科技前沿:未来我们怎么看电视(2)

'I've never seen as much innovation in television as there is right now, ' says Ulf Ewaldsson, chief technology officer at Swedish telecom-equipment giant Ericsson, which plans to step up its own TV efforts.

瑞典电信设备巨头爱立信(Ericsson)首席技术长艾华信(Ulf Ewaldsson)说，目前电视业的创新程度是我从未见过的。爱立信计划加大力度进军电视业。

Propelling the activity are changes that have made the Internet a more viable delivery medium, including the growing proportion of customers with broadband service.

这背后的推动力量是使互联网成为一种更可行交付介质的各种变化，包括有宽带接入服务的用户的比例不断上升。

Despite the developments, much is missing from Internet-based services. Popular programming, including live sports and news, is often limited to conventional carriers by licensing restrictions.

尽管有了这些进展，基于互联网的服务仍有很多不足。包括体育赛事和新闻直播在内的颇受大众欢迎的节目由于许可证限制，常局限于传统媒体。

When large video libraries are available, finding specific programs can be cumbersome -- especially with conventional remotes. Most TV services also lag the Web and mobile apps in helping discover new content.

有了大型音像资料库后，找到具体节目可能比较麻烦，特别是用传统远程遥控的方式。在帮忙发现新内容方面，大多数电视服务也落后于网络和移动应用程序。

'The phone, the laptop and the tablet have advanced so dramatically, ' says Tom Rogers, chief executive of TiVo Inc., the DVR pioneer. 'Television has been drastically left behind.'

数字硬盘录像设备先驱TiVo Inc.的首席执行长罗杰斯(Tom Rogers)说，电话、笔记本电脑和平板电脑取得了突飞猛进的发展，电视被远远地落在了后面。

Tech companies trying to change that include Apple. Since 2007, it has sold an add-on box called Apple TV for streaming content, but has been mum about new TV offerings. The company has tested designs for its own televisions, executives at Apple suppliers have said.

苹果是试图改变这一点的科技公司之一。2007年以来，苹果开始发售名为Apple TV的流媒体机顶盒，但它对提供电视机新产品却一直保持沉默。苹果供应商高管说，苹果已对其电视机设计进行了测试。

Apple has explored a number of new features for such a product, people familiar with the situation have said, including integrating DVR storage and its iCloud Internet syncing and data-storage service, and voice-interaction capabilities.

知情人士说，苹果探索了电视机产品的很多新功能，包括整合数字硬盘录像设备存储、iCloud互联网同步和数据存储服务以及语音交互功能等。

Microsoft is also promoting voice recognition as it positions its game consoles and companion Kinect controller for a broad role in home entertainment. The company's Xbox One, due out this fall, allows customers to navigate to programs by speaking commands such as 'Go to ESPN, ' or 'I want to watch 'Breaking Bad.''

微软也在推进语音识别功能，欲让其游戏机和kinect控制器在家庭娱乐中发挥广泛作用。微软定于今秋发布Xbox One，用户可通过口授命令来观看具体节目，如“打开ESPN(娱乐体育节目电视网)”或“我想看《绝命毒师》(Breaking Bad)”。

One basic challenge is simply managing the growing array of content options, including movies from Netflix, Web-originated fare like YouTube, conventional live TV and video consumers have recorded.

一项基本挑战是要管理日益增多的内容选项，包括Netflix的电影、YouTube等网络产物、传统直播电视节目和消费者自己录的视频等。

Comcast is promising search advances as well as personalization features in X2, the cable giant's name for a new entertainment operating system.

康卡斯特目前承诺，X2将在搜索方面有诸多改善，而且会配备个性化功能。X2是这个电视巨头建立的一个新娱乐操作系统。

That software, which Comcast plans to begin rolling out by the end of the year, is designed to recommend content currently on live TV based on tracking a customer's past viewing habits as well as topics trending on Twitter and Facebook. Comcast says X2's interface can work on TVs, PCs and mobile devices, and supports voice searching capability.

康卡斯特计划今年年底之前开始推出该软件，它可追踪用户以前的浏览习惯并根据推特(Twitter)及Facebook上的热点话题来推荐正在直播的节目内容。康卡斯特说，X2可与电视、个人电脑和移动设备相连，也可支持语音搜索功能。

One feature Intel has decided not to pursue for now is a camera equipped with facial-recognition software to help personalize offerings for each user in a household. Mr. Huggers says the technology didn't work well enough in the low lighting common when watching TV and raised privacy questions.

英特尔决定目前暂不追求的一个功能是配备人脸识别软件的摄像头，该摄像头有助于为家里的每一个用户提供个性化服务。哈格斯说，看电视时普遍是低光环境，该技术在这样的环境下工作效果不是很好，并且会产生隐私问题。