Doughnut adjust your set
HAVE you ever seen anything on television that made you shout or shake your fist in anger at the screen? Televisions are, of course, unable to respond to such reactions. But that could be about to change. Controlling your television and other homeentertainment devices using voice commands or gestures is starting to become possible thanks to a new generation of controllers.
Consider, for example, the controller that went on sale last month with Nintendo’s Wii games console. In place of the usual (sometimes baffling) combination of buttons and joysticks, the Wii has a motionsensitive controller. The console can determine how the controller is moving in space and what it is pointing at, and uses that information to control what is happening on screen. Depending on the game, the controller becomes a warrior’s sword or a golf club.
For some games, the controller connects up via a cable to a second, smaller handset called the "Nunchuk" after the weapon favoured by Bruce Lee in his martialarts movies (two batons linked by a chain). It is then possible to use one controller for movement, and the other to fire weapons or use items. The number of buttons on both controllers has been reduced to a minimum, as Nintendo hopes to draw in new customers who find existing games consoles too complicated. But whether the Wii will introduce a generation of grandmothers to the joys of karate games remains to be seen.
This living room overload is likely to get worse as telecoms operators launch a new generation of television over broadband services, using a technology called IPTV. This will make possible thousands of channels, downloadable programs and films, plus messaging, internet access and games. It will also involve the biggest and most complicated controllers ever seen. "The experience isn’t as good as it could be," says Michael Cai of Parks Associates, a consultancy. So some companies believe a new approach is needed.
Other companies have looked at using speechbased controllers in the living room. One firm, Promptu, developed a voice control system for American cable operators and tested it in conjunction with Motorola, which makes set top boxes. But it has now decided to reposition the technology as a voicebased navigation system for mobile phones. A simpler approach is taken by the In Voca voiceactivated remote control. It is a universal remote control that can recognise 50 separate commands spoken by up to four separate users, from "lower volume" to "Cartoon Network".
A recent entry to the field is Apple Computer, a firm renowned for designing elegant, easytouse products. In 2007 it will launch a new device, called the iTV, that acts as a bridge between a television and a computer. It has a deliberately simple remote control that, like Apple’s iconic iPod musicplayer, involves just one button and one wheel. Steve Jobs, the company’s boss, boasts that it is "very Apple". Might his company be the one to solve the remote control confusion?
respond
v.①回答，答復(fù)；②（to）響應(yīng)
［真題例句］ An important factor in a marketoriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded (②) to by producers.［1994年閱讀1］
［例句精譯］ 以市場(chǎng)為導(dǎo)向的經(jīng)濟(jì)中的一個(gè)重要因素是反映消費(fèi)者需求以及生產(chǎn)者對(duì)消費(fèi)者需求作出反應(yīng)的機(jī)制。
command
n.①命令，指令；②統(tǒng)帥，指揮（權(quán)）；③掌握，運(yùn)用能力；v.①命令，要求；②指揮，統(tǒng)帥；③掌握，控制
［真題例句］ Celebrate! commanded (v.①) the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.［2006年閱讀4］
［例句精譯］ "歡慶吧！"宣傳關(guān)節(jié)炎良藥西樂(lè)葆的廣告這樣命令道，隨后我們卻發(fā)現(xiàn)它能增加心臟病的發(fā)病率。
［真題例句］ Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command (v.③) the English language with skill and gift.Nor do they aspire to such command(n.①) themselves.［2005年閱讀4］
［例句精譯］ 美國(guó)人不再期望公眾人物在演講或?qū)懽髦畷r(shí)可以嫻熟地運(yùn)用技巧和文采來(lái)駕馭英語(yǔ)，而且公眾人物本身也不這樣要求自己。
console
vt.安慰，藉慰；n.控制臺(tái)
reduce
v.減少，縮小；簡(jiǎn)化，還原
boast
v.（of，about）自夸，夸耀；n.自夸，大話
［真題例句］ Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast (v.) about of late.［1997年閱讀5］
［例句精譯］ 盡管有這么多不利因素，中央銀行家們似乎對(duì)近來(lái)的形勢(shì)有了不少值得夸耀的東西。
Navigation
n.①航海，航空；②導(dǎo)航，領(lǐng)航
remote
a.①遠(yuǎn)的，長(zhǎng)久的；②偏遠(yuǎn)的，偏僻的；③關(guān)系疏遠(yuǎn)的
［真題例句］ Rodriguez notes that children in remote (②) villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrant living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nations assimilative power." ［2006年閱讀1］
［例句精譯］ 羅德里格茲記錄道，在世界范圍內(nèi)偏遠(yuǎn)村莊里的孩子也崇拜著超級(jí)明星，比如阿諾得•施瓦辛格和葛司•布魯克斯。然而"一些美國(guó)人害怕在美國(guó)居住的移民在某種程度上不會(huì)受到民族同化作用。"
Little Tips：
任天堂"Revolution"系統(tǒng)遙控器終于現(xiàn)身：任天堂未來(lái)的"革命"家用控制系統(tǒng)的控制器是只用一只手控制的無(wú)線遙控器，用電視旁的兩個(gè)小傳感器和內(nèi)置的芯片跟蹤它的位置和方向，允許玩家用物理移動(dòng)控制器本身來(lái)操作屏幕上的動(dòng)作。例如，你可以橫向移動(dòng)它來(lái)玩擊劍，用腕部動(dòng)作來(lái)玩賽車，或者用它指向目標(biāo)來(lái)開(kāi)槍射擊。
電視遙控器
你看電視的時(shí)候，是否曾邊看邊大叫？或者怒氣沖沖地對(duì)著屏幕揮舞拳頭？現(xiàn)在的電視機(jī)當(dāng)然不會(huì)對(duì)你的舉動(dòng)有什么反應(yīng)。但這種情形可能會(huì)發(fā)生變化了。新一代遙控器出現(xiàn)了，不久以后，你也許能用聲音指令或手勢(shì)控制電視機(jī)及其他家庭娛樂(lè)設(shè)備。
拿上月發(fā)售的任天堂Wii游戲機(jī)所帶的控制手柄來(lái)作例子吧。通常，游戲手柄會(huì)由許多按鈕與搖桿（有時(shí)能把人搞迷糊）組成，而Wii所帶的卻是一個(gè)動(dòng)作識(shí)別手柄。游戲機(jī)能測(cè)出手柄的移動(dòng)軌跡，識(shí)別手柄指著屏幕上的什么東西，然后根據(jù)得到的信息控制屏幕上的游戲。你手中的手柄是戰(zhàn)士手中之劍還是高爾夫球桿，那就要看你在玩什么游戲了。
玩有些游戲時(shí)，還可以用線把遙控器接到另一個(gè)小一點(diǎn)的手持設(shè)備上，有人叫它Nunchuk，這個(gè)名字來(lái)自李小龍?jiān)谖浯蚱锵矚g用的武器（雙截棍）。然后你就可以用一只遙控器控制行動(dòng)，另一只用來(lái)開(kāi)火或者使用游戲中的物品。任天堂把兩個(gè)遙控器上的按鈕數(shù)量都盡可能減少，希望能吸引到一批原來(lái)覺(jué)得玩游戲太復(fù)雜的新顧客。但Wii會(huì)不會(huì)讓"祖母級(jí)"人群也感受到玩空手道游戲的快樂(lè)，現(xiàn)在還無(wú)從得知。
隨著電信運(yùn)營(yíng)商在一種叫IPTV的技術(shù)基礎(chǔ)上推出一系列結(jié)合電視機(jī)與寬帶網(wǎng)絡(luò)的新服務(wù)，我們的客廳很可能會(huì)變得越來(lái)越擁擠嘈雜。此類服務(wù)可能包括幾千個(gè)電視頻道、可下載的電視節(jié)目與電影、短信服務(wù)、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)接入與網(wǎng)絡(luò)游戲。遙控器也會(huì)相應(yīng)變得比以往更大、更復(fù)雜。Parks Associates咨詢公司的麥克爾•卡爾說(shuō)，"大家并不會(huì)喜歡使用那樣的遙控器。"所以一些公司認(rèn)為要靠新方法來(lái)解決這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
還有幾家公司則考慮了另一條途徑--在客廳里使用語(yǔ)音控制遙控器。Promptu公司就是其中之一，該公司為美國(guó)有線電視運(yùn)營(yíng)商研發(fā)出一種語(yǔ)音控制系統(tǒng)，并與制造機(jī)頂盒的摩托羅拉公司一同測(cè)試了此系統(tǒng)。但Promptu公司現(xiàn)又決定把這項(xiàng)技術(shù)重新定位成一種應(yīng)用于手機(jī)的聲控遙控導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)。而InVoca的聲控遙控器則采取了一種更簡(jiǎn)單的方法，這種遙控器幾乎可以運(yùn)用于所有設(shè)備，能識(shí)別4個(gè)不同使用者的50條命令--從"降低音量"到"卡通網(wǎng)絡(luò)"。
最近,以產(chǎn)品設(shè)計(jì)的易用、別致著稱的蘋(píng)果電腦也進(jìn)入這個(gè)領(lǐng)域。2007年該公司將會(huì)推出一款叫iTV的新設(shè)備，此設(shè)備能在電視與電腦間起到橋梁的作用。像蘋(píng)果的標(biāo)志性產(chǎn)品iPod音樂(lè)播放器一樣，iTV的遙控器也有意簡(jiǎn)化至只有一個(gè)按鈕與一個(gè)滾輪。蘋(píng)果總裁斯蒂夫•錢伯斯聲稱該產(chǎn)品"非常地蘋(píng)果"。蘋(píng)果電腦公司能解決遙控器的迷局嗎？
HAVE you ever seen anything on television that made you shout or shake your fist in anger at the screen? Televisions are, of course, unable to respond to such reactions. But that could be about to change. Controlling your television and other homeentertainment devices using voice commands or gestures is starting to become possible thanks to a new generation of controllers.
Consider, for example, the controller that went on sale last month with Nintendo’s Wii games console. In place of the usual (sometimes baffling) combination of buttons and joysticks, the Wii has a motionsensitive controller. The console can determine how the controller is moving in space and what it is pointing at, and uses that information to control what is happening on screen. Depending on the game, the controller becomes a warrior’s sword or a golf club.
For some games, the controller connects up via a cable to a second, smaller handset called the "Nunchuk" after the weapon favoured by Bruce Lee in his martialarts movies (two batons linked by a chain). It is then possible to use one controller for movement, and the other to fire weapons or use items. The number of buttons on both controllers has been reduced to a minimum, as Nintendo hopes to draw in new customers who find existing games consoles too complicated. But whether the Wii will introduce a generation of grandmothers to the joys of karate games remains to be seen.
This living room overload is likely to get worse as telecoms operators launch a new generation of television over broadband services, using a technology called IPTV. This will make possible thousands of channels, downloadable programs and films, plus messaging, internet access and games. It will also involve the biggest and most complicated controllers ever seen. "The experience isn’t as good as it could be," says Michael Cai of Parks Associates, a consultancy. So some companies believe a new approach is needed.
Other companies have looked at using speechbased controllers in the living room. One firm, Promptu, developed a voice control system for American cable operators and tested it in conjunction with Motorola, which makes set top boxes. But it has now decided to reposition the technology as a voicebased navigation system for mobile phones. A simpler approach is taken by the In Voca voiceactivated remote control. It is a universal remote control that can recognise 50 separate commands spoken by up to four separate users, from "lower volume" to "Cartoon Network".
A recent entry to the field is Apple Computer, a firm renowned for designing elegant, easytouse products. In 2007 it will launch a new device, called the iTV, that acts as a bridge between a television and a computer. It has a deliberately simple remote control that, like Apple’s iconic iPod musicplayer, involves just one button and one wheel. Steve Jobs, the company’s boss, boasts that it is "very Apple". Might his company be the one to solve the remote control confusion?
respond
v.①回答，答復(fù)；②（to）響應(yīng)
［真題例句］ An important factor in a marketoriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded (②) to by producers.［1994年閱讀1］
［例句精譯］ 以市場(chǎng)為導(dǎo)向的經(jīng)濟(jì)中的一個(gè)重要因素是反映消費(fèi)者需求以及生產(chǎn)者對(duì)消費(fèi)者需求作出反應(yīng)的機(jī)制。
command
n.①命令，指令；②統(tǒng)帥，指揮（權(quán)）；③掌握，運(yùn)用能力；v.①命令，要求；②指揮，統(tǒng)帥；③掌握，控制
［真題例句］ Celebrate! commanded (v.①) the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.［2006年閱讀4］
［例句精譯］ "歡慶吧！"宣傳關(guān)節(jié)炎良藥西樂(lè)葆的廣告這樣命令道，隨后我們卻發(fā)現(xiàn)它能增加心臟病的發(fā)病率。
［真題例句］ Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command (v.③) the English language with skill and gift.Nor do they aspire to such command(n.①) themselves.［2005年閱讀4］
［例句精譯］ 美國(guó)人不再期望公眾人物在演講或?qū)懽髦畷r(shí)可以嫻熟地運(yùn)用技巧和文采來(lái)駕馭英語(yǔ)，而且公眾人物本身也不這樣要求自己。
console
vt.安慰，藉慰；n.控制臺(tái)
reduce
v.減少，縮小；簡(jiǎn)化，還原
boast
v.（of，about）自夸，夸耀；n.自夸，大話
［真題例句］ Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast (v.) about of late.［1997年閱讀5］
［例句精譯］ 盡管有這么多不利因素，中央銀行家們似乎對(duì)近來(lái)的形勢(shì)有了不少值得夸耀的東西。
Navigation
n.①航海，航空；②導(dǎo)航，領(lǐng)航
remote
a.①遠(yuǎn)的，長(zhǎng)久的；②偏遠(yuǎn)的，偏僻的；③關(guān)系疏遠(yuǎn)的
［真題例句］ Rodriguez notes that children in remote (②) villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrant living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nations assimilative power." ［2006年閱讀1］
［例句精譯］ 羅德里格茲記錄道，在世界范圍內(nèi)偏遠(yuǎn)村莊里的孩子也崇拜著超級(jí)明星，比如阿諾得•施瓦辛格和葛司•布魯克斯。然而"一些美國(guó)人害怕在美國(guó)居住的移民在某種程度上不會(huì)受到民族同化作用。"
Little Tips：
任天堂"Revolution"系統(tǒng)遙控器終于現(xiàn)身：任天堂未來(lái)的"革命"家用控制系統(tǒng)的控制器是只用一只手控制的無(wú)線遙控器，用電視旁的兩個(gè)小傳感器和內(nèi)置的芯片跟蹤它的位置和方向，允許玩家用物理移動(dòng)控制器本身來(lái)操作屏幕上的動(dòng)作。例如，你可以橫向移動(dòng)它來(lái)玩擊劍，用腕部動(dòng)作來(lái)玩賽車，或者用它指向目標(biāo)來(lái)開(kāi)槍射擊。
電視遙控器
你看電視的時(shí)候，是否曾邊看邊大叫？或者怒氣沖沖地對(duì)著屏幕揮舞拳頭？現(xiàn)在的電視機(jī)當(dāng)然不會(huì)對(duì)你的舉動(dòng)有什么反應(yīng)。但這種情形可能會(huì)發(fā)生變化了。新一代遙控器出現(xiàn)了，不久以后，你也許能用聲音指令或手勢(shì)控制電視機(jī)及其他家庭娛樂(lè)設(shè)備。
拿上月發(fā)售的任天堂Wii游戲機(jī)所帶的控制手柄來(lái)作例子吧。通常，游戲手柄會(huì)由許多按鈕與搖桿（有時(shí)能把人搞迷糊）組成，而Wii所帶的卻是一個(gè)動(dòng)作識(shí)別手柄。游戲機(jī)能測(cè)出手柄的移動(dòng)軌跡，識(shí)別手柄指著屏幕上的什么東西，然后根據(jù)得到的信息控制屏幕上的游戲。你手中的手柄是戰(zhàn)士手中之劍還是高爾夫球桿，那就要看你在玩什么游戲了。
玩有些游戲時(shí)，還可以用線把遙控器接到另一個(gè)小一點(diǎn)的手持設(shè)備上，有人叫它Nunchuk，這個(gè)名字來(lái)自李小龍?jiān)谖浯蚱锵矚g用的武器（雙截棍）。然后你就可以用一只遙控器控制行動(dòng)，另一只用來(lái)開(kāi)火或者使用游戲中的物品。任天堂把兩個(gè)遙控器上的按鈕數(shù)量都盡可能減少，希望能吸引到一批原來(lái)覺(jué)得玩游戲太復(fù)雜的新顧客。但Wii會(huì)不會(huì)讓"祖母級(jí)"人群也感受到玩空手道游戲的快樂(lè)，現(xiàn)在還無(wú)從得知。
隨著電信運(yùn)營(yíng)商在一種叫IPTV的技術(shù)基礎(chǔ)上推出一系列結(jié)合電視機(jī)與寬帶網(wǎng)絡(luò)的新服務(wù)，我們的客廳很可能會(huì)變得越來(lái)越擁擠嘈雜。此類服務(wù)可能包括幾千個(gè)電視頻道、可下載的電視節(jié)目與電影、短信服務(wù)、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)接入與網(wǎng)絡(luò)游戲。遙控器也會(huì)相應(yīng)變得比以往更大、更復(fù)雜。Parks Associates咨詢公司的麥克爾•卡爾說(shuō)，"大家并不會(huì)喜歡使用那樣的遙控器。"所以一些公司認(rèn)為要靠新方法來(lái)解決這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
還有幾家公司則考慮了另一條途徑--在客廳里使用語(yǔ)音控制遙控器。Promptu公司就是其中之一，該公司為美國(guó)有線電視運(yùn)營(yíng)商研發(fā)出一種語(yǔ)音控制系統(tǒng)，并與制造機(jī)頂盒的摩托羅拉公司一同測(cè)試了此系統(tǒng)。但Promptu公司現(xiàn)又決定把這項(xiàng)技術(shù)重新定位成一種應(yīng)用于手機(jī)的聲控遙控導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)。而InVoca的聲控遙控器則采取了一種更簡(jiǎn)單的方法，這種遙控器幾乎可以運(yùn)用于所有設(shè)備，能識(shí)別4個(gè)不同使用者的50條命令--從"降低音量"到"卡通網(wǎng)絡(luò)"。
最近,以產(chǎn)品設(shè)計(jì)的易用、別致著稱的蘋(píng)果電腦也進(jìn)入這個(gè)領(lǐng)域。2007年該公司將會(huì)推出一款叫iTV的新設(shè)備，此設(shè)備能在電視與電腦間起到橋梁的作用。像蘋(píng)果的標(biāo)志性產(chǎn)品iPod音樂(lè)播放器一樣，iTV的遙控器也有意簡(jiǎn)化至只有一個(gè)按鈕與一個(gè)滾輪。蘋(píng)果總裁斯蒂夫•錢伯斯聲稱該產(chǎn)品"非常地蘋(píng)果"。蘋(píng)果電腦公司能解決遙控器的迷局嗎？