有關(guān)科技的英語(yǔ)文章1

　　誰(shuí)是下一個(gè)WhatsApp和Candy Crush

　　WhatsApp and Candy Crush recently joined the big leagues of technology start-ups done good,prompting tech-shy investors to join the hunt for the digital giants of the future.

　　WhatsApp和Candy Crush最近加入了成功高科技初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的行列，這推動(dòng)通?；乇芸萍脊傻耐顿Y者開(kāi)始尋找未來(lái)的數(shù)字巨擘。

　　Family offices, wealthy individuals and even some institutional investors have begun to siftthrough the swaths of up-and-coming technology ventures in the hope of spotting the next bigthing.

　　家族理財(cái)室、富有的個(gè)人甚至一些機(jī)構(gòu)投資者開(kāi)始篩選前景看好的科技企業(yè)，以期發(fā)現(xiàn)下一個(gè)巨擘。

　　Christian Nagel, co-founder of Earlybird, a Berlin-based venture capital company, admits thatEuropean investors have in recent years suffered a “horrible experience” when committingcapital to start-ups.

　　總部位于柏林的風(fēng)投公司Earlybird聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人克里斯蒂安•納格爾(Christian Nagel)承認(rèn)，最近幾年，歐洲投資者在將資金投入初創(chuàng)企業(yè)方面遭遇了“可怕的經(jīng)歷”。

　　“Venture capital as an asset class has not been in investors’ favour, and investment volumeshave constantly come down,” he says.

　　他表示：“作為一種資產(chǎn)類別，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資近年不受投資者青睞，投資規(guī)模持續(xù)下降。”

　　But he believes the high-risk, low-return dynamic that blighted early-stage investors isshifting.

　　但他認(rèn)為，讓早期投資者希望破滅的高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和低回報(bào)的格局正在改變。

　　“We have had discussions with our investors about whether the venture capital model isbroken, and we find that family offices are among those who have realised that something haschanged,” he says. “There is less capital chasing more opportunities.”

　　“我們就風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資模式是否已經(jīng)不適用與我們的投資者進(jìn)行了討論，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，家族理財(cái)室等投資者意識(shí)到情況已發(fā)生變化，”他表示，“機(jī)會(huì)更多了，但追蹤這些機(jī)會(huì)的資金變少了。”

　　The recent flurry of young tech companies that have found success at an international level hasspurred investor interest in digital start-ups, despite the fact that many investors were burntnot too long ago during the dotcom bubble.

　　近期一連串在國(guó)際層面上獲得成功的年輕科技公司，引發(fā)了投資者對(duì)數(shù)字初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的興趣，盡管事實(shí)是，很多投資者在不那么久以前的網(wǎng)絡(luò)股泡沫期間曾遭受虧損。

　　Just last month King Digital Entertainment, the developer behind the addictive online gameCandy Crush Saga, filed for an initial public offering in the US with the hope of raising morethan $500m.

　　就在上個(gè)月，深受網(wǎng)民喜歡的在線游戲Candy Crush Saga背后的開(kāi)發(fā)公司King Digital Entertainment，申請(qǐng)?jiān)诿绹?guó)進(jìn)行首次公開(kāi)發(fā)行(IPO)，希望籌資逾5億美元。

　　Sina Weibo, a Chinese messaging platform similar to Twitter, followed suit last week byannouncing plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange with a potential valuation of up to$8bn.

　　類似于Twitter的中國(guó)微博客平臺(tái)新浪微博(Sina Weibo)最近也宣布，計(jì)劃在紐交所(New York StockExchange)上市，估值可能高達(dá)80億美元。

　　Social networking giant Facebook also recently surprised markets with its $19bn buyout ofinstant messaging application WhatsApp in what appeared to be one of Silicon Valley’s best-kept secrets.

　　社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)巨頭Facebook最近以190億美元收購(gòu)即時(shí)通訊應(yīng)用WhatsApp，此舉令市場(chǎng)意外，堪稱硅谷保守最好的秘密之一。

　　While the odds of spotting the next Facebook are very long, investing in the next Airbnb, theaccommodation website, or Farfetch, the online fashion retailer, is more plausible, accordingto Stefano Guidotti, chief executive of U-Start, a matchmaker for start-ups that puts selectedsmall businesses in touch with angel investors.

　　為初創(chuàng)企業(yè)牽線搭橋、把精選的小企業(yè)介紹給天使投資者的U-Start公司的首席執(zhí)行官斯泰法諾•吉多蒂(Stefano Guidotti)表示，盡管發(fā)現(xiàn)下一個(gè)Facebook的機(jī)會(huì)不大，但投資于下一個(gè)住宿網(wǎng)站Airbnb或者在線時(shí)尚零售商Farfetch還是比較可信的。

　　He says: “Digital start-ups are disrupting industries from travel to accommodation to logistics– this is where you can really look for home runs in the investment space.

　　他表示：“數(shù)字初創(chuàng)企業(yè)正在顛覆各種行業(yè)，從旅游和住宿到物流，你確實(shí)可以從中找到投資良機(jī)。”

　　“Models that are growing at an incredible pace have the chance to become a billion-dollaropportunity, and [they emerge] much more frequently than companies like Facebook orTwitter.”

　　“正以令人難以置信的速度增長(zhǎng)的模式，有機(jī)會(huì)成為價(jià)值數(shù)十億美元的機(jī)遇，(它們的涌現(xiàn))次數(shù)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)多于Facebook或Twitter這樣的公司。”

　　The one area that investors should steer clear of is the new breed of start-ups aiming to cashin on the buzz around alternative digital currencies such as Bitcoin, according to Matteo Rizzi,partner at SBT Venture Capital, the financial technology-focused firm.

　　聚焦金融技術(shù)的公司SBT Venture Capital合伙人馬特奧•里茲(Matteo Rizzi)表示，投資者應(yīng)回避的一個(gè)領(lǐng)域是希望借助比特幣(Bitcoin)等另類數(shù)字貨幣所引發(fā)的熱潮謀利的新型初創(chuàng)企業(yè)。

　　“This is potentially a very risky investment because the return could be very big, or you couldlose all of your money,” he says. “It has such explosive potential because regulation could hitthis sector very hard and kill it before it gets going.”

　　“這可能是一種風(fēng)險(xiǎn)非常高的投資，因?yàn)榛貓?bào)率可能會(huì)非常高，但你也可能血本無(wú)歸，”他表示，“它具有如此爆炸性的潛力，因?yàn)楸O(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)可能在這個(gè)行業(yè)站穩(wěn)腳跟之前沉重打擊并掐滅它。”

　　Rising investor confidence in early-stage technology and digital businesses has been helpedby the development of vibrant start-up hubs beyond the US.

　　美國(guó)以外富有活力的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)中心的發(fā)展，增強(qiáng)了投資者對(duì)初創(chuàng)科技和數(shù)字企業(yè)的信心。

　　A cluster of businesses focusing on online marketing and data analytics has sprung up in Berlin,while London is home to a growing number of financial tech start-ups. Large entrepreneurialcommunities have similarly sprouted in Tel Aviv and pockets of eastern Europe and SouthAmerica.

　　一些聚焦于在線營(yíng)銷和數(shù)據(jù)分析的企業(yè)開(kāi)始在柏林涌現(xiàn)，倫敦也出現(xiàn)了越來(lái)越多的金融科技初創(chuàng)企業(yè)。類似的大型創(chuàng)業(yè)社區(qū)在特拉維夫、東歐和南美部分地區(qū)紛紛涌現(xiàn)。

　　Mr Nagel says: “In the past most start-ups were in Silicon Valley or New York and you had tospend millions just to start developing. Now we see businesses popping up everywhere as youcan develop and test an app overnight with little money.”

　　納格爾表示：“過(guò)去，多數(shù)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)位于硅谷或紐約，僅僅啟動(dòng)開(kāi)發(fā)，你就得花費(fèi)數(shù)百萬(wàn)美元。如今，我們看到企業(yè)從各個(gè)地方涌現(xiàn)出來(lái)，你幾乎不用花什么錢(qián)就能在一夜之間開(kāi)發(fā)并測(cè)試一款應(yīng)用。”

　　As a result, Earlybird recently launched a fund focused on early-stage businesses in Turkey,central and eastern Europe. It raised $110m from entrepreneurs, family offices andinstitutional investors including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development andthe International Finance Corporation.

　　因此，Earlybird最近推出了一只基金，關(guān)注土耳其、中歐和東歐的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)。這只基金從企業(yè)家、家族理財(cái)室和機(jī)構(gòu)投資者那里籌資1.10億美元，這些機(jī)構(gòu)投資者包括歐洲復(fù)興開(kāi)發(fā)銀行(European Bank forReconstruction and Development)和國(guó)際金融公司(International Finance Corporation)。

　　Family offices founded by successful business people who made their fortunes decades agohave been among the first to realise that an exciting new generation of entrepreneurs hasemerged, according to Mr Nagel. “This new breed of entrepreneur does not copy existing USbusiness models, but creates something unique that can be expanded internationally,” he says.

　　納格爾表示，由幾十年前致富的成功商人成立的家族理財(cái)室，首先意識(shí)到新一代令人激動(dòng)的創(chuàng)業(yè)家已經(jīng)涌現(xiàn)。他表示：“這一代的創(chuàng)業(yè)家不會(huì)復(fù)制美國(guó)現(xiàn)有的商業(yè)模式，而是創(chuàng)造出了能夠在全球擴(kuò)張的獨(dú)特產(chǎn)品。”

　　Mr Guidotti agrees, pointing out that many family offices are particularly keen to invest insectors they already have some experience of. Families with a background in the motorindustry, for example, prefer to invest in start-ups in related technology, such as car-sharingor tracking devices.

　　吉多蒂同意這點(diǎn)，他指出，很多家族理財(cái)室尤其熱衷投資于自己有一定經(jīng)驗(yàn)的行業(yè)。例如，具備汽車行業(yè)背景的家族更愿意投資于相關(guān)技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)，例如汽車分享或跟蹤裝置。

　　“They see the opportunity in something they can control and understand better than ahedge-fund product, which has not necessarily brought the results they expected,” Mr Guidottisays.

　　吉多蒂表示：“它們?cè)谧约罕葘?duì)沖基金產(chǎn)品更內(nèi)行的領(lǐng)域發(fā)現(xiàn)機(jī)遇，對(duì)沖基金不一定帶來(lái)它們期待的結(jié)果。”

　　Although investors are regaining confidence in the tech start-up scene, it is not fool proof.There is resounding consensus that roughly 15 to 20 per cent of even the most carefullyselected businesses will fail.

　　盡管投資者正在重拾對(duì)科技初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的信心，但這并非穩(wěn)操勝券。各方的一個(gè)強(qiáng)烈共識(shí)是：即便是經(jīng)過(guò)最精心的遴選，也仍會(huì)有15%至20%左右的企業(yè)破產(chǎn)。

　　To keep business failures – and investor discontent – to a minimum, venture capitalists andgroups such as U-Start seek recommendations from accelerators such as Berlin’sStartupbootcamp and academic incubators that provide facilities, office space and mentoringadvice to early-stage entrepreneurs.

　　為了把企業(yè)破產(chǎn)(以及投資者不滿)降至最低，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資家和U-Start等機(jī)構(gòu)從創(chuàng)業(yè)加速器(如柏林的Startupbootcamp)和為初創(chuàng)企業(yè)家提供設(shè)施、辦公場(chǎng)所和指導(dǎo)建議的高校創(chuàng)業(yè)孵化器那里尋求建議。

　　Earlybird’s Mr Nadel adds that the main reason a business tends to fail is down to problemswith the team dynamic.

　　Earlybird的納格爾補(bǔ)充稱，企業(yè)破產(chǎn)的主要原因往往在于團(tuán)隊(duì)動(dòng)力問(wèn)題。

　　He says: “We have declined opportunities where the idea was great but the team was so-so.The team needs to be really willing to create something, not give up first time a cheque fromGoogle comes around. This is not about quick money – if you sell the company or bring itpublic, the team should stay.”

　　他表示：“我們?cè)芙^那些創(chuàng)意不錯(cuò)但團(tuán)隊(duì)平平的機(jī)會(huì)。團(tuán)隊(duì)需要真正具備創(chuàng)造的意愿，而不是在谷歌(Google)第一次送上支票時(shí)就放棄。這不是為了快速發(fā)財(cái)，如果你要出售企業(yè)或?qū)⑵渖鲜校瑘F(tuán)隊(duì)?wèi)?yīng)當(dāng)留下來(lái)。”

　　有關(guān)科技的英語(yǔ)文章2

　　高科技電子網(wǎng)球拍原理運(yùn)作揭秘

　　In 1990, when Eric Babolat was a college student in France, he remembers watching SharonStone play tennis with a hologram instructor in the movie Total Recall and thinking, "That's thefuture of tennis." This was not idle reflection. Babolat represents the fifth generation in afamily business of tennis equipment makers, started when his great-great grandfather madethe first strings out of sheep gut, obtained from the slaughterhouses of Lyon. Their latestinnovation, a racquet called Babolat Play, has just come on the market. This time, it's not juststrung; it's wired.

　　埃里克o百保力記得，1990年他在法國(guó)上大學(xué)時(shí)，曾經(jīng)看過(guò)一部名叫《宇宙威龍》(Total Recall )的電影。在這部電影中，莎朗o斯通和一個(gè)全息投影的“教練”一起打網(wǎng)球。當(dāng)時(shí)埃里克不禁想到：“這就是網(wǎng)球的未來(lái)”。他可不是閑著沒(méi)事才回想往事。埃里克o百保力是著名家族企業(yè)、法國(guó)網(wǎng)羽設(shè)備制造商百保力集團(tuán)(Babolat)的第五代繼承人，從他的曾曾祖父開(kāi)始，百保力家族就已經(jīng)在用羊腸線制做網(wǎng)球拍，制作原料來(lái)自法國(guó)里昂的屠宰場(chǎng)。百保力集團(tuán)最近推出了一款名叫Babolat Play的網(wǎng)球拍。特別之處在于它是一副安裝有電子設(shè)備的網(wǎng)球拍。

　　The company first came up with the idea of a connected racquet a decade ago, thinking itwould provide more reliable data about prototypes. "We have professional testers whoanalyze if a racquet is rigid, heavy, light," Babolat says. "We wanted to make sure that theywere speaking the same language, and our engineers wanted captors to show exactly what wasgoing on." They quickly realized this feature could prove interesting for players, too. "Nobodyreally knows what happens the moment the racquet hits the ball."

　　百保力公司早在十年以前就提出了電子網(wǎng)球拍的理念，它覺(jué)得這樣做可以收集更加可靠的數(shù)據(jù)用來(lái)開(kāi)發(fā)原型產(chǎn)品。埃里克o百保力說(shuō)：“我們有專業(yè)的測(cè)試人員測(cè)試一支網(wǎng)球拍是否太硬、太重或太輕了。我們希望所有測(cè)試人員都按照相同的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)測(cè)試，而且我們的工程師也想要捕捉詳細(xì)的數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)進(jìn)行研究。”后來(lái)他們很快發(fā)現(xiàn)，這項(xiàng)功能也會(huì)吸引網(wǎng)球運(yùn)動(dòng)員們的興趣。“沒(méi)有人具體知道球拍擊中球的那一刻究竟發(fā)生了什么。”

　　At the time, the technology wasn't up to the task, but three years ago it looked morepromising, and Babolat gave it another go. To develop the system, it hired Movea, a leader inmotion sensing technology headquartered in Grenoble. (In 2008, Movea acquired Gyration, whohad worked with Nintendo on an early prototype for the Wii.) Babolat established twoconditions. First, the technology would have to fit inside the racquet handle so that it wouldn'taffect a player's game. Second, it needed to be accessible and useful to all players, not justpros.

　　當(dāng)時(shí)，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)還沒(méi)有立即提上議事日程。到了三年前，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)似乎變得越來(lái)越吸引人，于是百保力集團(tuán)又進(jìn)行了一次嘗試。這家公司重金聘請(qǐng)了總部位于法國(guó)格勒諾布爾市的運(yùn)動(dòng)感應(yīng)技術(shù)公司Movea來(lái)研發(fā)這個(gè)系統(tǒng)?！?008年，Movea收購(gòu)了曾與任天堂(Nintendo)合作研發(fā)Wii游戲機(jī)早期原型機(jī)的Gyration公司?！堪俦Ａ瘓F(tuán)專門(mén)提出了兩個(gè)條件：第一，這個(gè)技術(shù)單元必須嵌入到網(wǎng)球拍的手柄內(nèi)部，以免影響運(yùn)動(dòng)員比賽。第二，它的實(shí)用性必須針對(duì)所有運(yùn)動(dòng)員，而并不只是針對(duì)專業(yè)人士。

　　They started by modifying the company's bestselling model, the Pure Drive. The Play version isthe same weight, around 11 ounces, and looks nearly identical; the only obvious difference istwo orange stripes at the bottom of the handle, buttons that activate the racquet andsynchronize it via Bluetooth.

　　研發(fā)團(tuán)隊(duì)開(kāi)始在百保力最暢銷的網(wǎng)球拍產(chǎn)品Pure Drive的基礎(chǔ)上進(jìn)行開(kāi)發(fā)。Babolat Play和Pure Drive的重量相同，都是11盎司，外觀看起來(lái)也一般無(wú)二。唯一顯著的區(qū)別是Babolat Play的手柄底部有兩個(gè)橙色亮條，以及用來(lái)激活球拍和通過(guò)藍(lán)牙進(jìn)行同步的按鈕。

　　You have to remember to switch the racquet on before playing -- and, prior to that, to chargeit. Afterwards, you download the data to your user account on a computer, tablet orsmartphone app. Here you can see a breakdown of your shots by number and classification(forehands, backhands, serves, smashes), the power of your strokes in percentage, based onthe speed of the racquet (100 percent corresponds roughly to a flat serve of 136 miles perhour), the type of spin you use and how often. An impact locator shows what percentage ofyour shots hit the sweet spot or the areas around it. CyrilleSoubeyrat, vice president ofengineering for Movea, says this was the most complicated feature to make, requiring thedevelopment of brand new technology.

　　打球之前，一定要記得打開(kāi)球拍的開(kāi)關(guān)——當(dāng)然前提是別忘了充電。運(yùn)動(dòng)完畢后，你可以在電腦、平板或智能手機(jī)上通過(guò)一款應(yīng)用登陸你的個(gè)人賬戶，下載你的數(shù)據(jù)。你在這里可以看到對(duì)運(yùn)動(dòng)數(shù)據(jù)的詳細(xì)分類(正手、反手、發(fā)球、高壓球)，它還可以根據(jù)球拍的運(yùn)行速度測(cè)算出你的擊球力度，然后用百分比的形式顯示出來(lái)(100%的力度大致相當(dāng)于平擊發(fā)球的速度達(dá)到每小時(shí)136英里)。另外它還能分析你經(jīng)常使用的旋轉(zhuǎn)球的種類和頻率。球拍上安裝的沖擊定位器可以顯示有多少比率的擊球是擊中了球拍的最佳擊球點(diǎn)或其附近位置。Movea公司工程副總裁西里爾o索貝萊特表示，沖擊定位器是整個(gè)產(chǎn)品研發(fā)過(guò)程中最難的部件，需要專門(mén)開(kāi)發(fā)全新的技術(shù)。

　　Soubeyrat did his best to explain in simple terms what happens inside the racquet during play.In the handle, sensors deliver signals to an electronic system, which executes algorithms.Some analysis takes place continuously, such as the racquet's position in relation to theground. Other measurements start each time the ball hits the strings, setting off a reactionlike when a car crash sets off an airbag.

　　索貝萊特盡可能用簡(jiǎn)單的語(yǔ)言向我們解釋了這款球拍的工作原理：運(yùn)動(dòng)時(shí)，手柄中的傳感器會(huì)向負(fù)責(zé)運(yùn)行算法的電子控制系統(tǒng)發(fā)送信號(hào)。有些分析運(yùn)算會(huì)不間斷地進(jìn)行，比如球拍相對(duì)于地面的位置。其它的運(yùn)算只是在擊球的一瞬間才啟動(dòng)，就像車輛發(fā)生撞擊時(shí)，氣囊就會(huì)自動(dòng)彈出一樣。

　　At the moment of impact, the racquet experiences several modes of flexion and torsion, and atdifferent frequencies. The electronic system analyzes all of these vibrations simultaneously,and within 200 milliseconds produces information about 20 different properties of the shot. Atthe same time, it recognizes and rejects all the "parasitic" gestures, such as bouncing the ballbetween serves or using the racquet to whack clay off one's sneakers.

　　擊球的瞬間，球拍短時(shí)內(nèi)會(huì)在不同頻率上經(jīng)歷好幾種形式的彎曲、扭曲。電子控制系統(tǒng)會(huì)實(shí)時(shí)分析所有這些震動(dòng)，在不到200毫秒的時(shí)間內(nèi)，就會(huì)得出關(guān)于這次擊球的大概20種不同性質(zhì)的數(shù)據(jù)。同時(shí)它還可以自動(dòng)識(shí)別、排除一些“無(wú)關(guān)動(dòng)作”，比如在發(fā)球間隙將球彈來(lái)彈去時(shí)造成的震動(dòng)，以及用球拍敲掉沾在球鞋上的土?xí)r造成的震動(dòng)。

　　Soubeyrat says the technology is remarkably accurate, even if there are things it cannotmeasure, like whether that ball you hit so powerfully went right over the court and into theparking lot. Eventually, he says, other tools could round out the offer, such as sensors in theshoes.

　　索貝萊特表示，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)的精確度非常驚人，盡管有些東西目前它可能還無(wú)法測(cè)量到，比如說(shuō)某次擊球力度太大，將球打出界外甚至打到了停車場(chǎng)里。但是索貝萊特認(rèn)為，最終隨著其它工具的發(fā)展(比如在網(wǎng)球鞋里安裝傳感器)，這個(gè)問(wèn)題終究會(huì)得到解決。

　　One of the most addictive things about the new technology is the gaming aspect. Each playerstarts out as a "newbie" and can work his or her way up through levels like a video game. "There's nothing more frustrating in tennis than feeling you aren't progressing," Eric Babolatsays. "To put a bit of reward in the application seemed like an obvious thing to do." You canjoin the global Babolat Play community, check your ranking and compare your performanceto other players, even Rafael Nadal. If you like what you see you can share the data onFacebook.

　　這項(xiàng)新技術(shù)最令人上癮的地方是它含有電子游戲的因素在里面。每個(gè)運(yùn)動(dòng)員一開(kāi)始都是一個(gè)“菜鳥(niǎo)”，然后可以像打游戲一樣逐漸“升級(jí)”?？怖锟薿百保力說(shuō)：“網(wǎng)球這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)最令人沮喪的莫過(guò)于覺(jué)得自己沒(méi)有進(jìn)步。因此，在這款應(yīng)用中加入一點(diǎn)激勵(lì)的元素也就成了順理成章的事。”你可以加入全球Babolat Play社區(qū)，然后查看自己的排名，把自己的表現(xiàn)和其他球員(甚至是納達(dá)爾)進(jìn)行對(duì)比。如果你對(duì)自己的進(jìn)步滿意的話，也可以把你的數(shù)據(jù)分享到Facebook上。

　　Can the racquet improve a player's technique? "The advantage of gaming is that it motivatespeople to play more tennis," Babolat says. "It's exciting to see how you evolve." The companylent me a Play for a couple of weeks to try out. After noting (to my chagrin) that all of myserves were flat, I concentrated on adding some spin and immediately saw the difference, onthe court and on the app. As for the impact locator, I managed to hit the sweet spot a goodpart of the time, but also hit a sizable percentage below it, and realized that I wasn't bendingmy knees enough. Afterwards, going back to my old racquet was a bit of a letdown.

　　這樣一款電子球拍是否真能提高網(wǎng)球愛(ài)好者的技術(shù)?對(duì)此，埃里克o百保力說(shuō)：“游戲元素的好處是，它能鼓勵(lì)人們花更多的時(shí)間練習(xí)網(wǎng)球?？粗约旱募夹g(shù)一天天提高，這種感覺(jué)很令人興奮。”這家公司借給我一支球拍讓我試用一兩個(gè)星期。在它的提醒下，我注意到我的所有發(fā)球都太平了，于是我著重加了一些旋轉(zhuǎn)進(jìn)去，結(jié)果馬上就看到了效果，而且無(wú)論是實(shí)地效果還是在應(yīng)用上顯示的效果都很明顯。至于撞擊定位器的功能，雖然我有相當(dāng)一部分擊球都正中甜點(diǎn)，但仍然有很大一部分擊球點(diǎn)的位置偏低，于是我意識(shí)到是這是我的膝蓋彎得不夠造成的。但是用回我的舊球拍之后，我又有點(diǎn)松勁了。

　　Babolat introduced the Play in mid-December in the United States, its number one market,selling it in 50 specialized stores. (It launches in Europe in May.) Though it was on the shelvesfor only ten days, it took fourth place for December's overall tennis racquet sales in the U.S.,in terms of dollar value -- at $400, it is roughly twice the price of a normal racquet. Eric Babolatnotes that in 2013, his company sold 1.8 million unconnected racquets worldwide, and he feelsthat the potential for connected racquets is huge: "I'm convinced that 10 years from now allracquets will be wired."

　　百保力集團(tuán)在12月中旬將Play球拍引入其第一大市場(chǎng)美國(guó)，目前這款產(chǎn)品在美國(guó)的50個(gè)專營(yíng)店中有售。(相比之下今年五月才在歐洲發(fā)布。)上架僅十天，它的銷量就占到12月美國(guó)所有品牌網(wǎng)球拍銷量的第四位。Play球拍的售價(jià)為400美元，基本上是一個(gè)普通球拍的兩倍。埃里克o百保力指出，2013年，他的公司在全球共賣出180萬(wàn)支普通球拍，他覺(jué)得電子球拍具有巨大的潛力：“我相信，十年以后，所有的球拍將都安裝電子設(shè)備。”

　　Meanwhile, two other companies have been working on a similar concept. Artengo, a Frenchbrand specializing in modestly priced racquet sport equipment, now sells a gadget thatattaches to the outside of a handle and gathers data (also developed by Movea). And inJanuary, Sony (SNE) showed off a prototype sensor at the Consumer Electronics Show in LasVegas. Weighing under 3 ounces and made to snap onto the butt of certain Yonex racquets, itcomes out in Japan this spring.

　　與此同時(shí)，還有另外兩家公司也在研究類似的產(chǎn)品。比如法國(guó)迪卡儂旗下的Artengo品牌專門(mén)銷售中端價(jià)位的球拍和其它運(yùn)動(dòng)產(chǎn)品，現(xiàn)在Artengo推出了一款可以附著在球拍手柄之外收集數(shù)據(jù)的設(shè)備(也是由Movea公司研發(fā)的)。另外，今年一月，索尼公司(Sony)在拉斯維加斯的消費(fèi)電子展上展出了一款傳感器的原型產(chǎn)品。它的重量不足3盎司，可以附著在尤尼克斯(Yonex，一家日本網(wǎng)羽用品公司)公司的球拍上。它今年春天已經(jīng)在日本正式上市。

　　Babolat sees this competition as encouraging. "I'm surprised that Sony is among the first toenter this field, since sports is not really their thing. But it's reassuring to see that they arefocusing on tennis, and that they believe it has potential as online communityentertainment."

　　埃里克o百保力認(rèn)為這種競(jìng)爭(zhēng)令人振奮。他說(shuō)：“索尼成為第一批在這個(gè)領(lǐng)域競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的公司之一，這讓我覺(jué)得很驚訝，因?yàn)轶w育并不是他們擅長(zhǎng)的方面。但是看到他們也把重點(diǎn)放在網(wǎng)球上，并且他們也相信在線社區(qū)娛樂(lè)的潛力，還是讓人吃了一顆定心丸。”

　　Last July, the International Tennis Federation wrote its 31st rule, permitting the use ofapproved "Player Analysis Technology" during competitions. Babolat is looking forward to theday the Play makes its debut in an official tournament. For the moment, however, only thePure Drive is wired, and the company's star ambassadors -- Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga --use a different model.

　　去年七月，國(guó)際網(wǎng)球協(xié)會(huì)(International Tennis Federation)制訂了它的第31條規(guī)則，允許在網(wǎng)球比賽中使用經(jīng)過(guò)批準(zhǔn)的“運(yùn)動(dòng)員分析技術(shù)”。埃里克o百保力非常期待有一天能在正式的網(wǎng)球錦標(biāo)賽上看到Play球拍的亮相。目前這家公司的產(chǎn)品中，電子球拍只有Pure Drive一款，而公司的產(chǎn)品代言人納達(dá)爾和威爾弗雷德o特松加則使用的是另一款產(chǎn)品。

　　The pros had the chance to try the new racquet at a demonstration match at Roland Garros in2012. According to Babolat, Nadal and his coach, Antonio Nadal, were like children when theygot their hands on it -- Toni teasing his nephew that now he'd see how badly he was serving,Rafa responding that he would show his uncle just how powerfully he was hitting. "They arealways on the lookout for the detail that make a difference," the Frenchman says. "A player feelscertain things, and his trainer sees others. For the first time they had quantifiable data theycould discuss."

　　2012年的一場(chǎng)法網(wǎng)表演賽上，專業(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)員們獲得機(jī)會(huì)試用新的電子球拍。據(jù)埃里克o百保力表示，當(dāng)納達(dá)爾和他的教練安東尼奧o納達(dá)爾(托尼)拿到這款新球拍時(shí)，他們表現(xiàn)得就像小孩子一樣。托尼對(duì)他侄子開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在他可以知道他發(fā)球到底有多差了。拉菲爾o納達(dá)爾則回答說(shuō)，他要讓他叔叔看看他的擊球多么有力。埃里克o百保力說(shuō)：“他們總是在尋找任何能提高成績(jī)的細(xì)節(jié)。運(yùn)動(dòng)員可以感覺(jué)到一些東西，而教練能看到其它一些東西。Play球拍讓他們第一次有了可以研究的量化數(shù)據(jù)。”

　　Before the demonstration began, a 14-year-old ball boy went up to Babolat and told himexcitedly that the racquet combined his two favorite activities, tennis and video games. "Itconfirmed that we were on the right track, especially with young people," Babolat says. "Thisis not just an old sport, people wearing white at Wimbledon. Tennis is cool."

　　表演賽開(kāi)始之前，一名14歲的球童走過(guò)來(lái)，高興地對(duì)埃里克o百保力說(shuō)，這款球融合了他最喜歡的兩個(gè)活動(dòng)——網(wǎng)球和電腦游戲。埃里克說(shuō)：“這再次讓我確信，我們走在正確的道路上，尤其是對(duì)于年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)。網(wǎng)球不僅僅是一項(xiàng)古老的運(yùn)動(dòng)——比如大家傳統(tǒng)上都要穿著白色的球衣參加溫布爾登公開(kāi)賽。網(wǎng)球還很酷。”