WHEN Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, he could never have predicted what it would be able to do in the future. Now, 130 years later, it's no surprise when someone takes out a cellphone to make a call while on the move.
在1876年亞歷山大·格雷厄姆·貝爾發(fā)明電話之時，他絕對不會料到電話在未來能做何用途。在130年后的今天，人們一邊走路一邊拿出手機打電話，已經(jīng)不是什么讓人吃驚的事情。
But phones are no longer just used to make calls. Japan's 90 million cellphone owners also use their machine's modern technology and tiny screens (half the size of a business card) to play video games, send e-mails, read news, download music, store photos and surf the Internet. Since April, they've been able to use their cellphones to watch TV.
但如今電話的用處已不僅僅是打電話。在日本，有9000萬手機用戶還利用現(xiàn)代科技在手機的小型屏幕（只有名片的一半大?。┥贤嬉曨l游戲、發(fā)電子郵件、閱讀新聞、下載音樂、存儲照片以及瀏覽網(wǎng)頁。4月份以后，他們還能用手機看電視。
Following several months of test broadcasts, digital TV broadcasts for cellphones with special receivers began in Japan's major cities. The special cellphones are hard to find because only a small number were put on sale. The excitement surrounding mobile TV means that the limited number of handsets quickly sold out.
經(jīng)過幾個月的試播，帶有特別接收器的用在手機上的數(shù)字電視廣播在日本幾個大城市開始出現(xiàn)。但這種特殊的手機很難找到，因為只有少量投入市場。電視手機給人們帶來的興奮感意味著數(shù)量有限的耳機很快就會銷售一空。
Misogo Kado, a 37-year-old software designer from Yokohama, near Tokyo, bought one of the new cellphones earlier this month.
Misogo Kado是東京附近橫濱市的一名37歲的軟件設計師，他于本月月初購買了一款這種新手機。
He is a big fan of the new technology. "You know how every cellphone now comes with a digital camera? In the same way, this is going to become a standard feature," Kado said of the TV service. "It's not something you have to pay for. If you're buying a cellphone, you might as well get one with it."
他狂熱癡迷這種新科技。“你知道現(xiàn)在手機都是帶數(shù)碼相機功能的吧？同理，這個也會成為一大特色，” 對于手機的電視功能，Kado這樣說，“它不需要花錢。只要你買了手機，就會附帶一個。”
While the service is new for Japan, it is not the world's first. South Korea and Britain have made TV available to their cellphone customers with the use of slightly different technology. The new service in Japan, however, is free.
雖然提供這項服務在日本還很新穎，但這卻不是世界首例。在韓國和英國，用戶已經(jīng)可以使用手機看電視，只不過技術運用略微有些不同。但在日本，這項新服務卻是免費的。
Not only that, it uses broadcasting airwaves instead of an Internet connection. The images are sent through the air by TV towers, not satellites.
不僅如此，它還通過電視頻道進行播發(fā)，而不用網(wǎng)絡連接，傳輸圖像是用電視塔而不是衛(wèi)星。
This terrestrial digital broadcast system means that more people will be able to use the service. Imagine what our phones will be able to do in another 130 years'time!
這種地面數(shù)字電視廣播系統(tǒng)使得更多人能夠使用這項新服務。設想一下，再過130年，手機不知又會出現(xiàn)哪些用途呢！
