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Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.66% unveiled a reinvented Xbox videogame console Tuesday, demonstrating an advanced motion and voice-control system and new television functions as it tries to thrust the machine back into the spotlight amid changing consumer habits.
微軟(Microsoft Corp.)周二發(fā)布了全新的Xbox視頻游戲機(jī)，展示了其先進(jìn)的體感和聲控系統(tǒng)以及新的電視節(jié)目播放功能。在消費(fèi)者需求不斷變化之際，該公司正努力使這款設(shè)備重新成為關(guān)注焦點(diǎn)。
The Redmond, Wash., software giant said its new device, dubbed Xbox One, was designed to take advantage of new technologies to offer customers ways to play games while responding to trends such as the popularity of smartphones and tablets.
這家位于華盛頓州雷德蒙德(Redmond)的軟件巨頭說(shuō)，這款名為Xbox One的新設(shè)備旨在利用新技術(shù)為消費(fèi)者提供一些新的游戲方式，以響應(yīng)目前的一些趨勢(shì)，比如智能手機(jī)和平板電腦的風(fēng)靡。
Microsoft also integrated technology from its Skype video chatting subsidiary into Xbox One, allowing customers to interact with friends using a more refined version of the Kinect motion and speech sensor. Xbox One also can play and control live television streaming from a cable or satellite set-top box.
微軟還將旗下Skype視頻聊天軟件的技術(shù)整合進(jìn)了Xbox One，使用戶能夠與朋友互動(dòng)。Xbox One還擁有更加精良的Kinect動(dòng)作和聲音傳感器，并且能播放和控制來(lái)自有線電視和衛(wèi)星機(jī)頂盒的視頻節(jié)目。
The device represents Microsoft's answer to 'a living room that has become too complex, too fragmented and too slow,' with features that integrate control of multiple electronics, said Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business.
微軟互動(dòng)娛樂(lè)部門總裁馬特里克(Don Mattrick)說(shuō)，這款設(shè)備是微軟對(duì)“一個(gè)變得太復(fù)雜、太分散和太低效的起居室”的解決方案，其功能整合了對(duì)多種電子設(shè)備的操控。
Microsoft said the device will be released later this year, but didn't specify when or how much it will cost. The company's previous device, the Xbox 360, was priced starting at $299 when it launched in 2005.
微軟說(shuō)，這款設(shè)備將于今年晚些時(shí)候推出，但是沒(méi)有透露推出的具體時(shí)間或產(chǎn)品價(jià)格。該公司之前的設(shè)備Xbox 360于2005年推出時(shí)的起價(jià)為299美元。
The Xbox remains key to Microsoft's efforts to penetrate consumers' homes, as many of its other consumer-oriented products─such as Windows Phone─have stumbled. But the console hasn't had a refresh in eight years and arrives as mobile devices such as Apple Inc.'s AAPL -0.74% iPhone have become go-to machines for a new swath of casual games that are either free or cost a few dollars.
Xbox仍然是微軟進(jìn)滲透進(jìn)消費(fèi)者家庭的行動(dòng)的關(guān)鍵所在，因?yàn)樵摴酒裢瞥龅脑S多以消費(fèi)者為導(dǎo)向的產(chǎn)品并未獲得成功，比如Windows Phone。但是這款游戲機(jī)八年來(lái)一直沒(méi)有更新，與此同時(shí)，人們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了用蘋(píng)果(Apple Inc.)的iPhone來(lái)玩大量免費(fèi)或是只花費(fèi)幾美元的小游戲。
Those factors combined with the videogame industry's cycles─where sales taper off before a new game console is released─have hurt sales of new games, consoles and accessories. According to market researcher NPD Group, packaged game sales fell 25% to $495.2 million in April from $657.5 million a year earlier. Console hardware sales dropped 42% to $109.5 million.
這些因素加上視頻游戲行業(yè)的周期因素（新的游戲機(jī)發(fā)布之前銷售減弱）削弱了新的游戲、游戲機(jī)和配件的銷售。市場(chǎng)研究機(jī)構(gòu)NPD Group的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，今年4月份，打包游戲的銷售額同比下降了25%，至4.952億美元，上年同期銷售額為6.575億美元。游戲機(jī)硬件的銷售額下降了42%，至1.095億美元。
The Xbox, which sits at the center of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, has also seen declining sales as it has aged. While the last Xbox has been the top selling console in the U.S. for 21 consecutive months, profits at Microsoft's entertainment and devices division plunged 71% in fiscal 2012 to $364 million, below what it was in 2010.
Xbox是微軟娛樂(lè)和設(shè)備部門業(yè)務(wù)的核心，由于這款設(shè)備已經(jīng)推出了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，其銷售也在不斷下降。盡管上一款Xbox的銷量曾連續(xù)21個(gè)月在美國(guó)保持領(lǐng)先，微軟娛樂(lè)和設(shè)備部門2012財(cái)年的利潤(rùn)下跌了71%，至3.64億美元，還不及2010年的水平。
Game console makers are responding to the changing consumer landscape by including new technologies in their devices. Nintendo Co. 7974.OK +2.97% melded a touch screen into the controller for its Wii U console, which was released last November. Sony Corp. 6758.TO +0.05% in February showed a touch-sensor built into a redesigned controller for its PlayStation 4 console, due out later this year.
游戲機(jī)制造商正通過(guò)將新技術(shù)納入其設(shè)備來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)消費(fèi)者情況不斷變化的現(xiàn)實(shí)。任天堂公司(Nintendo Co.)在Wii U游戲機(jī)的控制手柄中融合了觸摸屏，這款游戲機(jī)于去年11月發(fā)布。索尼公司(Sony Corp.)今年2月向外界展示了其PlayStation 4游戲機(jī)經(jīng)過(guò)重新設(shè)計(jì)的控制手柄中內(nèi)置的觸摸傳感器。索尼將于今年晚些時(shí)候推出這款游戲機(jī)。
Aside from additional horsepower to make better looking games, Xbox One includes the ability to watch TV on one part of a screen while looking at other information, such as a fantasy football league scores or a Skype video chat, on another.
除了花大力氣制作外觀更加漂亮的游戲外，Xbox One還允許用戶分屏，在觀看電視的同時(shí)瀏覽其它信息，比如夢(mèng)幻足球聯(lián)賽(fantasy football league)的成績(jī)或進(jìn)行Skype視頻聊天。
Under the hood, the new Xbox is powered by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD -1.95% chips, in a shift away from chips based on International Business Machines Corp. IBM +0.51% designs. The change makes the new Xbox more similar to Sony's upcoming PlayStation, making it easier to develop games for both companies' devices.
炫酷的外表下，新Xbox放棄了基于國(guó)際商業(yè)機(jī)器公司(IBM)設(shè)計(jì)的芯片，轉(zhuǎn)而采用高級(jí)微設(shè)備公司(AMD)的芯片。這一轉(zhuǎn)變令新Xbox更類似于索尼即將推出的PlayStation，也降低了業(yè)界為這兩種游戲機(jī)開(kāi)發(fā)游戲的難度。
But the two devices are also different in that Sony plans to offer a way for its advanced data centers to stream game images and button presses over the Internet to its PlayStation, allowing customers to play potentially any game instantly with a Web connection. That includes older games, which otherwise can't play on the new device. Microsoft didn't unveil that technology for Xbox One.
但這兩種游戲機(jī)也存在不同。索尼計(jì)劃令其先進(jìn)數(shù)據(jù)中心技術(shù)一顯身手。該數(shù)據(jù)中心可以流媒體格式通過(guò)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)將游戲圖像和虛擬按鍵傳送到PlayStation游戲機(jī)上，這樣用戶在有網(wǎng)絡(luò)連接的情況下基本可以玩任何游戲，其中包括老游戲。如果沒(méi)有這項(xiàng)技術(shù)，新設(shè)備無(wú)法玩老游戲。從微軟此次發(fā)布的情況看，Xbox One沒(méi)有配備這項(xiàng)技術(shù)。
Microsoft put more horsepower behind the technology it does offer, however. The Kinect motion sensor, which debuted three years ago, was revamped and can now better hear gamers speak at the device and more accurately understand their movements, for instance.
但微軟在此次推出的技術(shù)上確實(shí)下足了力氣。三年前首次亮相的Kinect運(yùn)動(dòng)傳感器得到了改進(jìn)，現(xiàn)在可以更清晰地聽(tīng)到玩家對(duì)該設(shè)備說(shuō)的話，更準(zhǔn)確地識(shí)別玩家的動(dòng)作。
Microsoft is also investing in new games for the device. The software company said it would release 15 titles from its own studios during the Xbox One's first year on the market.
微軟還為Xbox One投資開(kāi)發(fā)新游戲。微軟表示，在Xbox One上市第一年期間，其自己的工作室將推出15款新游戲。
The company said it is developing a television show based on its popular Halo space-war game series with director Steven Spielberg. Nancy Tellem, head of Microsoft's television studio efforts, said the effort is the beginning of Microsoft's efforts to apply its Xbox technology to the way television works.
微軟表示，它正在和導(dǎo)演斯皮爾伯格(Steven Spielberg)開(kāi)發(fā)一個(gè)基于其廣受歡迎的《光環(huán)》(Halo)系列太空戰(zhàn)游戲制作的電視節(jié)目。微軟負(fù)責(zé)電視制作的泰勒姆(Nancy Tellem)說(shuō)，此舉是微軟將其Xbox技術(shù)應(yīng)用到電視制作領(lǐng)域的開(kāi)端。
'Until now, television was a one-way street for the viewer,' she said. 'That's about to change.'
她說(shuō)，到目前為止，對(duì)觀眾來(lái)說(shuō)看電視是一種單向交流。這種情況就要發(fā)生改變了。
