VOA慢速英语:Tablet Computers Most Wanted Gift This Holiday

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report in Special English.
来自美国之音慢速英语，这里是科技报道。
 
Consumer electronics once again topped the list of the most wanted gifts this holiday season.
消费电器再次荣登假日最受欢迎的礼物榜单之首。

“Seventy-six percent of consumers who plan to buy holiday gifts say that they will spend money or buy at least one technology product; definitely a solid vote of confidence for technology.”
“计划购买假日礼物的人中有76%的表示将购买至少一件科技产品，大家一致表示对科技的信心。”

Steve Koenig is with the Consumer Electronics Association. He says the group’s latest research also shows that Americans this year are spending more on technology products.
史蒂夫•凯尼格就职于消费者电器协会，他说该组织的最新研究表明，美国人今年将在科技产品上花更多钱。

“Here in 2012, $252 on average – the technology spend for consumers this year.”
“今年消费者平均在科技产品上花费252美元。”

From tablet computers to smartphones, American shoppers have been lining up to get the newest and coolest electronic devices on the market. There are more choices today than ever before.
从平板电脑到智能手机，美国消费者排队购买市场上最近最酷的电子产品。如今的选择面比以往任何时候都要宽。

“It’s kind of hard to make a decision.”
“实在很难作出决定。”

Tablet computers are one of the best-selling products this year. Brian Tong is Senior Editor of CNET.com. The website reports on tech news and examines the latest electronic products. He says the Apple iPad Mini is one of the most popular tablets. Its starting price is $329. One of Apple’s biggest competitors is the Google Nexus 7. It starts at $199.
平板电脑是今年最畅销的产品，布莱恩•童是CNET.com网站的资深编辑，该网站报道科技新闻，并检查最新的科技产品。他说苹果的iPad Mini是最抢手的平板电脑，起价是329美元。苹果最大的竞争者是谷歌的Nexus 7，起价为199美元。

“The hardware inside is more powerful than what’s in the iPad Mini, but also it offers you a lot of things like maps that work better than Apple’s maps.
“Nexus 7的硬件比iPad Mini更强大，同时还提供诸如地图之类的应用，且性能比苹果地图更好。”

Brian Tong says there is one reason why people may like the iPad Mini more than the Nexus 7. 
布莱恩•童说，与Nexus 7相比，人们更喜欢iPad Mini有一个原因：

“If you just want to read books and surf the Internet, really you don’t really need to get an iPad Mini, but if you want the largest robust group of apps that’s where the iPad and Apple’s ecosystem shines the most.”
“如果只是想读书或网上，那你实在没必要买iPad Mini，但如果想要强大的应用程序，那么iPad和苹果的生态系统是最好的。”

Elman Chacon is with the electronics store Best Buy. He says another hot product this season is smart cameras. They connect to the Internet through WiFi. This makes it easy for users to email or upload photographs directly from the camera.
Elman Chacon是电子商店百思买的职员，他说另一个热门产品就是智能相机，可以通过WIFI连接网络，这样就方便用户直接从相机发邮件或上传图片。

“You can literally take a picture, upload it into your Facebook in a matter of seconds. These things are pretty cool because they do a lot of things.”
“你可以拍照片后上传到Facebook，只要几秒钟。这些产品功能强大，确实很酷。”

Streaming media boxes also connect to the Internet. People are able to watch web content such as movies and YouTube videos on their televisions. Another popular item is wireless speaker systems. The newest ones work with any device that has Bluetooth technology, including smartphones, laptops and tablets.
流媒体盒也可连接网络，人们能在电视上观看网上的电影和YouTube视频。另一个流行品就是无线扬声器系统，最近的一批可以与任何拥有蓝牙技术的设备相连，包括智能手机、平板电脑和平板电脑。

With the growing popularity of Internet shopping, many consumers will visit a store first to look at a product, and then go online to find it at a lower price. Stores like Best Buy understand that and they want to stay competitive.
随着网络购物的兴起，许多消费者会先去商店看产品，然后上网以最低价购买。诸如百思买这样的店铺明白这一点，它们希望能保持竞争力。

“We have something called the perfect match promise which means if you buy a certain device and you find it cheaper within 30 days we’ll go ahead and price match that for you.”
“我们提出价差的承诺，就是说如果购买产品30天后，如果发现降价，就可以补偿价差。”