New technology necessitates new terminology. You can’t invent a time machine and call it a Toaster II. (Or could you?) Regardless, this year’s CES will be swimming with techie talk lathered in jargon and gibberish to the layman—plus, some of these guys might actually be speaking Klingon*. So, give yourself a head start, and consider this your cheat sheet to the buzzwords and terminology at CES 2010.

ATOM N450 CPU

The Atom N450 central processing unit—codename “Pine Trail”—is the next iteration of Intel microprocessor begat by the now “ancient” Atom N270 and N280 circa 2008 AD. The new processor, which compacts and integrates the once separate graphics chip onto the CPU, was released in late December 2009. Intel’s innovation means better battery life—we’re talking up to 8 hours!—and even thinner dimensions, with an overall processor size reduction of 60%, for netbooks that incorporate the new processor. First out of the starting gates with the new Intel Atom is the Asus Eee PC 1005PE. Expect to see additional Atom N450 announcements from Toshiba, Dell, Acer, Hewlett-Packard and others at CES 2010.

UBUNTU

Ubuntu is the ethical ideology originating in South Africa that professes “humanity towards others.” It’s also a Linux-based computer operating system that professes, well … humanity towards others. (It’s an apt title.) Distributed as free and open source software, Ubuntu uses a license that explicitly allows users—hell, it encourages them—to freely run, copy, distribute, and develop as well as improve the software. So, feel free to download a copy and convert it into Tetris.

ANDROID

(ān'droid') n. A synthetic organism or automaton created from biological material that resembles a human. See: Vicki from Small Wonder.
But in the context of CES, “Android” refers to the Open Handset Alliance’s mobile operating system … unless, of course, Skynet is planning on a surprise appearance. A consortium of companies, including Google among other traditional mobile service providers, formed the OHA in November of 2007 with the goal of developing open standards for mobile devices. At the same time, they introduced the world to Android, a free and open source mobile platform upon which developers are able to write managed code in Java. The Motorola Droid—you know, “In a world of doesn’t, Droid does”—recently unveiled the Android operating system to the masses, but it’s not alone, and more wireless devices based on the Android OS are on the way, including one which promises to become self-aware and revolt against its creators.

IPTV

Iowa Public Television has nothing to do with Internet Protocol television, other than the fact that the latter stole the former’s acronym, and there’s nothing IPTV, the public access television station in Iowa, can do about it. Simply put, IPTV is a system by which digital television is transmitted using Internet Protocol over a network such as a broadband connection. So, instead of receiving your television signal via a cable or antenna, IPTV users are able to receive their television signals in the same manner that they receive their Internet service. Offer void in Iowa**.

SMARTBOOK

The SmartBook is this year’s new hybrid gadget. Combining the features of a SmartPhone —GPS, long battery life and 3G connectivity—with the relative size and QWERTY keyboard of a Netbook, a SmartBook is something like an ambidextrous kid of second cousins. (Which is a somewhat unsettling analogy.) It’s like a really big SmartPhone that’s not designed to make calls, or an even cheaper Netbook with a SmartPhone-esk OS. Look for some of the first, like the Lenovo, at CES 2010. And while you’re at it, keep an eye out for Tablet PCs, a similar phone meets computer concoction, but inverted. Instead of a slightly smaller Netbook with some SmartPhone features, this thing’s basically a giant SmartPhone computer. Then there’s the Entourage Edge, which is a hybrid Netbook and e-reader. We’ve entered a new era in combination innovation.

OLED TV

OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, and we believe it’s the component of a flux capacitor that allows for time travel. But actually, it’s a light-emitting diode (LED) that’s composed of organic compounds capable of emitting colored light. It’s also fast becoming all the rage in flat-screen TVs. Unlike LCD TVs, OLED TVs do not require a backlight, and therefore are capable of producing deep black levels, a feature hereto best accomplished by plasma TVs. New OLED TVs are also more energy efficient and much thinner and lighter than a standard LCD panel. How does it do all this? Well, it’s emissive and conductive layers as well as substrate, anode and cathode terminals, of course.

CLOUD COMPUTING

In the tech world of acronyms and binary code, the metaphor of “cloud computing” can be difficult to understand and hard to explain. Kind of like the old saying: writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Confused? Well, how about this:
“Cloud Computing,” a haiku:
01010
1101001
10001
Still not getting it? All right, here goes: “Cloud computing” is a general term for anything that involves remitting services over the Internet. Oh, and “cloud” means “Internet.” In simpler words: If you’re purchasing virtual storage on demand from a provider online, you’re cloud computing. Congratulations. Basically, the endgame of cloud computing is to provide easy access to online resources as well as IT services via scalable access. The user doesn’t own the physical infrastructure, but rents usage from a third-party provider online. Another maxim of the cloud computing philosophy holds that the user needs not the knowledge or expertise of the technology itself that supports them, i.e. it’s up in the clouds. By that token, you don’t need to understand how Google works to search “How does Google work?”

4G

Cellular wireless standards have come a long way, and the emerging 4G hopes to once again revolutionize cellular capabilities as the coming of the SmartPhone-enabling 3G did. But first, a look through the generations, and the cutting-edge devices that defined them:
1G: Single-slice toaster ovens, the board game LIFE, and hair lice.
2G: Double-slice toaster ovens, the rotary telephone, and the film Cocoon.
3G: Light sabers, telekinesis, and empathy.
And now, 4G: The fourth generation of cellular wireless standards promises some big things, most notably, ultra-broadband—that is, gigabit-speed—Internet access. So mobile phone users can soon expect apps that’ll not only provide actual sustenance, but also probably companionship.

3D TV

This one is pretty much exactly what you think it is … assuming you figured the “D” was for “dimension.” Which it is. Manufacturers are expected to show off this living room-invasive technology at CES 2010. Between these TVs and the pioneering D-BOX motion technology—those seats that physically move around in reaction to on screen stimuli—as well as KOR-fx technologies—those things that attach to your chest so you feel vibrations, we’ll all soon physically live inside our favorite sitcoms.

*

That’s Klingon for “I’m in need of a bathroom at your convenience.” A helpful phrase at CES for sure.

**Offer not void in Iowa.