CES loses a keynote speaker

The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show has lost one of its high-profile keynote speakers.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has bowed out, citing a “scheduling conflict,” according to Karen Chupka, senior vice president of conferences and events for the Consumer Electronics Association.

She declined to offer further details.

The loss of Bartz is a noteworthy one. Yahoo skipped last year’s CES keynote circuit and onlookers were hoping Bartz would this year shed light on the company’s plans for its media properties, which are seeing their funding increase as Yahoo shuts down other divisions. The company also has some interesting projects underway that related to Internet-enabled TVs.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs will seemingly take Bartz’s place in the keynote lineup. The CEA added him yesterday at a press conference in New York.

Other keynote speakers at this year’s show include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the CEA’s Gary Shapiro, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasuvo and Hisense Chairman Zhou Houjioan.