谷歌釋出新產品 進入後智慧手機時代大綱

Google has laid out its most comprehensive vision yet for a post-smartphone era, as it unveiled a range of new software and services partly aimed at catching up with rivals such as Facebook and Amazon.

谷歌(Google)為後智慧手機時代規劃了一幅迄今最全面的願景，該公司公佈了一系列新的軟體和服務，部分目的是追趕Facebook和亞馬遜(Amazon)等競爭對手。

At its annual developer conference, the world’s biggest internet company showed off a new voice-activated device for the home, while also outlining plans for virtual reality headsets, as well as wearable devices that no longer rely on being constantly tethered to smartphones.

在谷歌年度開發者大會上，這家全球最大網際網路公司展示了一款新的家用聲控裝置，同時概述了虛擬現實耳機以及不再依賴於始終與智慧手機連線的可穿戴裝置的計劃。

However, it also used the event to extend and revamp some of its main services for smartphones, including launching a new messaging APP, in the latest bid to defend its core search business as mobile habits change.

然而，該公司還利用此次大會擴大和修補了一些主要智慧手機服務，包括推出一款新的資訊應用軟體，隨著移動習慣的改變，這一最新舉措旨在保護其核心搜尋業務。

Many of the technologies on display at the event, called Google I/O, will not be available to users for months or even years, though Google promised that several companies would sell VR hardware based on its technology before the end of 2016.

在此次名為谷歌I/O的大會上展示的多數技術需要使用者等待數月，甚至數年時間，不過谷歌承諾，幾家公司將在今年年底前銷售基於其技術的虛擬現實硬體。

Showing off advanced technology plans like this was a sign of heightened pressure on Google and its rivals to demonstrate they were taking the lead in important new markets, he added.

展示這種高階技術計劃表明，谷歌及其競爭對手面臨的壓力加大，要證明它們在新的重要市場上佔據領先位置。

Sundar Pichai, chief executive, acknowledged that Amazon had stolen a march on Google and the rest of the industry with the Echo, a voice-activated device designed to be used around the home.

谷歌執行長桑德爾•皮查伊(Sundar Pichai)承認，憑藉在家中使用的聲控裝置Echo，亞馬遜已比谷歌以及該行業其他參與者搶先一步。

In response, Mr Pichai unveiled Google Home, a vase-shaped gadget that can be used for voice searches, streaming music or connecting with apps.

作為迴應，皮查伊公佈了花瓶形狀的谷歌家居(Google Home)，可用於語音搜尋、播放線上音樂或與應用軟體連線。

In another bid to catch up with rivals, Google also showed off a new messaging app called Allo.

在追趕競爭對手的另一次嘗試中，谷歌還展示了一款新的資訊應用Allo。

Google said it would open Allo to developers so that they could produce interactive, “conversational” apps that run on the service. The move echoes Facebook’s release last month of so-called chatbots to run on its Messenger service.

谷歌表示，將向開發者開放Allo，這樣他們就能研發出在該服務中執行的互動性“對話”應用。此舉是在迴應Facebook上月公佈的在其Messenger服務中執行的所謂聊天機器人。

The new products and services put artificial intelligence at the centre of Google’s efforts, with Mr Pichai outlining an optimistic vision of machine intelligence solving hard problems in fields such as healthcare. Key to several of the planned services, including Home and Allo, is a new “smart” assistant that runs in the background and is designed to make Google’s products more responsive and intelligent.

新的產品和服務將人工智慧置於谷歌計劃的核心，皮查伊概述了機器智慧解決醫療等領域難題的樂觀願景。幾項已規劃服務（包括谷歌家居和Allo）的關鍵是一個新的“智慧”助手，它在後臺執行，旨在讓谷歌的產品反應更快也更智慧。

The internet company also flexed its muscles with Android, the mobile software which is used in about 80 per cent of all smartphones.

這家網際網路公司還展示了在約80%智慧手機上使用的手機軟體安卓(Android)的實力。

The software is being used as the platform for VR headsets due out later this year, a move that could be attractive to developers already used to producing apps for the software and give Google an advantage over companies that are further ahead in VR, such as Facebook.

該軟體正被用作將於今年晚些時候推出的虛擬現實耳機的平臺，此舉可能對那些已習慣於為該軟體製作APP的開發者頗具吸引力，而且可能會賦予谷歌相對於Facebook等在虛擬現實領域領先一步的公司的優勢。