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Tablet S评测

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One reason Apple's iPad continues to dominate the tablet market after 17 months may be that all the main competitors look like imitations but don't deliver as good an experience. They are typically flat slabs, like the iPad, priced about the same or more, but with many fewer apps, shorter battery life, usually greater weight and thickness and a weaker ecosystem for music, video, books and magazines. Whatever advantages they have -- like added ports or the ability to play Flash video -- haven't been enough to sway consumers or developers.


苹果公司(Apple)的iPad已持续主宰平板电脑市场达17个月之久，原因之一可能就是所有的主要竞争对手看上去都像是在模仿iPad，但用户体验却不见佳。它们跟iPad差不多，都是平板电脑，价格也差不多，甚至更贵，但应用程序却要少得多，电池续航时间更短，份量更重，机身更厚，支持音乐、视频、书籍和杂志的生态系统更弱。虽然它们可能也有一些优势，如端口数量更多或能播放Flash视频等，但这些不足以吸引消费者或程序开发者改变阵营。



Now, Sony, whose brand and reputation for design have long resonated with consumers, is trying something different. On Friday, it is launching a handsome tablet with an unusual, asymmetrical design and some software tweaks and content services it hopes can set it apart from the pack.


现在，以经典品牌和注重设计获得消费者长期青睐的索尼公司(Sony)正在试图走一条与众不同的路。2011年9月16日，索尼推出一款漂亮的平板电脑。这款电脑采取了异乎寻常的非对称设计，再搭配一些独特的软件和内容服务。索尼公司希望这款产品能在平板电脑市场中脱颍而出。



I've been testing this device, called the Sony Tablet S, and I generally like it, despite some weaknesses and some features that aren't yet fleshed out because they won't be fully rolled out at launch. The Tablet S will appeal to buyers who would like a distinctivetablet from a trusted company that doesn't look like an iPad wannabe.


我一直在测试这款叫做索尼Tablet S的设备。总体而言，我挺喜欢。但它仍有一些缺陷，以及一些在产品推出时还未完善的功能。对那些想从信得过的公司购买一款与iPad大不相同的平板电脑的消费者来说，Tablet S是个不错的选择。



Like dozens of other tablets, Sony's new entry uses Google's Android operating system. And it costs the same as the Wi-Fi-only iPads -- $500 for a 16 gigabyte model and $600 for a 32 gigabyte model. The Tablet S has no cellular-data option. It's also late to the game, and, in my tests, had significantly weaker battery life than the iPad 2.


和数十种其他品牌的平板电脑一样，索尼的新产品也使用了谷歌公司(Google)的Android操作系统，价格和纯Wi-Fi版的iPad系列差不多──16G的版本为500美元，32G的为600美元。Tablet S没有3G蜂窝数据版本可供选择，而且入市较晚。根据我的测试，Tablet S的电池续航时间比iPad 2要短得多。



However, the Tablet S looks nothing like the iPad 2 or any other current competitor. One of the long sides of its rectangular, plastic body has a thick, rounded edge that makes the device look like a folded-back magazine. In fact, Sony has carried this effect over onto the back, continuing the black curve with a molded black plastic sheet that looks like the rest of the magazine cover laying over a flat, gray surface.


不过，Tablet S跟iPad 2或目前其他竞争对手的外型都不一样。其长方形塑料机身的长端一侧有一个较厚的圆弧形边缘，使得整个机器看上去就像一本卷起半边的杂志。而且，索尼将这种视觉效果延伸到了设备背面，继续采用一个黑色的书页设计，看上去就像杂志的另半边盖在一个灰色的表面之上。



While this design makes the Tablet S much thicker than many competitors, it has several advantages. When you hold the device one-handed in portrait, or vertical, mode, it feels much more comfortable and balanced than any other tablet I've tested. When you lay it on a flat surface in landscape, or horizontal, mode, the rounded edge creates a natural angle for typing, without a case or stand.


虽然这种设计让Tablet S比许多竞争对手要厚一些，但这样也有几个好处。当单手平持或竖持设备时，它的手感比我测试过的任何平板电脑都要舒服得多，平衡性也更好。当你横着把它平放在桌面时，圆弧形的边缘使其自然与桌面形成一个适合的角度，方便文字输入，而无需使用保护套或支架。



This clever design makes the Tablet S feel lighter than the iPad when you hold it vertically, because more of the weight is in your palm -- even though the two tablets are almost exactly the same weight.


这种聪明的设计让Tablet S在竖持的时候感觉比iPad更轻，因为更多的重量集中在手掌处。但实际上，这两款平板电脑的重量几乎一样。



At 9.4 inches, the bright, vivid screen on the Tablet S is smaller than the iPad's 9.7 inch display or the 10.1-inch screen of Samsung's comparable Galaxy Tab model. But I found it plenty generous, and it didn't feel cramped. The Sony is about the same length as the iPad 2, but is narrower, and I found this proportion pleasing.


Tablet S使用了色彩生动靓丽的9.4英寸液晶屏，比iPad的9.7寸屏和三星公司(Samsung) Galaxy Tab的10.1寸屏要小。但我觉得这个尺寸已经足够了，并不觉得局促。在长度上，Tablet S跟iPad 2一样，但在宽度上要更窄一些，我觉得这种画面比例很讨人喜欢。



There are some trade-offs to this design. While it is beautifully balanced in vertical mode, it feels top-heavy in horizontal mode, especially because Sony forces you in that mode to hold it by the thin, lower edge. You can't rotate the screen in horizontal mode so the thicker edge is at the bottom. Performance was snappy, and the front and back cameras took acceptable still photos and videos.


这种设计也做出了一些妥协。虽然竖持时手感很好，但横持时觉得有些头重脚轻，尤其是因为索尼要求你横持时必须握住较轻薄的底端。在横持模式下不能旋转屏幕让厚的一侧处于下方。设备的运行很流畅，前后摄像头的静态照片和动态摄像质量也可以接受。



Sony is planning a second, even more radicaltablet for later this fall, called the Tablet P. It's a much smaller and lighter device that has no visiblescreen until you unfold it to reveal twin 5.5-inch displays that can either be used as one large screen or can have separate content in each. I have played briefly with this coming device, but haven't been able to test it.


索尼还计划今年秋天推出第二款在设计上更加具有颠覆性的平板电脑──Tablet P。这款平板电脑的体积小得多，份量也轻得多，而且表面看不到液晶屏幕，只有打开之后才会露出两块5.5英寸的液晶屏。这两块液晶屏既可以作为一块大屏幕使用，也可以作为两块单独的屏幕使用。我曾稍微把玩了一下这款设备，但没能进行测试。



Unlike the iPad 2, the Tablet S has an SD memory-card slot, which I used to move movies, photos, music and documents to the Tablet S from a Mac. It worked fine, though the plastic hinge for the little door that covers the slot sometimes got stuck.


与iPad 2不同的是，Tablet S有一个SD卡插槽。我通过SD卡把Mac电脑上的电影、照片、音乐和文档转到Tablet S上。这个插槽用起来很方便，但上面塑料防尘盖的铰链有时候会卡住。



While Sony, like Apple, has long been praised for hardware design, it has never been able to match Apple in software and services, except on its PlayStation game consoles. The company is hoping the Tablet S changes that perception.


索尼和苹果一样，一直以硬件设计受到广泛赞誉，但索尼在软件和内容服务上从未跟上过苹果的脚步，唯一的例外是PlayStation游戏机。索尼公司希望能够利用Tablet S改变人们的这种认知。



The Tablet S starts with the same software disadvantages as its Android brethren. While Android has a healthyselection of over 250,000 third-party apps (versus 425,000 total for Apple's mobile devices), it has pathetically few tablet-optimized apps -- estimated to be just a small fraction of the 100,000 tailored for the iPad.


Tablet S拥有使用Android系统的平板电脑所共有的软件劣势。虽然Android平台上也有250,000多个第三方应用程序（苹果移动设备的平台上有425,000多个应用程序），但专门为平板电脑环境进行过优化的应用程序则少得可怜，跟iPad上100,000个平板电脑专用程序相比，真是小巫见大巫。



But Sony has added some nice software features to the Tablet S. Some make navigation easier, but many aim to build on Sony's strengths as a media and gaming company. Unlike Apple, which takes a broader view of the tablet's potential, Sony sees its tablet as primarily an entertainment-consumption device.


不过，索尼给Tablet S增加了一些不错的软件功能，有些功能让导航更便捷，更多的则旨在利用索尼在媒体和游戏上的强势地位。苹果公司认为平板电脑的用途很广，而索尼主要将平板电脑定位为一个娱乐消费的设备。



For instance, Sony has added a small, customizable row of frequently used app icons at the upper left. At the upper right of the screen is a handsome, easy-to-use feature called Favorites, which highlight recently accessed or added songs, videos, pictures, books and Web bookmarks.


举例来说，Tablet S在屏幕左上角有一小排可定制的常用应用程序图标，右上角是一个 "收藏夹"，这个功能不但界面漂亮而且使用方便，能显示最近打开或新增的歌曲、视频、照片、书籍和网页书签。



Sony also has tweaked the Android browser so it loads pages faster. In my tests, pages loaded slightly faster than on the iPad.


索尼还优化了Android系统的浏览器，使其打开页面的速度更快。在我的测试中，页面打开速度要比iPad稍快一点。



There is also a universal remote-control app that works with a built-in infrared transmitter to control TVs and other home-entertainment devices, even if they aren't made by Sony. In my tests, I easily configured it to control my Pioneer TV and my TiVo, though it was unable to mate with my Apple TV.


此外，Tablet S还有一个万能遥控器应用程序，能利用设备内置的红外线发射装置控制电视机和其他家用娱乐设备，即使这些设备不是索尼公司生产的也一样可以控制。在测试中，我很轻松地进行了一下设置，就能遥控我的先锋牌(Pioneer)电视机和TiVo数字录像机，但它控制不了我的苹果数字多媒体机Apple TV。



Sony also is bundling services for buying music, TV shows and movies, e-books and games to create a content ecosystem like Apple's. Unfortunately, these weren't available for me to test.


索尼还在Tablet S上捆绑了购买音乐、电视剧、电影、电子书和游戏的服务，以创造出一个与苹果相似的内容生态系统。遗憾的是，现在这些功能还没办法测试。



The music service won't be available until later this month, but it will be a subscription service with two monthly tiers, one for $3.99 and one for $9.99. The video service will be available with a very limitedselection at launch, but the full service won't appear until next month. It allows you to rent videos starting at $2.99 each. The games service will come along later this year, and Sony couldn't provide details, except that it will offer PlayStation games meant for portabledevices. The Tablet S will come with a trial membership to the music service and a free movie and e-book. It also comes preloaded with two simple games.


音乐服务要到9月底才能使用。这种服务有两种月付费的订阅方式，一种每月3.99美元，另一种每月9.99美元。视频服务在推出时只有少量内容可供选择，全面服务要等到10月份。每个视频的租赁价格最低为2.99美元。游戏服务将于今年晚些时候推出，索尼还未公布具体细节，只是表示将推出能在移动设备上运行的PlayStation游戏。买Tablet S的同时还会赠送会员体验，可以使用音乐服务，并赠送一部免费的电影、一本免费的电子书。Tablet S还预装了两个简单的游戏。



The Tablet S fell far short of the iPad 2 in my battery tests, where I play videos back to back with the networkconnection on and the screenbrightness set at 75%. It died after 6 hours, 38 minutes, which is a whopping 3 1/2 hours less than the iPad 2 lasted.


在电池测试中，Tablet S的表现比iPad 2差得多。我通过网络在两台设备上同时在线循环播放一段视频，将屏幕亮度设为75%，6小时38分钟后电量耗尽，比iPad 2的电池续航时间短了三个半小时。



Still, Sony deserves credit for creating a novel design with real advantages and for building in some useful software. The Tablet S is worth considering when shopping for a tablet.


不过，索尼公司依然值得称赞，因为它创造出了一个真正具有竞争优势的崭新的设计，而且还内置了一些有用的软件。在选购平板电脑时，Tablet S值得考虑。



Walter S. Mossberg


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