今日导读

每年苹果公司的春季和秋季发布会，都是全世界关注的焦点，大家都想第一时间知道苹果又带来了什么样的产品革新。但上周的 2019 春季发布会却被称为苹果史上“最软”的发布会，因为这场发布会没有硬件，只有四项软件服务，它们分别是什么？苹果公司是否要改变业务重心？这一转型意味着什么？我们来跟着毛西老师一起进入今天的新闻。

新闻原文

Apple's 'show time' event puts the spotlight on subscription services

For years, Apple's business has centered around the iPhone, but sales of that once-revolutionary but now commonplace device have slowed. And the entire world of computers has been flipped on its head. Apple has been diversifying beyond hardware, selling iCloud storage to its customers, a $10 a month music streaming service and movies and television shows through iTunes.

But Monday's anticipated announcement takes that diversification to a whole new level. Apple said it was launching a raft of new services, from news to video games and a credit card. Its biggest initiative is entertainment streaming service Apple TV+.

Apple is expected to invest many billions a year, according to analysts, on making video content to compete in a crowded market that includes Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and Disney.

The real magic in consumer technology is happening less and less inside the devices people carry around and more and more in server farms scattered around the world, where massive amounts of data get processed and then transmitted to gadgets like the Amazon Echo or Google Home.

In essence, the gadgets people are excited about buying are becoming vessels for sending and receiving data. And in that area, Apple has fallen behind companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which now pull in significant revenue from selling cloud services, which is a fancy term for data center usage and storage.

The invite Apple sent to invitees said simply, "It's show time." The question now is whether Apple can break a leg.

带着问题看讲解

在上周的发布会之前，苹果在哪三个领域进行多元化经营？

如何用英语表达“洋气的说法”？

如何理解“break a leg”这个表达？

新闻正文

Apple's 'show time' event puts the spotlight on subscription services

苹果春季发布会“好戏开幕”，聚焦订阅服务

For years, Apple's business has centered around the iPhone, but sales of that once-revolutionary but now commonplace device have slowed. And the entire world of computers has been flipped on its head. Apple has been diversifyingbeyond hardware, selling iCloudstorage to its customers, a $10 a month music streaming service and movies and television shows through iTunes.

多年来，苹果公司的业务一直以 iPhone 手机为中心，但这款曾有革命性意义的设备如今已相当普遍，其销量也有所放缓。而且现在整个计算机世界都已经被颠覆了。苹果一直在硬件之外的领域进行多元化经营，向其用户出售 iCloud 存储服务、每月 10 美元的音乐流媒体服务以及通过 iTunes 播放的电影和电视节目。

But Monday's anticipatedannouncement takes that diversification to a whole new level. Apple said it was launching a raft ofnew services, from news to video games and a credit card. Its biggest initiative is entertainment streaming service Apple TV+.

但是周一备受瞩目的发布会将这种多元化推向了一个全新的层面。苹果表示，它正在推出一系列新服务，从新闻到电子游戏再到信用卡。其最大的新计划是娱乐流媒体服务 Apple TV+。

Apple is expected to invest many billions a year, according to analysts, on making video content to compete in a crowded market that includes Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and Disney.

分析师表示，苹果公司预计每年将投入数十亿美元制作视频内容，以便其能够在对手林立的市场里竞争，目前市场的竞争者包括了亚马逊、网飞、Hulu 网和迪士尼。

The real magic in consumer technology is happening less and less inside the devices people carry around and more and more in server farms scattered around the world, where massive amounts of data get processed and then transmitted to gadgets like the Amazon Echo or Google Home.

消费型科技的真正魅力正越来越少地显现于人们随身携带的设备上，而是愈发显现于分散在世界各地的服务器农场中。在那，大量的数据经过处理后被传送到 Amazon Echo 或 Google Home 这样的电子产品里。

In essence, the gadgets people are excited about buying are becoming vessels for sending and receiving data. And in that area, Apple has fallen behind companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which now pull in significant revenue from selling cloud services, which is a fancy term for data center usage and storage.

实质上，人们热衷于购买的电子产品正在成为发送和接收数据的载体。而在这一领域，苹果已落后于谷歌、亚马逊和微软这些公司，后者如今通过售卖云服务赚取了可观收益，而云服务是对数据中心使用和储存功能的一个洋气说法。

The invite Apple sent to invitees said simply, "It's show time." The question now is whether Apple can break a leg.

苹果对受邀者发出的邀请简洁明了：“好戏开场了。”现在的问题就是，苹果能否演出成功了。

重点词汇

补充词汇知识

business
n. 生意，业务

center around sth.
以...为中心，围绕着...
近义词：center on sth.

magic
n. 魅力
搭配短语：the magic of the city

consumer technology
消费型科技

补充文化知识

服务器农场 (Server farm or Server cluster)

服务器，即有着强大功能的计算机，而服务器农场就由几千个这样的计算机构成，搭配有网络交换机或路由器，形成农场一样的规模，只不过这个特殊的农场里种植的是无穷无尽的数据，目的是满足大互联网公司日益增长的云端托管的需求。例如玩大型游戏时，电脑需要较高的配置，当配置不够时，游戏公司可以提供远处的海量高配置服务器来帮玩家跑程序，而玩家的电脑只需要接收并且显示结果就可以了。

长难句解析

The real magic in consumer technology is happening less and less inside the devices people carry around and more and more in server farms scattered around the world, where massive amounts of data get processed and then transmitted to gadgets like the Amazon Echo or Google Home.

消费型科技的真正魅力正越来越少地显现于人们随身携带的设备上，而是愈发显现于分散在世界各地的服务器农场中。在那，大量的数据经过处理后被传送到 Amazon Echo 或 Google Home 这样的电子产品里。

句子主干是 The real magic is happening，主语是 the real magic in consumer technology，is happening 是系表结构。后面的状语由 less and less 和 more and more 这两个对称的部分组成，less and less 部分的 people carry around 是 the devices 的后置定语，而 more and more 部分后面的 scattered around the world 做后置定语修饰 server farms。逗号后面是由 where 引导的非限定性定语从句，massive amounts of data 是从句的主语，get processed and then transmitted 是从句的谓语， like the Amazon Echo or Google Home 是宾语补足语。

拓展阅读

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo 是由亚马逊公司研制的智能音箱，其外形和一般的蓝牙音箱没有太大区别，也没有任何屏幕，唯一的交互方式就是语音。Echo 音箱搭载的是亚马逊开发的人工智能语音助手 Alexa，它可以为用户执行各种任务，并控制各种系统。用户可以让 Echo 音箱播放音乐、播放新闻、查看日程、提供体育比赛的分数、告知天气，甚至允许亚马逊会员再次订购他们之前购买过的产品。

亚马逊与很多常用的服务和 app 都有合作，包括联网汽车、食品和饮料、旅游和交通、音乐和音频、智能家居等等。比如用 Uber 叫车，查看英国《卫报》新闻，在 Skyscanner（天巡网）上查询航班信息和动态等等。通过简单的指令，用户可以用 Echo 完成很多事。

Google Home

Google Home 是谷歌开发的智能家居设备，可以通过语音控制家庭设备。 Google Home 内置了处理系统以及人工智能助手谷歌助理 (Google Assistant)，拥有数百种使用方法。Google Home 可以借助日渐强大的谷歌助手对用户的语音控制进行识别，从而转化为智能家居全面智能声控的信息源。通过语音控制，Google Home 可以通过语音控制用户的音响，可以连接到家里的灯光、恒温器等等，成为智能家居的控制中心。 同时，通过谷歌助理与许多第三方服务和应用的合作，用户还可以通过 Google Home 订披萨、锁车门等等。谷歌希望用 Google Home 来建立一个生态系统，成为用户生活中的得力助手。