科技前沿:未來我們怎麼看電視(1)
To understand how much television could soon change, it helps to visit an Intel Corp. division here that runs like a startup.
想弄清不久後電視可能會發生多大的變化,不妨參觀一下英特爾(Intel Corp.)位於加州聖克拉拉的一個部門,這個部門的運營方式頗似初創公司。Erik Huggers, a Dutch-born former British Broadcasting Corp. executive, has assembled a 350-person team with talents beyond computer chips -- including programmers, industrial designers, artists and experts in fields like video encoding. They're creating a Web-based service that not only serves up on-demand programs but overhauls live TV.
出生於荷蘭的前英國廣播公司(British Broadcasting Corp.)高管哈格斯(Erik Huggers)組建了一個有350人的團隊,其中的人才遠不止研究電腦芯片的人員,還包括程序員、工業設計師、藝術家和視頻編碼等領域的專家。這個團隊正在創建一種基於網絡的服務,這種服務不僅可以提供點播節目,還會令直播電視發生翻天覆地的變化。Intel's plans include a server farm to record every piece of programming that is aired -- local, national and international -- and store it for at least three days in the 'cloud.' With an Intel-designed set-top box, people won't have to own DVRs or even plan to record programs.
英特爾的計劃包括一個服務器羣,它可以錄下播出的每一個節目(地方的、全國的或國際的),並將其存儲在“雲”中至少三天。安裝了英特爾設計的機頂盒後,人們就不必買數字硬盤錄像設備了,甚至不用再爲錄節目做安排了。
Switch on the TV set in the middle of any show, and a viewer can simply go back to the beginning. 'This is live TV -- but you can rewind it, ' Mr. Huggers says.
在任何節目的中間打開電視,用戶都可以返回到節目的開始。哈格斯說,這就是直播電視,但你可以倒回去看。Intel is just one entry in the computer industry's growing land grab for the living room, one likely to bring voice activation, restyled remotes, new on-screen interfaces and other major changes in the way people interact with TV sets.
英特爾只是電腦行業衆多加入起居室地盤爭奪戰的公司之一。這種爭奪戰可能帶來語音激活、新式遙控器、新型屏幕界面以及人與電視機之間互動方式的其他重大改變。Other tech giants pushing TV advances include Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp. and Google Inc., which last week announced a device called Chromecast that wirelessly transfers content from mobile devices to TVs. Google and Sony have also been working on Internet-based video-delivery services, people familiar with the matter have said.
其他正在推動電視進步的科技巨頭包括蘋果(Apple Inc.)、微軟(Microsoft Corp.)、索尼(Sony Corp.)和谷歌(Google Inc.)。谷歌上週公佈了一種名爲“Chromecast”的設備,這種設備可以將移動設備上的內容無線傳輸到電視上。據知情人士說,谷歌和索尼還一直在研製基於互聯網的視頻交付服務。Computer-industry players have been pushing new TV visions for 20 years, with decidedly mixed results. Cable- and satellite-TV providers have strong positions, with big players like Comcast Corp. preparing major upgrades of their own.
20年來,電腦行業內的公司一直在爲電視業開創新領域,結果明顯是好壞參半。有線電視和衛星電視提供商有着強有力的地位,康卡斯特(Comcast Corp.)等大公司也在準備進行重大升級。Negotiations with media companies for content rights could delay new services and limit some features, though Intel vows to enter some markets by the end of the year.
與媒體公司就內容版權進行的談判可能令新服務的推出延遲,並限制一些功能,不過英特爾誓言將在今年年底前進入部分市場。