Personal Technology Trends of 2015
时间：2018-12-16 作者：英语课 分类：2016年VOA慢速英语(一)月
AS IT IS 2015-12-31 Personal Technology Trends of 2015
Technology related to the Internet continued to speed ahead in 2015. With so many products and apps, here’s what we thought were the hottest trends.
Periscope 2 broadcasts around the world
Twitter brought us live-streaming video this year. The Periscope app was launched on Twitter’s social media site in March. Periscope showed what people were doing at the moment. It was also used by news outlets 3 to report breaking, or happening, news on location. Companies used Periscope, as well, to talk about their commercial products.
The people who watch live streaming on Periscope can make comments or write a note that is seen on the Periscope screen. A map shows where people are broadcasting from.
You can broadcast stories with Periscope anywhere there is an Internet connection.
Blab
Started in April 2015, Blab broadcasts conversations of two, three or four people on its website. Sign up for the video service with Twitter and watch people talk about all kinds of subjects.
Blab conversations include science, cooking, news, TV shows or other subjects. You can make comments and ask questions.
You can launch a Blab conversation as long as you have another person to join in. You might be asked to join an existing conversation.
Wearable devices
Tech that you wear -- like a bracelet 4 that measures breathing, heart rate or the number of steps you’ve walked – continued to be popular.
Some companies introduced new smart watches. Smart watches send notifications that you’ve received a phone call or text message. The devices can measure physical activity, too.
However, the company Nike – a giant in sports clothing and gear -- gave up on wearable technology in 2015. It stopped selling its FuelBand fitness tracker.
Another company, Pebble, offered two smart watches in 2015. The first, Pebble Time, broke records on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter in March. It raised the most money ever for a project.
Pebble Time shipped in June 2015. It works with both Android and iPhone.
Pebble also developed Pebble Time Round. Claiming to be the thinnest smart watch ever, Pebble Time Round says its battery will last a week without recharging.
Apple watch
The Apple Watch was released in April. The watch connects to an iPhone to provide notifications, make and receive phone calls and text messages, and tell time.
The watch also works as a fitness tracker and has apps to control music, get stock prices and more.
Streaming music services
Apple Music
In June, Apple launched its streaming music service, Apple Music. The service is free for three months. After that, users can still listen to the music for free, but with advertisements. To avoid ads, Apple offers monthly paid memberships.
Apple Music is available in more than 100 countries.
The streaming service has more than 30 million songs, and it works with iTunes. Apple Music has had some issues with controls and playing back music. Updates to Apple Music solved some of these issues.
Apple Music is available on iPhone, iPad and Android.
Spotify
Spotify is a service available in 64 countries on the Internet. It plays music, much like a radio station, through an iPhone, Android phone, or computer using Spotify’s website. You also can download the Spotify player.
Spotify's Year in Music 2015 shows which artist was streamed the most (Drake), who had the most streams in a single day (Justin Bieber), and the Most Streamed Song of 2015: Lean On (featuring M? and DJ Snake) by Major Lazer.
Listen to the Top 100 Tracks of 2015 Global to hear the most popular songs around the world this year on Spotify.
The power of your voice
The quality of voice assistance improved this year. Speaking a command to your phone is quicker and easier than typing in commands.
Some things you can do with your voice are search the Internet, get directions, find a place to eat, find a nearby movie or control the lighting 6 in your home.
And people with physical disabilities are greatly helped by voice assistance.
Some of the popular voice assistants are named Siri, Alexa, Cortana and Google Now.
Self-driving cars
Self-driving automobiles 7 arrived with Tesla's autopilot mode in October. Tesla’s autopilot can steer 8, speed up and come to a stop at speeds over 29 kph.
A company called Best Mile announced this year that it is making final preparations to operate buses that drive themselves. It plans to offer this service in Switzerland next spring. These buses will hold up to nine people who are brave enough to ride in a bus without a driver.
Tablets replacing laptops
Both Microsoft and Apple introduced new large tablets designed to replace laptop computers. Both tablets have a stylus and keyboard.
Microsoft started selling the Surface Pro 1 4 tablet with a 31-cm screen two months ago. The Surface Pro 4 runs Windows 10, the same operating system as a computer, making this tablet a true replacement 9 of the computer.
The stylus and keyboard are included with the Surface Pro 4.
Apple introduced its biggest iPad ever in October, launching the iPad Pro with a 33-cm screen. Unlike the Surface Pro, the iPad Pro uses iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system. It requires apps to work.
A stylus, called the Apple Pencil, and a keyboard are available, but not included with the iPad Pro.
One way tech did not change was with continuing data breaches. Companies and government agencies around the world had records stolen, allowing hackers 12 access to personal and financial information.
Many companies and other organizations had data stolen in 2015.
They included:
Anthem 13, a large health insurance company in the U.S., with over 80 million records stolen
Home Depot 14, a store that sells materials for houses, had records stolen from over 56 million customers
Ebay, an online auction 15 site, had 145 million records stolen
U.S. Office of Personnel Management, a U.S. government agency, had 25 million records stolen
Japan Airlines had data stolen from over 750,000 passengers
TalkTalk, a U.K. telecommunications company, had records stolen from 157,000 customers
British Airways 16 had "tens of thousands" of passenger records stolen
And that’s a look back at the year in personal technology.
Words in This Story
app – n. application, or computer program that performs a particular task
streaming – adj. playing continuously as data is sent to a computer over the Internet
smart – adj. controlled by computers and able to do things that seem intelligent
notification – n. something that gives official information to someone
conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people
battery – n. a device that is placed inside a machine (such as a clock, toy, or car) to supply it with electricity
introduce – v. to make (something) available for sale for the first time
fund – v. to provide money for (something)
autopilot - n. a device that steers 17 a ship, aircraft, or spacecraft in place of a person
accelerate – v. to move faster : to gain speed
laptop – n. a small computer that is designed to be easily carried
stylus – n. a small tool that is used to write or touch buttons on a computer
keyboard – n. the set of keys that are used for a computer or typewriter
mobile – adj. of or relating to cellular 18 phones, handheld computers, and similar technology.
data breach 10 – n. the unauthorized or illegal viewing, access or retrieval of data by an individual
- The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
- Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？
- The captain aligned the periscope on the bearing.船长使潜望镜对准方位。
- Now,peering through the periscope he remarked in businesslike tones.现在，他一面从潜望镜里观察，一面用精干踏实的口吻说话。
- The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- The jeweler charges lots of money to set diamonds in a bracelet.珠宝匠要很多钱才肯把钻石镶在手镯上。
- She left her gold bracelet as a pledge.她留下她的金手镯作抵押品。
- The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
- The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
- The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
- The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
- When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
- It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。
- We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
- They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。
- We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
- He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。
- He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
- This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。
- They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网
- All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
- As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。
- The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
- They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。
- They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
- They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。
- The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
- At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。