Appliances such as fridges are also ones that households replace infrequently: that slows the take-up of new devices. 冰箱这样的智能家居更换得并不频繁，这拉低了智能家居购买率。

　　The technology is not perfect yet, either. 另外，智能家居技术尚未完善。

　　The smartphone, the link between the customer and smart-home device, has raised consumers’ expectations,  作为顾客与智能家居的连接纽带，智能手机提升了客户的期望。

　　explains Jamie Siminoff, the boss of Ring, a startup that makes a doorbell that can be answered remotely. 远程控制智能门铃创业公司（Ring）的创始人兼首席执行官杰米·西敏诺夫（Jamie Siminoff）说道。

　　Smartphones have trained users to expect a level of quality and seamless ease of use that smart-home devices struggle to replicate. 智能手机促使顾客期待一种高品质、无缝连接的使用体验，这也是智能家居竭力想要打造的地方。

　　And a lack of standardisation means that gadgets from different firms cannot communicate with each other. 而且，智能家居行业标准缺失意味着不同公司生产的智能家居无法互联互通。

　　There are exceptions. Devices that are easy to install and offer obvious benefits are gaining in popularity,  不过也有例外。那些安装便捷、益处多多的智能家居日渐流行起来，

　　such as motion sensors that send alerts when windows and doors are opened and cameras to monitor activity. 例如：当门窗打开时就会发送提醒的动作传感器，以及监视活动的摄像头等等。

　　Some devices, such as smart smoke detectors, are in homes because insurance companies offer financial incentives for using them. 保险公司对智能家居购买者施行财务激励措施，诸如智能烟雾探测器等某些设备已应用于家庭生活之中。

　　The smart-home sector is vibrant with startups and big firms betting that the hesitancy is temporary. 智能家居行业之所以展现勃勃生机，是因为创业公司及巨头公司大胆推测到顾客的迟疑不决只是暂时现象。

　　But consumer apathy has forced firms to rethink how they might woo customers. 然而，顾客们置若罔闻让公司不得不重新考虑如何招徕顾客。

　　Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Amazon, which failed miserably in its ambition to develop a smartphone, is showing the way. 或许最让人颇感意外的是亚马逊，尽管亚马逊开发智能手机惨遭失败，但亚马逊却在智能家居行业开辟出了一片新天地。

　　Amazon Echo is a smart speaker that can recognise and respond to voice commands. 其开发的智能音箱Echo能够识别语音指令并做出相应反应。

　　It shares information about the weather and sports scores, plays music and turns lights on and off. 此设备不仅能够查询天气预报、分享体育赛事，还能放音乐、开关灯。

　　The device, which costs around $180, is not yet a big seller. 虽然Echo售价仅180美元，但尚未畅销。

　　Amazon does not release sales figures, but Strategy Analytics estimates that fewer than 1m Echos have been sold since it was released in November 2014. 目前，亚马逊未公布其销售额，但据研究公司Strategy Analytics估计，自2014年11月Echo发行以来，其销量不到100万台。

　　Yet the Echo is the talk of Silicon Valley. 但是Echo已成硅谷热点话题。

　　An interface that relies on voice commands could overcome one of the drawbacks of the piecemeal approach to the smart home,  Echo的语音接口可以克服智能家居“连接方式标准化程度低”这一弊端，

　　by becoming the standard integrator of all the other bits of smart kit. 通过为其他所有智能家居提供标准化集成入口的方式。

　　Echo is open to outside developers, who can come up with all manner of devices and services that hook up with it. 目前，Echo向外部开发者开放，开发者能用各种方法让各式家居及智能服务与Echo互联互通。

　　Echo’s success may have come as a surprise, but competitors have cottoned on that it may be a crucial piece of equipment. 也许Echo的成功让人颇感意外，但竞争对手已意识到，Echo可能是一款开启智能家居新领域的关键设备。

　　Google has announced plans to build a stand-alone hub like Echo, called Google Home, which will also rely on voice commands. 谷歌宣布计划开发类似Echo的Google Home，其同样是一台基于语音指令的独立硬件设备。

　　Apple is also expected to announce new smart-home capabilities:  预计苹果公司也将参与其中：

　　there are rumours it could launch a stand-alone hub in the Echo vein at its annual developers’ conference on June 13th. 据传苹果公司可能于6月13日年度开发者大会上发布一款Echo风格的独立硬件设备。

　　Its smart-home platform, called HomeKit, has been a failure so far. 迄今为止，其智能家居平台（HomeKit）一直受阻。

　　That Apple, despite its large base of affluent acolytes, has not yet cracked the smart home is a sign of its difficulty, points out Geoff Blaber at CCS Insight, which tracks mobile-industry trends. 移动咨询公司CCS Insight分析师杰夫·布拉伯（Geoff Blaber）指出：“尽管苹果公司有丰富的人力资源为基础，但仍未破解智能家居行业的发展难题，这说明智能家居普及路上困难重重。”

　　Each tech giant has a different reason for trying to overcome the indifference of consumers, and to embed itself more deeply in the home. 出于不同原因，每家科技巨头均试图化解顾客的冷漠心态、使自家产品深度融入顾客家居生活。

　　The Echo can help Amazon learn how people spend their time, and make it easier for them to spend money too by suggesting things they might buy. 就亚马逊而言，Echo能帮助其了解到顾客的时间分配，并通过“相关推荐”使购物便捷化。

　　Google, whose main business is advertising, also wants to draw from a fresh well of data; by learning as much about users as possible, it can target them with appropriate ads. 尽管广告才是谷歌的主营业务，谷歌也想尽可能了解用户来获取第一手资料，以精准推送适合的广告。

　　Apple, with a track record of simplifying and creating ecosystems where others before it could not, wants its devices to be the gateway through which people go to organise their lives. 在打造简化的生态系统方面取得前所未有成就的苹果，也希望自家产品能充当打造人们生活的钥匙。

　　If the tech giants retain their ambition to sit at the centre of the smart home, uncertainty prevails over where the profits lie. 如果科技巨头仍有在智能家居行业发展进程中发挥核心作用的野心，那么将要自负盈亏。

　　“It remains unclear what the economic model for the smart home will be,” says Andy Hobsbawm of Evrythng, an internet-of-things platform. 物联网软件公司Evrythng创始人安迪·霍布斯鲍姆（Andy Hobsbawm）说道：“未来智能家居行业经济模式如何尚不明确。”

　　Some firms will try to make enough profit just from hardware. 部分公司试图从硬件中赚取足够利润。

　　Others will try to sell services, such as archiving security videos, as well as devices, and charge a fee. 另一部分公司则除了销售智能家居外，还试图销售诸如监控录像存档的智能服务来收取一定费用。

　　The products that fill houses are diverse, personal and durable. 家居产品不仅多种多样，而且个性十足、非常耐用。

　　That should give plenty of companies a shot at lodging themselves in the home—but only when consumers decide to put out the welcome mat. 然而，只有当顾客欣然接受智能家居技术时，许多公司才会尝试入驻智能家居行业。