蘋果發佈新一代iPad:iPad Air
Apple Inc. 's answer to the increasingly cutthroat tablet-computer market: more product choices and free software.
蘋果(Apple Inc.)應對競爭日益白熱化的平板電腦市場的法寶是：提供更多的產品選擇，以及免費的軟件。At an event here Tuesday, Apple showed off a new full-size tablet--now called iPad Air--that is thinner and slimmed down to one pound. It also revealed an updated iPad Mini with a faster processor and a sharper display.
在週二舉行的蘋果發佈會上，該公司發佈了一款新的全尺寸平板電腦。新款平板電腦如今更名爲iPad Air，比老款更輕薄，重量降至約一磅（約合0.45公斤）。蘋果還發布了處理器速度更快、屏幕清晰度更高的新款iPad Mini。Just as important, Apple's new holiday lineup lowers the entry price for the cheapest iPads to below $300 for the first time. Apple said it will sell a range of tablets starting with last year's iPad Mini for $299, up to the new iPad Air, which starts at $499. That brings Apple closer in line with competitors like Inc., who have pushed tablet prices down as far as $229.
同樣重要的是，蘋果的新產品陣容將使最便宜的iPad起價首次降至300美元以下。蘋果說，它將銷售一系列平板電腦，從去年推出的、售價299美元的iPad Mini到起價499美元的新款iPad Air。這將使蘋果產品的價位更接近亞馬遜( Inc.)等競爭對手。競爭對手已將平板電腦價格壓到低至229美元的水平。
Apple also said it would offer for free access to its iWork productivity suite, which competes with Microsoft Corp.'s Office, and iLife photo, movie and music making apps for customers buying new devices. The company used to charge between $4.99 and $9.99 for each program.
蘋果還說，它將向購買新設備的顧客免費開放iWork辦公室軟件套裝及iLife照片、電影及音樂製作應用。iWork辦公室軟件套裝與微軟(Microsoft Corp.)的Office相互競爭。該公司過去的做法是每個程序收費4.99美元至9.99美元。Following the announcements, Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook said the changes amounted to 'the biggest iPad announcement ever, by a large margin.'
新產品發佈後，蘋果首席執行長庫克(Tim Cook)說，這些調整可以說是迄今爲止iPad做出的最大調整，大大超過了以往。Improved technical specs, coupled with free software, may help Apple appeal to more customers, particularly students and small businesses, said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. 'You're not paying extra money for the brand, you're getting real technology to back it up,' he said.
諮詢公司Moor Insights & Strategy的分析師穆爾黑德(Patrick Moorhead)說，升級的技術配置和免費的軟件有望幫助蘋果吸引更多的客戶，特別是學生和小企業。他說，你不是爲了品牌多花錢，你享受到的是實實在在的技術，物有所值。The new iPads and changing software strategy come at a critical time for the Cupertino, Calif., gadget maker. For the first time, Apple sold fewer iPads in the three months ended in June than the same period a year earlier. Rivals including South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and Amazon are eroding Apple's one-time dominance of the tablet market.
對總部位於加州丘珀蒂諾(Cupertino)的設備生產商蘋果來說，新款iPad的推出和軟件策略的調整正值一個重要時刻。在截至6月的三個月中，蘋果iPad的銷量較上年同期首次出現下滑。包括韓國公司三星電子(Samsung Electronics Co.)和亞馬遜在內的競爭對手正在侵蝕蘋果曾經在平板電腦市場的主導地位。Research firm Gartner expects Apple's share of the tablet market to fall below 50% this year, down from 54% last year and 65% in 2011. Tablets powered by Google Inc. 's Android software are expected to hit as much as 50% of the market this year, up from about 45% last year.
研究公司Gartner預計，今年蘋果在平板電腦市場的份額將下滑至50%以下，低於去年的54%和2011年的65%。預計搭載谷歌(Google Inc.)安卓(Android)系統的平板電腦今年的市場份額可達50%，而去年約爲45%。Nokia Corp. unveiled its first tablet computer Tuesday. Also Tuesday, Microsoft, which plans to acquire Nokia's mobile-computing business, put the second version of its Surface tablet on sale.
諾基亞(Nokia Corp.)週二發佈了首款平板電腦。同樣是在週二，微軟的第二版Surface平板電腦開售。微軟正計劃收購諾基亞的移動計算業務。Google, Sony Corp. and Asian manufacturers including Asustek Computer Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. are pushing tablets of their own.
谷歌、索尼公司(Sony Corp.)以及包括華碩(Asustek Computer Inc.)和聯想集團(Lenovo Group Ltd.)在內的亞洲生產商都在力推自己的平板電腦產品。Apple's answer this year was to fix complaints about its current lineup, adding in its latest processor, the A7, to the new devices, making the iPad lighter and giving the iPad Mini a sharper screen.
蘋果今年的戰略是解決針對當前產品陣容的一些抱怨，比如在新設備上使用了最新的A7處理器，以及讓iPad變得更輕、爲iPad Mini配備更高分辨率的屏幕。The iPad Air goes on sale in the U.S. and a host of other countries, including China, on Nov. 1. The new iPad Mini will go on sale later in November, the company said.
iPad Air將於11月1日在美國和包括中國在內的其他一些國家開賣。蘋果說，新款iPad Mini將在11月晚些時候開售。'I can't think of another product that's come so far, so fast,' Mr. Cook said during the event, noting that Apple has sold more than 170 million iPads.
庫克在發佈會上說，我想不出還有哪種產品能如此快速地做到如此程度。他指出，蘋果已經賣出了逾1.7億部iPad。One bright spot for the company is that even as it loses market share, its customers remain the heaviest users of tablets.
對該公司而言，一個好消息是，即便它失去了一些市場份額，其客戶仍然是最“重度”的平板電腦使用者。Mobile-advertising firm Chitika Inc. says 84.3% of the website traffic from tablets that it analyzed in June came from iPads. Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet ranked second, with 5.7% of Web traffic, followed by Samsung's Galaxy tablets, with 4.2%. Usage of the iPad increased from May to June, Chitika said, while the others declined.
移動廣告公司Chitika Inc.說，該公司6月份分析的數據表明，平板電腦上84.3%的網絡流量來自iPad。亞馬遜的Kindle Fire平板電腦排名第二，佔比5.7%，之後是三星的Galaxy平板電腦，佔比4.2%。Chitika說，從5月到6月間，iPad的使用情況有所增長，而其他平板電腦則出現下降。'Regardless of what you might hear or read about how many are sold or activated, iPad is used more than any of the rest,' Mr. Cook said, adding that the iPad is used four times more than competitors.
庫克說，不管你聽到、讀到任何有關賣了多少、激活了多少的信息，iPad的使用情況比任何其他品牌都高。他還補充說，iPad的使用情況是競爭對手的四倍還多。Among other announcements, Apple said a new version of its computer operating system, OS X Mavericks, along with updates to 20 more of its apps, would be available for existing customers to download free immediately. In the past, Apple has typically charged for major software updates, particularly for its OS X operating system.
蘋果宣佈的其他消息包括，新版的電腦操作系統OS X Mavericks以及對該系統應用的20個升級將很快就能供現有顧客免費下載。過去，蘋果通常會對重大升級收費，特別是OS X操作系統。With the free software approach, 'we are turning the industry on its ear,' Mr. Cook said.
庫克說，這個免費軟件的策略將令整個行業氣象一新。Apple also unveiled a slate of new computers. Its latest MacBook Pro laptop computers will start at a price of $1,299, about $200 less than past models, while its high-end Mac Pro desktop computer will start at $2,999.
蘋果還推出了一系列新的電腦。最新型的MacBook Pro筆記本電腦的起價是1,299美元，比以往的型號低了大約200美元。而高端的Mac Pro臺式電腦的起價爲2,999美元。
