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谷歌收购无人机制造商泰坦公司

In its latest purchase of high-tech¹ companies, Google has acquired a manufacturer of solar-powered drones that can stay in the air almost indefinitely, relaying broadband Internet connection to remote areas. It is seen as yet another step in the U.S.-based Web giant’s bid to bring Internet to the whole world.

谷歌公司刚刚收购的高科技公司中，特别引人注目的是一家太阳能动力无人机制造厂。这种无人机几乎能够无限期的飞行，把宽带因特网连接到偏远地区。谷歌的新举措被看成是把因特网普及到全世界的又一步骤。

Even as it experiments with self-driving cars on the ground, Google has been acquiring companies that manufacture pilotless flying vehicles - aircraft that can stay aloft for very long periods of time, such as solar-powered balloons and drones.

现在自己开动的汽车还在地面上试验，谷歌又在收购制造无人飞机的公司了。这种飞机能在空中停留很长的时间，就像太阳能动力的气球和无人机。

The Internet giant aims to bring Web access to remote areas of the world, which it says could help speed disaster relief or monitor environmental damage. And it says atmospheric² satellites could also provide high-resolution aerial images for its Google Earth service.

谷歌这个因特网巨头的目标是把因特网普及到世界偏远地区。谷歌说，这将帮助加速救灾和监测环境损失。谷歌说，监测大气的卫星也可以向谷歌地球服务提供高清的空中图像。

Its newest acquisition, the 20-employee, New Mexico-based company Titan Aerospace³, plans to manufacture a larger version of its successful solar-powered drone Solara.

谷歌最近收购了新墨西哥州的泰坦航空航天公司。它有20名雇员，计划制造一款放大版的成功之作-太阳能动力无人机索拉拉。

Chief Technical Officer, Maximus Yaney, says it will be as efficient as a satellite, but much less expensive to operate - just one-hundredth of the cost.

首席技术官亚内说，新的无人机的效能可以与卫星媲美，但是操作费用却低很多，只相当于卫星的1%。

“What we're focusing on from a capability⁴ perspective is being able to provide these kinds of services as an alternate or adding to satellite platform capabilities,” he said.

 “从技术能力的角度看，我们尽力提供这些种服务，作为一种替代能力，或者是对卫星平台能力的附加服务。”

He says the new drone, Solara 50, will be able to fly almost 20 kilometers above the earth, providing the Internet signal in a radius⁵ of almost 420 kilometers... and stay aloft for almost five years.

亚内说，新的无人机索拉拉50将能够在地球上空近20公里的高空飞行，向420公里半径的地面提供因特网信号。它能在空中停留近5年 。

“Solar-powered, you have the capability of staying up there effectively indefinitely, you're simply limited by the rechargeable batteries,” he said.

“太阳能是它的动力。实际上它能无限期的留在空中。唯一的限制是电池需要充电。”

Other technology companies are also interested in the potential of drones. Earlier this year, Internet-based giant Facebook acquired the British drone manufacturer Ascenta, while the Internet retail⁶ company Amazon is experimenting with drones for package deliveries.

其他技术公司也对无人机的潜力感兴趣。今年早些时候，以因特网为基础的超级公司脸书收购了英国的无人机制造厂Ascenta，而因特网零售公司亚马逊则在试验用无人机递送包裹。