VOA慢速英语--谷歌发布最新科技产品

Google Announces New Products 谷歌发布最新科技产品

Last week we told you about Google’s new phone, the Pixel. This week we talk about the company’s other new products. Google has expanded its focus from services, such as Maps, Gmail and Chrome, to devices that include them.

Google's announcements of new products include a smart speaker, Wi-Fi router, video streaming device and virtual reality viewer.

A new voice assistant, Google Assistant, will be included in many of these devices to obey spoken commands, translate phrases and perform tasks.

Google Home

Google announced a smart speaker called Google Home that uses Google Assistant to respond to users’ commands.

Home also works as a speaker to play music from Google Music, YouTube, Spotify, Pandora and TuneIn. You can set your favorite music service so that you do not have to tell Home each time which one to use.

Google Assistant can help users figure out which song they want to hear, so you can ask for "the Sia song from Zootopia" instead of saying the title.

Home has a feature called “My Day” that can give you a preview of your day ahead. Google Assistant can describe the expected weather where you are. It can provide traffic reports. It can tell you about your calendar appointments and upcoming travel plans.

You can use Home to send notes and reminders² to your Pixel phone and send videos to your TV using Chromecast.

Home can also help users control their smart homes with voice commands to the Nest thermostat³, smart lights and other smart home devices.

Home has bases in different colors, in metal and fabric⁴.

Google Wifi

Google is launching a new router, Google Wifi, that helps users connect to Wi-Fi throughout the house. Multiple units link to each other to bring a Wi-Fi signal to dead spots in remote rooms.

The Google Wifi app works with the router and can be used to control Internet connections for the device. Users of the app can see who is connected to the Internet and turn connections off.

A YouTube video shows Google Wifi in action.

Google Wifi is available for preorder in November with shipping⁵ in December.

Chromecast Ultra

Chromecast, Google's video streaming device, has been upgraded to Chromecast Ultra. This new unit has 1.8 times faster playback than the older models and can stream videos in 4K, Ultra HD, and HDR.

Chromecast Ultra will go on sale next month.

Daydream⁶ View

Daydream View is is Google's new virtual reality viewer (VR) that works with the Pixel phone to show VR videos and games. The device is covered in cloth and holds a phone. You wear the device on your head and see the VR display on the phone through the viewer.

Google said it worked with clothing designers to make the headset comfortable to wear. Three colors are available: snow, slate¹ and crimson⁷.

Included with Daydream View is a remote control for scrolling⁹ through menus or playing games. The remote connects wirelessly¹⁰ to the headset and senses your movements so you can interact with what is being shown on the screen. The headset includes a space to store the remote.

Users can play games and watch Hulu, VR YouTube videos, VR videos from Google Maps Streetview, New York Time VR videos, Google Photos, Google Play movies and, in the future, Netflix and HBO videos.

Google says that Daydream View is compatible with 50 apps with hundreds more due to launch by the end of 2016.

Daydream View is designed to work with Pixel phones and other future Android partner phones that have not yet been named by Google.

Daydream View will be available in November.

Words in This Story

focus – n. a main purpose or interest?

translate – v. to change words from one language into another language?

calendar – n. a document, chart, etc., that shows the days, weeks, and months of a year?

virtual reality – n. an artificial world of images and sounds created by a computer that is affected¹¹ by the actions of a person who is experiencing it

comfortable – adj. not causing any physically¹² unpleasant feelings

scroll⁸ – v. to move text or images of a Web page, document, etc., up, down, or to the side on a computer screen

interact – v. to act together

1 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

2 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

3 thermostat   

n.恒温器

参考例句：

• The thermostat is connected by a link to the carburetor.恒温控制器是由一根连杆与汽化器相连的。
• The temperature is controlled by electronic thermostat with high accuracy.电子恒温器，准确性高。

4 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 daydream   

v.做白日梦，幻想

参考例句：

• Boys and girls daydream about what they want to be.孩子们遐想着他们将来要干什么。
• He drifted off into another daydream.他飘飘然又做了一个白日梦。

7 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

8 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

9 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 wirelessly   

不用电线的，用无线电波传送的

参考例句：

• I heard it on the wireless. 我是从无线电收音机里听到的。
• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio. 收音机里有许多无线电线路。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。