Bluetooth’s quiet success
It was born amid a blaze of hype at the height of the dotcom boom, but initially failed to thrive. Indeed, Bluetooth, a shortrange wireless technology used to interconnect portable devices, has been declared dead on many occasions. Early versions of the technology suffered from compatibility problems; an ambitious demonstration of the technology at a trade show in 2001 failed to work. And while Bluetooth struggled despite all the hype from its backers, another wireless technology, WiFi, took off on its own. Obituaries of Bluetooth have appeared many times in the technology press, usually attributing its demise to the success of WiFi. "Bluetooth is in full retreat," declared Sean Maloney, an Intel executive, in 2001. Other analysts issued similar verdicts.
But reports of the death of Bluetooth proved to be premature: today it is in rude health. Sales of Bluetooth devices more than doubled in 2005 to reach 320m units, and the figure is expected to exceed 520m this year-equivalent to more than 10m units a week and far outstripping sales of WiFi chips. Around one in four mobile phones sold now support Bluetooth.
And after years of insisting that Bluetooth was more than just a way to link a wireless headset to a mobile phone, its backers seem to have been vindicated, as other uses for Bluetooth have at last begun to emerge. Last year 60% of Bluetooth chips went into mobile handsets and 15% into wireless headsets, says Scott Smyser of iSuppli, a marketresearch firm, but the other 25% went into other devices, from laptop computers, keyboards and mice to Bluetoothenabled clothing.
This success, after its rocky start, is due to a combination of factors, says Stuart Carlaw, an analyst at ABI Research. In many countries Bluetooth’s fortunes were boosted by new legislation banning the use of mobile phones without a handsfree kit while driving. This prompted many people to buy Bluetooth headsets. Several carmakers, led by Audi, also began to incorporate microphones and speakers, capable of connecting to a handset via Bluetooth, into their vehicles.
As consumers became more aware of Bluetooth and began to ask for it, handsetmakers started to include it as a means of differentiating their products and increasing their margins. Adding a Bluetooth chip to a phone now costs very littlearound $2, says Mr Carlaw, down from $20 in 2001-but allows the manufacturer to increase the price of the handset by far more, and opens up a new market for highmargin accessories. Finally, operators began offering Bluetooth headsets as incentives to new customers. Again, the perceived value of the headset is far higher than its cost to the operator, so this increases margins.
Greater adoption has, in turn, cleared the way for the inclusion of Bluetooth in all kinds of new products. In addition to Bluetoothenabled jackets, motorcycle helmets and sunglasses with builtin wireless headsets, the controllers for two nextgeneration videogames consoles due to be launched later this year, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii, will use Bluetooth. Because Bluetooth is an industry standard, both consolemakers can buy chips and software off the shelf, which is quicker and cheaper than developing their own proprietary technologies, says Mr Carlaw.
amid
prep.在......中
[真題例句] Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education.[2000年閱讀4]
[例句精譯] 在一片*聲中，許多保守黨領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人正在力圖回復(fù)到戰(zhàn)前，強(qiáng)調(diào)道德教育。
thrive
v.興旺，繁榮
[真題例句]But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism.[2004年閱讀2]
[例句精譯]但是有一種隱蔽的(歧視)形式還在蔓延：按字母表順序排名。
attribute
n.屬性，品質(zhì)，特征;v.①(to)把......歸于;②認(rèn)為......是......所為
[真題例句] Not all that shift can be attributed (v.①) to the movement out of the snow belt, census officials say.[1998年閱讀4]
[例句精譯] 人口普查官員說(shuō)，所有這些人口遷移并非都是為了離開(kāi)寒冷地帶。
verdict
n.①裁決，判決;②定論;③判斷;④意見(jiàn)
[真題例句] Concerns were raised (49：that) witnesses might be encouraged to exaggerate their stories in court to (50：ensure) guilty verdicts (①). [2001年完形]
[例句精譯] 人們開(kāi)始擔(dān)心：(接受報(bào)酬)可能會(huì)鼓勵(lì)證人在法庭上夸大他們經(jīng)歷的事情，以保證(陪審團(tuán)對(duì)被告)作出有罪的判決。
exceed
v.①超過(guò)，勝過(guò);②越出
[真題例句] 66. The change in Japanese lifestyle is revealed in the fact that[2000年閱讀4]
[B] the divorce rate in Japan exceeds (①) that in the US
[例句精譯] 66事實(shí)顯示：日本人的生活方式發(fā)生了改變
[B] 離婚率超過(guò)了美國(guó)
incorporate
v.合并，納入，結(jié)合;a.合并的
[真題例句] Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate (v.), and reflect on, the wider geological picture.[2001年閱讀1]
[例句精譯] 因此，在19世紀(jì)，局部的地質(zhì)研究本身就可形成一種有價(jià)值的研究;而到了20世紀(jì)，如果局部的研究能夠被專(zhuān)業(yè)人員接受，那么它越來(lái)越傾向于必須體現(xiàn)或思考更廣闊的地質(zhì)面貌。
Little Tips：
所謂藍(lán)牙(Bluetooth)技術(shù)，實(shí)際上是一種短距離無(wú)線通信技術(shù)，利用"藍(lán)牙"技術(shù)，能夠有效地簡(jiǎn)化掌上電腦、筆記本電腦和移動(dòng)電話(huà)手機(jī)等移動(dòng)通信終端設(shè)備之間的通信，也能夠成功地簡(jiǎn)化以上這些設(shè)備與Internet之間的通信，從而使這些現(xiàn)代通信設(shè)備與因特網(wǎng)之間的數(shù)據(jù)傳輸變得更加迅速高效，為無(wú)線通信拓寬道路。
經(jīng)歷了數(shù)年的默默無(wú)聞，藍(lán)牙技術(shù)終于走出了WiFi無(wú)線局域網(wǎng)技術(shù)的陰影，找到了自己的用武之地--手機(jī)和無(wú)線耳機(jī)市場(chǎng)，并開(kāi)始成熟。摩托羅拉公司認(rèn)為，目前藍(lán)牙功能已經(jīng)成為高檔手機(jī)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)配置，不久之后所有的手機(jī)產(chǎn)品都將添加這一功能。就全球來(lái)看，還沒(méi)有哪個(gè)國(guó)家能夠容忍司機(jī)一只手把方向盤(pán)開(kāi)車(chē)，另一只手拿著手機(jī)打電話(huà)。在紐約和美國(guó)其他州，如果不戴耳機(jī)或者沒(méi)有采用免提方式打電話(huà)是違法的。而藍(lán)牙技術(shù)無(wú)疑就解決了人們的這種后顧之憂(yōu)。
藍(lán)牙技術(shù)悄悄取勝
在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)熱潮巔峰時(shí)期的天花亂墜之中，它耀眼地產(chǎn)生，但是一開(kāi)始沒(méi)有成功。事實(shí)上，藍(lán)牙技術(shù)--一種用于連接便攜式設(shè)備的近距離無(wú)線技術(shù)，在很多場(chǎng)合下都被宣告已經(jīng)廢棄。這個(gè)技術(shù)的早期版本遭受了兼容性問(wèn)題;2001年的技術(shù)交易會(huì)上這個(gè)技術(shù)一個(gè)雄心勃勃的示范沒(méi)能成功。藍(lán)牙技術(shù)在其支持者的宣傳下苦苦掙扎的時(shí)候，另一種無(wú)線技術(shù)WiFi，取代了它的地位。技術(shù)出版物上出現(xiàn)了很多次宣告藍(lán)牙技術(shù)廢棄的訃告，通常將它的失敗歸結(jié)于WiFi的勝利。"藍(lán)牙技術(shù)正在全面敗退"，英特爾的管理人員Sean Maloney這樣宣稱(chēng)。在2001年，其他分析家得出類(lèi)似的結(jié)論。
但事實(shí)證明藍(lán)牙技術(shù)已經(jīng)死亡這個(gè)結(jié)論下得太早了：現(xiàn)在它正在健康發(fā)展。藍(lán)牙設(shè)備的銷(xiāo)售量已經(jīng)比2005年翻了一番，達(dá)到了3.2億臺(tái)，而且今年的銷(xiāo)售量有望突破5.2億臺(tái)--平均每周銷(xiāo)售超過(guò)1000萬(wàn)臺(tái)，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了WiFi芯片的銷(xiāo)售數(shù)量。如今銷(xiāo)售的手機(jī)中大概有四分之一支持藍(lán)牙技術(shù)。
在連續(xù)數(shù)年強(qiáng)調(diào)藍(lán)牙技術(shù)不僅僅只是用來(lái)連接無(wú)線耳機(jī)和手機(jī)的手段之后，藍(lán)牙的支持者們似乎表明藍(lán)牙技術(shù)的其他用途至少已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了。根據(jù)市場(chǎng)調(diào)查公司iSuppli的Scott Smyser所言，去年60%的藍(lán)牙芯片植入了手機(jī)，15%的芯片植入了無(wú)線耳機(jī)，但是剩下的25%則植入了其他設(shè)備，從膝上型電腦、無(wú)線鍵盤(pán)和鼠標(biāo)到支持藍(lán)牙技術(shù)的衣服。
ABI調(diào)查公司的分析家Stuart Carlaw表示，在其艱難的開(kāi)端之后，藍(lán)牙取得的勝利應(yīng)歸于多種因素的綜合作用。在許多國(guó)家，藍(lán)牙的好運(yùn)是由新的立法推動(dòng)的，該立法規(guī)定在駕駛時(shí)禁止使用手握式手機(jī)設(shè)備。這促使許多人購(gòu)買(mǎi)藍(lán)牙耳機(jī)。而以?shī)W迪為首的汽車(chē)制造商也開(kāi)始在它們的汽車(chē)內(nèi)裝上能通過(guò)藍(lán)牙連接手機(jī)的一體式麥克風(fēng)與揚(yáng)聲器。
當(dāng)消費(fèi)者變得更加關(guān)注藍(lán)牙技術(shù)并且開(kāi)始需求它的時(shí)候，手機(jī)制造商開(kāi)始將它當(dāng)作一種區(qū)分他們的產(chǎn)品以及提高他們的利潤(rùn)的手段。在手機(jī)里添加一個(gè)藍(lán)牙芯片的成本很低--Carlaw先生說(shuō)大概只需要2美元左右，低于2001年時(shí)的20美元--但是可以允許制造者提高遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比這個(gè)高的價(jià)格，并且打開(kāi)了一個(gè)高利潤(rùn)附件的市場(chǎng)。最后，經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商開(kāi)始提供藍(lán)牙耳機(jī)以激勵(lì)新的消費(fèi)者。此外，耳機(jī)的估價(jià)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商的成本高，所以這個(gè)也擴(kuò)大了利潤(rùn)。
藍(lán)牙技術(shù)被更大規(guī)模的采用為其適用在所有種類(lèi)的新產(chǎn)品上開(kāi)辟了道路。除了支持藍(lán)牙技術(shù)的夾克、摩托車(chē)頭盔以及內(nèi)置無(wú)線耳機(jī)的太陽(yáng)眼鏡，今年晚些時(shí)候即將發(fā)售的兩款下一代電子游戲控制臺(tái)的控制器，Sony的PlayStation3和任天堂的Wii，將會(huì)使用藍(lán)牙。Carlaw先生稱(chēng)，因?yàn)樗{(lán)牙是一個(gè)行業(yè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，所有的控制臺(tái)制造商都可以現(xiàn)貨購(gòu)買(mǎi)芯片和軟件，所以要遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比制造商開(kāi)發(fā)他們自己擁有產(chǎn)權(quán)的技術(shù)來(lái)得便捷與便宜。
It was born amid a blaze of hype at the height of the dotcom boom, but initially failed to thrive. Indeed, Bluetooth, a shortrange wireless technology used to interconnect portable devices, has been declared dead on many occasions. Early versions of the technology suffered from compatibility problems; an ambitious demonstration of the technology at a trade show in 2001 failed to work. And while Bluetooth struggled despite all the hype from its backers, another wireless technology, WiFi, took off on its own. Obituaries of Bluetooth have appeared many times in the technology press, usually attributing its demise to the success of WiFi. "Bluetooth is in full retreat," declared Sean Maloney, an Intel executive, in 2001. Other analysts issued similar verdicts.
But reports of the death of Bluetooth proved to be premature: today it is in rude health. Sales of Bluetooth devices more than doubled in 2005 to reach 320m units, and the figure is expected to exceed 520m this year-equivalent to more than 10m units a week and far outstripping sales of WiFi chips. Around one in four mobile phones sold now support Bluetooth.
And after years of insisting that Bluetooth was more than just a way to link a wireless headset to a mobile phone, its backers seem to have been vindicated, as other uses for Bluetooth have at last begun to emerge. Last year 60% of Bluetooth chips went into mobile handsets and 15% into wireless headsets, says Scott Smyser of iSuppli, a marketresearch firm, but the other 25% went into other devices, from laptop computers, keyboards and mice to Bluetoothenabled clothing.
This success, after its rocky start, is due to a combination of factors, says Stuart Carlaw, an analyst at ABI Research. In many countries Bluetooth’s fortunes were boosted by new legislation banning the use of mobile phones without a handsfree kit while driving. This prompted many people to buy Bluetooth headsets. Several carmakers, led by Audi, also began to incorporate microphones and speakers, capable of connecting to a handset via Bluetooth, into their vehicles.
As consumers became more aware of Bluetooth and began to ask for it, handsetmakers started to include it as a means of differentiating their products and increasing their margins. Adding a Bluetooth chip to a phone now costs very littlearound $2, says Mr Carlaw, down from $20 in 2001-but allows the manufacturer to increase the price of the handset by far more, and opens up a new market for highmargin accessories. Finally, operators began offering Bluetooth headsets as incentives to new customers. Again, the perceived value of the headset is far higher than its cost to the operator, so this increases margins.
Greater adoption has, in turn, cleared the way for the inclusion of Bluetooth in all kinds of new products. In addition to Bluetoothenabled jackets, motorcycle helmets and sunglasses with builtin wireless headsets, the controllers for two nextgeneration videogames consoles due to be launched later this year, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii, will use Bluetooth. Because Bluetooth is an industry standard, both consolemakers can buy chips and software off the shelf, which is quicker and cheaper than developing their own proprietary technologies, says Mr Carlaw.
amid
prep.在......中
[真題例句] Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education.[2000年閱讀4]
[例句精譯] 在一片*聲中，許多保守黨領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人正在力圖回復(fù)到戰(zhàn)前，強(qiáng)調(diào)道德教育。
thrive
v.興旺，繁榮
[真題例句]But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism.[2004年閱讀2]
[例句精譯]但是有一種隱蔽的(歧視)形式還在蔓延：按字母表順序排名。
attribute
n.屬性，品質(zhì)，特征;v.①(to)把......歸于;②認(rèn)為......是......所為
[真題例句] Not all that shift can be attributed (v.①) to the movement out of the snow belt, census officials say.[1998年閱讀4]
[例句精譯] 人口普查官員說(shuō)，所有這些人口遷移并非都是為了離開(kāi)寒冷地帶。
verdict
n.①裁決，判決;②定論;③判斷;④意見(jiàn)
[真題例句] Concerns were raised (49：that) witnesses might be encouraged to exaggerate their stories in court to (50：ensure) guilty verdicts (①). [2001年完形]
[例句精譯] 人們開(kāi)始擔(dān)心：(接受報(bào)酬)可能會(huì)鼓勵(lì)證人在法庭上夸大他們經(jīng)歷的事情，以保證(陪審團(tuán)對(duì)被告)作出有罪的判決。
exceed
v.①超過(guò)，勝過(guò);②越出
[真題例句] 66. The change in Japanese lifestyle is revealed in the fact that[2000年閱讀4]
[B] the divorce rate in Japan exceeds (①) that in the US
[例句精譯] 66事實(shí)顯示：日本人的生活方式發(fā)生了改變
[B] 離婚率超過(guò)了美國(guó)
incorporate
v.合并，納入，結(jié)合;a.合并的
[真題例句] Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate (v.), and reflect on, the wider geological picture.[2001年閱讀1]
[例句精譯] 因此，在19世紀(jì)，局部的地質(zhì)研究本身就可形成一種有價(jià)值的研究;而到了20世紀(jì)，如果局部的研究能夠被專(zhuān)業(yè)人員接受，那么它越來(lái)越傾向于必須體現(xiàn)或思考更廣闊的地質(zhì)面貌。
Little Tips：
所謂藍(lán)牙(Bluetooth)技術(shù)，實(shí)際上是一種短距離無(wú)線通信技術(shù)，利用"藍(lán)牙"技術(shù)，能夠有效地簡(jiǎn)化掌上電腦、筆記本電腦和移動(dòng)電話(huà)手機(jī)等移動(dòng)通信終端設(shè)備之間的通信，也能夠成功地簡(jiǎn)化以上這些設(shè)備與Internet之間的通信，從而使這些現(xiàn)代通信設(shè)備與因特網(wǎng)之間的數(shù)據(jù)傳輸變得更加迅速高效，為無(wú)線通信拓寬道路。
經(jīng)歷了數(shù)年的默默無(wú)聞，藍(lán)牙技術(shù)終于走出了WiFi無(wú)線局域網(wǎng)技術(shù)的陰影，找到了自己的用武之地--手機(jī)和無(wú)線耳機(jī)市場(chǎng)，并開(kāi)始成熟。摩托羅拉公司認(rèn)為，目前藍(lán)牙功能已經(jīng)成為高檔手機(jī)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)配置，不久之后所有的手機(jī)產(chǎn)品都將添加這一功能。就全球來(lái)看，還沒(méi)有哪個(gè)國(guó)家能夠容忍司機(jī)一只手把方向盤(pán)開(kāi)車(chē)，另一只手拿著手機(jī)打電話(huà)。在紐約和美國(guó)其他州，如果不戴耳機(jī)或者沒(méi)有采用免提方式打電話(huà)是違法的。而藍(lán)牙技術(shù)無(wú)疑就解決了人們的這種后顧之憂(yōu)。
藍(lán)牙技術(shù)悄悄取勝
在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)熱潮巔峰時(shí)期的天花亂墜之中，它耀眼地產(chǎn)生，但是一開(kāi)始沒(méi)有成功。事實(shí)上，藍(lán)牙技術(shù)--一種用于連接便攜式設(shè)備的近距離無(wú)線技術(shù)，在很多場(chǎng)合下都被宣告已經(jīng)廢棄。這個(gè)技術(shù)的早期版本遭受了兼容性問(wèn)題;2001年的技術(shù)交易會(huì)上這個(gè)技術(shù)一個(gè)雄心勃勃的示范沒(méi)能成功。藍(lán)牙技術(shù)在其支持者的宣傳下苦苦掙扎的時(shí)候，另一種無(wú)線技術(shù)WiFi，取代了它的地位。技術(shù)出版物上出現(xiàn)了很多次宣告藍(lán)牙技術(shù)廢棄的訃告，通常將它的失敗歸結(jié)于WiFi的勝利。"藍(lán)牙技術(shù)正在全面敗退"，英特爾的管理人員Sean Maloney這樣宣稱(chēng)。在2001年，其他分析家得出類(lèi)似的結(jié)論。
但事實(shí)證明藍(lán)牙技術(shù)已經(jīng)死亡這個(gè)結(jié)論下得太早了：現(xiàn)在它正在健康發(fā)展。藍(lán)牙設(shè)備的銷(xiāo)售量已經(jīng)比2005年翻了一番，達(dá)到了3.2億臺(tái)，而且今年的銷(xiāo)售量有望突破5.2億臺(tái)--平均每周銷(xiāo)售超過(guò)1000萬(wàn)臺(tái)，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了WiFi芯片的銷(xiāo)售數(shù)量。如今銷(xiāo)售的手機(jī)中大概有四分之一支持藍(lán)牙技術(shù)。
在連續(xù)數(shù)年強(qiáng)調(diào)藍(lán)牙技術(shù)不僅僅只是用來(lái)連接無(wú)線耳機(jī)和手機(jī)的手段之后，藍(lán)牙的支持者們似乎表明藍(lán)牙技術(shù)的其他用途至少已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了。根據(jù)市場(chǎng)調(diào)查公司iSuppli的Scott Smyser所言，去年60%的藍(lán)牙芯片植入了手機(jī)，15%的芯片植入了無(wú)線耳機(jī)，但是剩下的25%則植入了其他設(shè)備，從膝上型電腦、無(wú)線鍵盤(pán)和鼠標(biāo)到支持藍(lán)牙技術(shù)的衣服。
ABI調(diào)查公司的分析家Stuart Carlaw表示，在其艱難的開(kāi)端之后，藍(lán)牙取得的勝利應(yīng)歸于多種因素的綜合作用。在許多國(guó)家，藍(lán)牙的好運(yùn)是由新的立法推動(dòng)的，該立法規(guī)定在駕駛時(shí)禁止使用手握式手機(jī)設(shè)備。這促使許多人購(gòu)買(mǎi)藍(lán)牙耳機(jī)。而以?shī)W迪為首的汽車(chē)制造商也開(kāi)始在它們的汽車(chē)內(nèi)裝上能通過(guò)藍(lán)牙連接手機(jī)的一體式麥克風(fēng)與揚(yáng)聲器。
當(dāng)消費(fèi)者變得更加關(guān)注藍(lán)牙技術(shù)并且開(kāi)始需求它的時(shí)候，手機(jī)制造商開(kāi)始將它當(dāng)作一種區(qū)分他們的產(chǎn)品以及提高他們的利潤(rùn)的手段。在手機(jī)里添加一個(gè)藍(lán)牙芯片的成本很低--Carlaw先生說(shuō)大概只需要2美元左右，低于2001年時(shí)的20美元--但是可以允許制造者提高遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比這個(gè)高的價(jià)格，并且打開(kāi)了一個(gè)高利潤(rùn)附件的市場(chǎng)。最后，經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商開(kāi)始提供藍(lán)牙耳機(jī)以激勵(lì)新的消費(fèi)者。此外，耳機(jī)的估價(jià)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商的成本高，所以這個(gè)也擴(kuò)大了利潤(rùn)。
藍(lán)牙技術(shù)被更大規(guī)模的采用為其適用在所有種類(lèi)的新產(chǎn)品上開(kāi)辟了道路。除了支持藍(lán)牙技術(shù)的夾克、摩托車(chē)頭盔以及內(nèi)置無(wú)線耳機(jī)的太陽(yáng)眼鏡，今年晚些時(shí)候即將發(fā)售的兩款下一代電子游戲控制臺(tái)的控制器，Sony的PlayStation3和任天堂的Wii，將會(huì)使用藍(lán)牙。Carlaw先生稱(chēng)，因?yàn)樗{(lán)牙是一個(gè)行業(yè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，所有的控制臺(tái)制造商都可以現(xiàn)貨購(gòu)買(mǎi)芯片和軟件，所以要遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比制造商開(kāi)發(fā)他們自己擁有產(chǎn)權(quán)的技術(shù)來(lái)得便捷與便宜。