economic woes. 

PANASONIC Chairman and CEO KAZUHIRO TSUGA promoted his company's strategy and innovations, including its new television "start pages" with facial recognition and voice control, a 20-inch 4K tablet, and a 56-inch 4K OLED TV, and included an appearance by NEWARK Mayor and prominent up-and-coming Democratic politician CORY BOOKER.

In his afternoon keynote, VERIZON WIRELESS CEO LOWELL MCADAM told the gathering of his company's plans to expand beyond telephony to offer its LTE network for other services, including video (with NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL on hand to talk about the possibility of airing live TV over LTE, including the SUPER BOWL, by 2014, as well as bringing interactive services to stadiums and home viewers), and increased speeds for FiOS fiber optic customers.

CHRYSLER's UCONNECT joined the parade of car makers adding apps to the dashboard through "UCONNECT Access via Mobile" a new service that ties into the user's smartphone and allows control of the apps via the steering wheel and on the system's touch screen.  Among the apps working with UCONNECT are ABC NEWS RADIO, AHA, SLACKER, PANDORA, and iHEARTRADIO.  The system also offers turn-by-turn navigation and allows for remote unlocking and starting, and includes NUANCE's Dragon Drive voice-recognition service.

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