谷歌發(fā)布新產(chǎn)品 進入后智能手機時代

Google has laid out its most comprehensive visionyet for a post-smartphone era, as it unveiled a rangeof new software and services partly aimed at catchingup with rivals such as Facebook and Amazon.

谷歌(Google)為后智能手機時代規(guī)劃了一幅迄今最全面的愿景，該公司公布了一系列新的軟件和服務，部分目的是追趕Facebook和亞馬遜(Amazon)等競爭對手。

At its annual developer conference, the world’sbiggest internet company showed off a new voice-activated device for the home, while also outliningplans for virtual reality headsets, as well as wearable devices that no longer rely on beingconstantly tethered to smartphones.

在谷歌年度開發(fā)者大會上，這家全球最大互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司展示了一款新的家用聲控設備，同時概述了虛擬現(xiàn)實耳機以及不再依賴于始終與智能手機連接的可穿戴設備的計劃。

However, it also used the event to extend and revamp some of its main services forsmartphones, including launching a new messaging app, in the latest bid to defend its coresearch business as mobile habits change.

然而，該公司還利用此次大會擴大和修補了一些主要智能手機服務，包括推出一款新的信息應用軟件，隨著移動習慣的改變，這一最新舉措旨在保護其核心搜索業(yè)務。

Many of the technologies on display at the event, called Google I/O, will not be available tousers for months or even years, though Google promised that several companies would sell VRhardware based on its technology before the end of 2016.

在此次名為谷歌I/O的大會上展示的多數(shù)技術需要用戶等待數(shù)月，甚至數(shù)年時間，不過谷歌承諾，幾家公司將在今年年底前銷售基于其技術的虛擬現(xiàn)實硬件。

Showing off advanced technology plans like this was a sign of heightened pressure on Googleand its rivals to demonstrate they were taking the lead in important new markets, he added.

展示這種高端技術計劃表明，谷歌及其競爭對手面臨的壓力加大，要證明它們在新的重要市場上占據(jù)領先位置。

Sundar Pichai, chief executive, acknowledged that Amazon had stolen a march on Google andthe rest of the industry with the Echo, a voice-activated device designed to be used around thehome.

谷歌首席執(zhí)行官桑德爾•皮查伊(Sundar Pichai)承認，憑借在家中使用的聲控設備Echo，亞馬遜已比谷歌以及該行業(yè)其他參與者搶先一步。

In response, Mr Pichai unveiled Google Home, a vase-shaped gadget that can be used for voicesearches, streaming music or connecting with apps.

作為回應，皮查伊公布了花瓶形狀的谷歌家居(Google Home)，可用于語音搜索、播放在線音樂或與應用軟件連接。

In another bid to catch up with rivals, Google also showed off a new messaging app called Allo.

在追趕競爭對手的另一次嘗試中，谷歌還展示了一款新的信息應用Allo。

Google said it would open Allo to developers so that they could produce interactive, “conversational” apps that run on the service. The move echoes Facebook’s release last monthof so-called chatbots to run on its Messenger service.

谷歌表示，將向開發(fā)者開放Allo，這樣他們就能研發(fā)出在該服務中運行的交互性“對話”應用。此舉是在回應Facebook上月公布的在其Messenger服務中運行的所謂聊天機器人。

The new products and services put artificial intelligence at the centre of Google’s efforts, withMr Pichai outlining an optimistic vision of machine intelligence solving hard problems in fieldssuch as healthcare. Key to several of the planned services, including Home and Allo, is a new“smart” assistant that runs in the background and is designed to make Google’s products moreresponsive and intelligent.

新的產(chǎn)品和服務將人工智能置于谷歌計劃的核心，皮查伊概述了機器智慧解決醫(yī)療等領域難題的樂觀愿景。幾項已規(guī)劃服務(包括谷歌家居和Allo)的關鍵是一個新的“智能”助手，它在后臺運行，旨在讓谷歌的產(chǎn)品反應更快也更智能。

The internet company also flexed its muscles with Android, the mobile software which is used inabout 80 per cent of all smartphones.

這家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司還展示了在約80%智能手機上使用的手機軟件安卓(Android)的實力。

The software is being used as the platform for VR headsets due out later this year, a movethat could be attractive to developers already used to producing apps for the software and giveGoogle an advantage over companies that are further ahead in VR, such as Facebook.

該軟件正被用作將于今年晚些時候推出的虛擬現(xiàn)實耳機的平臺，此舉可能對那些已習慣于為該軟件制作APP的開發(fā)者頗具吸引力，而且可能會賦予谷歌相對于Facebook等在虛擬現(xiàn)實領域領先一步的公司的優(yōu)勢。