Galaxy Gear 極客智慧手錶
Watches often have special value to people, for sentimental reasons or practical interests. With a watch like the Samsung Galaxy Gear -- somewhat utilitarian and probably only perceived as fashionable at a tech convention -- I found it was hard to get attached to it.
由於感情上的原因或是實際的用處，手錶對人們常常具有特殊的價值。對於像三星Galaxy Gear這樣一款手錶，我發現很難喜歡上它。這款手錶帶有實用主義風格，或許只有在科技大會上才會被認為是時尚產品。I've been testing the Gear, a new 'smart' watch that connects via Bluetooth to a Samsung mobile device and shows you notifications. It showed me calendar reminders and text messages, and told me when I had new email. And since the Gear has a microphone and speaker, you can even make phone calls through the watch (technically, the call is happening through your smartphone). It's certainly an improvement over the Sony SmartWatch I reviewed a year and a half ago.
我一直在對Gear進行測試，這款新的“智慧”手錶可以通過藍芽與三星移動裝置連線，顯示各類通知。它可以顯示日曆提醒和簡訊，通知我收到新郵件。Gear有一個麥克風和擴音器，你甚至可以通過這隻手錶打電話（理論上講，通話是通過你的智慧手機進行的）。相比一年半前我測評的索尼SmartWatch，這款手錶顯然有進步。But it has some serious drawbacks. For one, it costs $300, and that doesn't include the pricey smartphone you'll need to tote along with it. Also, it only works with Samsung smartphones, like the Note 3, which I tested it with.
但它也有一些嚴重缺陷。首先，它的價格是300美元，這還不包括需要與這款手錶一同攜帶的昂貴智慧手機。此外，它只能與Note 3等三星智慧手機連線，我測試這款手錶時使用的就是Note 3。
Having to charge a wristwatch once a day or every other day might not thrill some people. Lastly, there are some limitations to what this watch will actually show on its display.
每天或每隔一天需要給手錶充電，這可能也讓一些人提不起興致。最後，這款手錶螢幕上顯示的內容是有一些侷限性的。I'll be superficial and talk appearances first. There's no way around it: The Galaxy Gear looks like a geek watch. It has a textured rubber band, a thick, adjustable metal clasp and visible screws around the face of the watch. The 1.6-inch touch screen is pretty sleek-looking. There is a lone button on the right-hand side of the watch that takes you back to the home screen, which displays the time and date.
首先談談外觀。有一點是沒法解決的：Galaxy Gear看起來像是一款極客手錶。它有一個帶文理的橡膠錶帶，一個厚重、可調節的金屬錶帶扣，錶盤周圍還可以看到螺絲。1.6英寸的觸屏看起來非常光滑。手錶的右側只有一個按鈕，按這個按鈕可以回到主螢幕，主螢幕顯示時間和日期。Possibly the geekiest part is the round eye of a camera on the band. This is, presumably, so you can talk to fellow spies through the watch and then stealthily take photos of an unsuspecting subject.
或許最“極客”的是錶帶上攝像頭的圓眼睛。這想必是為了讓你能夠通過手錶與間諜同事通話，然後偷拍絲毫未察覺的目標。How the Gear fits will depend on the size of your wrist. I was a 'tweener' -- one setting was too tight and the next was a little bit loose. It weighs 2.6 ounces and comes with four gigabytes of internal storage.
Gear戴起來是否合適，這要取決於你手腕的粗細。我就找不到合適的扣眼──有一個釦眼扣著太緊，另一個扣著又有些鬆。這款手錶重2.6盎司，內部儲存空間為4G。The Gear watch comes with a charging cradle, a small, square-shaped plastic nest. But this charging cradle serves another purpose: It's part of the Gear setup. I had to tap the Note 3 against the back of the cradle to install the Galaxy Gear manager app on the smartphone. This app is where I would manage all of the Gear settings and apps.
Gear有一個充電座，這是一個方形小塑料座。但這個充電座還有另外一個用處：它是Gear設定的一部分。我必須拿著Note 3 衝著充電座的背面拍打，才能把Galaxy Gear管理應用安裝到智慧手機上。這個應用可以管理所有的Gear設定和應用。The next step of the setup involved wirelessly connecting the watch, via Bluetooth, to the smartphone. This was pretty straightforward.
設定過程的下一步是將手錶通過藍芽與智慧手機無線連線。這個很簡單。However, whenever I wandered more than 30 feet or so away from the Note 3, the Gear watch on my wrist would disconnect from the smartphone. I could still see the time on the watch, but some apps wouldn't work without a connection to the smartphone.
但我只要離開Note 3，走出大約30英尺，我戴在手腕上的Gear手錶就會與智慧手機斷開連線。我仍能看到手錶上的時間，但與智慧手機斷開連線後，一些應用就不能用了。Setting up those apps can be confusing. The watch comes with a few preinstalled, like the pedometer and a weather app. And there are Android-based apps on the smartphone, like Gmail, that you can opt in for notifications on the watch.
設定這些應用也令人暈頭轉向。手錶上有一些預裝的應用，如計步器和一個天氣應用。智慧手機上有一些基於安卓系統的應用如Gmail，你可以選擇在手錶上顯示這些應用的相關通知。Then there are other Samsung-branded apps -- like S Health, Samsung's proprietary fitness-tracking app, which I used with the watch's pedometer -- that require a Samsung login and password.
除此而外還有其他三星品牌的應用，諸如三星享有專利的健康狀況跟蹤應用S Health，我將其與手錶的計步器一同使用，這些應用需要以三星的賬戶名和密碼登入。Finally, there are Gear-specific apps, such as FB Quickview and Tweet Quickview, that aren't the 'real' Facebook and Twitter apps, but allow you to get social-network notifications on the watch.
另外還有專門用於Gear的應用，如FB Quickview和Tweet Quickview，它們並非“真正的”Facebook和推特應用，但可以通過它們在手錶上收到社交網路的通知訊息。Swiping through the watch felt somewhat intuitive. From the home screen, swiping from side to side will take you through the key apps of the watch. Once you're in an app, swiping down will bring you back to the previous screen.
在手錶上的觸屏操作感覺比較直觀。在主螢幕上左右滑動就可以瀏覽手錶的主要應用。進入應用介面後，向下滑動就可以回到前一個介面。On some occasions, I found the Gear watch useful. I was out bike riding when a Google Calendar appointment popped up on the screen, reminding me I needed to be home in 10 minutes to accept a scheduled package delivery. If the watch buzzed or beeped while I was driving, I could look down and see I had new messages. I couldn't read Gmail content on the watch; the watch told me to read it on my mobile device.
在一些情況下，我發現Gear手錶很有用。我有一次在外面騎自行車時，螢幕上跳出了谷歌日曆(Google Calendar)的約會提醒，讓我想起我得在10分鐘內回家收一份事先約定的包裹。我開車的時候如果手錶震動或嗶嗶作響，我一低頭就能看到有新的訊息。在手錶上不能閱讀Gmail的內容；手錶讓我在移動裝置上檢視。I also couldn't see pictures friends sent me via text message. And when I tried responding using S Voice, Samsung's voice-recognition app, it was super-slow to recognize my commands.
朋友們通過簡訊傳送給我的圖片也無法在手錶上檢視。當我試圖用三星的語音識別軟體S Voice回覆時，手錶識別我的命令極其緩慢。Taking photos with the watch was admittedly fun. You access the camera by swiping down from the home screen and snap a photo with a quick tap on the screen. But you can't share these from the watch. You have to send them to the smartphone first.
用手錶拍照確實很有意思。從主螢幕向下滑動就能啟動相機，然後在螢幕上輕輕一點就可以拍照。但不能從手錶上分享這些照片。你必須先將照片發到智慧手機上。It's almost impossible to talk about a smartwatch as a two-way communicator without mentioning Dick Tracy, but the Gear is just that. I called my boss and he said the call quality was good on his end, too. I called my mom and told her I was calling her from a watch and she laughed.
說到作為雙向通訊工具的智慧手錶就不能不提到《至尊神探》(Dick Tracy)，但Gear確實就是像那樣的。我打電話給我的老闆，他說他那頭的通話質量也很好。我給我母親打電話，跟她說我是用一隻手錶給她打的，她大笑起來。The call quality was good because you're basically using the watch as a Bluetooth speaker. You can dial a number or call up a contact from the watch as long as the smartphone is nearby.
通話質量不錯的原因是你其實是將手錶當作藍芽話筒使用。如果離智慧手機不遠，就可以通過手錶撥號或呼叫聯絡人。Samsung says the battery life of the Gear watch should be about the same as your average smartphone. In my experience, it lasted close to two days.
三星說，Gear手錶的電池續航時間差不多與普通的智慧手機一樣。在我試用時，手錶的續航時間接近兩天。And when I put it in its cradle to rest and recharge, I didn't exactly miss it.
而當我將它放到底座上充電時，也並不懷念它。
