美媒盤點年十大科技敗筆(二)
est Rip-Off Award: Shared Data Plans
6. 最“敲竹槓”獎：數據共享套餐In June, Verizon unveiled its new Share Everything plans, which allow customers to pay a flat fee for each device, plus a single charge for shared monthly data, which ranges from 1GB to 10GB. The plan includes unlimited voice minutes and text messages and makes you pay for them, whether you need them or not. As a result, a 2GB data plan costs $100 on the new plan while 2GB with a limited number of minutes and texts cost $70 on the old plan。
今年6月，韋裏孫公司公佈了新制定的“分享一切”套餐，允許用戶爲每個設備支付固定費率，同時每月爲各設備共享的數據流量單獨付費，數據流量從1GB到10GB不等。套餐內通話和短信雖然上不封頂，但不管是否需要，消費者都要爲這些服務付費。結果，按照新套餐，一項2G數據套餐要花100美元，而根據原來的限時計劃，2G數據流量套餐僅花70美元。h-Around Award: Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook
7. “使用不便”獎：宏碁Aspire S5超級本
The Aspire S5 was the thinnest Ultrabook around when it debuted, but to achieve such a svelte profile, Acer incorporated a drop-down door to access the Ultrabook’s ports. Even worse, the ports are in the back, making it uncomfortable to reach around to plug in a USB cable。
Aspire S5以“世界最薄的超級本”的身份首次亮相。爲了得到這樣的“苗條”身材，宏碁公司採用了下拉式接口設計。但糟糕的是，接口位於機身後部，插入USB等設備時有所不便。en Promises Award: BB10
8. “違背諾言”獎：黑莓10BlackBerry 10 has become somewhat of a punchline in the tech industry, with the release of RIM’s new OS continually delayed at a time when the straggling smartphone-maker should be trying anything to keep up with its Android and iPhone competitors. After a brief demonstration of BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry World in May, RIM pushed back the operating system’s release until Q1 of 2013, and soon after slashed 5,000 jobs。
從某種程度上說，黑莓10已經成爲科技行業的笑柄。目前，已經落伍的移動通信研究公司應該竭盡全力，追趕競爭對手安卓和iPhone，但這家智能手機制造商卻一再推遲發佈新操作系統。今年5月在“黑莓世界”簡短介紹了“黑莓10”後，該公司將操作系統的發佈推遲到2013年第一季度，隨後又削減了五千個工作崗位。Although there are some features in BB10 that look promising, many BlackBerry loyalists have already jumped ship. We'll find out in January if RIM has a shot at a better 2013.
儘管黑莓10也有令人期待的新特色，但很多黑莓手機的擁躉已經改用其他手機。我們靜待明年1月，看該公司是否將在明年有所起色。-and-Switch Award: Microsoft Surface
9. “誘餌調包”獎：微軟Surface平板電腦When commercials for the Microsoft Surface started airing, viewers were enthralled by the device's Touch Cover。
當微軟Surface平板電腦的廣告開始播出時，這款電腦的Touch Cover鍵盤保護罩吸引了觀衆的眼球。One would assume that if Microsoft was putting the Touch Cover into its Surface commercials, it would come with the Surface, right? Wrong. Turns out the Touch Cover is a separate purchase, and shoppers would have to invest an additional $119 for the accessory。
有人也許會認爲，如果微軟把Touch Cover放在Surface平板電腦的廣告裏，那麼Touch Cover會和Surface一起出售，對嗎？錯了。Touch Cover需要單獨購買，另外再加119美元才能得到。Idea Award: Google Nexus Q
10. “壞主意”獎：谷歌NexusQGoogle's Nexus Q could have easily made our list of most overpriced gadgets of all-time . . . if it had actually come out. First shown and given to attendees at Google I/O 2012, the Nexus Q is a set-top box in the shape of an orb that streams either music or movies to your home theater from Google play and Google Play only。
如果正式面世，谷歌的Nexus Q很有可能成爲史上定價最爲過高的設備之一。在2012谷歌開發者年會上，NexusQ初次亮相，並被分發給參會者。Nexus Q是一種球形機頂盒，能從谷歌在線商店(只能從谷歌商店)傳輸音樂或電影到你的家庭影院。While a $50 Roku box, a $100 Apple TV or a $99 Google TV box offers a variety of content services and even apps, the $299 Nexus Q didn't even have Netflix. Once you got over its unique design, the Nexus Q's main feature was allowing multiple users to add to the same playlist, something that was sure to create plenty of arguments among family members with different tastes. To Google's credit, the company quickly realized it had a dud on its hands, stopped accepting new orders and gave free units to anyone who had preordered。
50美元的Roku機頂盒、100美元的蘋果電視機頂盒或者99美元的谷歌電視機頂盒都能提供各種內容服務甚至應用程序，但299美元的Nexus Q甚至無法使用Netflix視頻網站的服務。一旦你搞清了它的獨特設計，那麼Nexus Q的主要特點就是能讓多位用戶添加一份播放列表，這當然會使不同品味的家庭成員間產生爭吵。值得稱道的是，谷歌公司迅速發現了這一產品毫無用處，停止接受新訂單，並對預訂者給予免費。
