VOA慢速英语:Call a Taxi by Touching the Screen of Your Smartphone

Getting a taxi ride in New York city is as easy as standing along a street and raising your hand high in the air. In Johannesburg, getting a taxi ride just got even easier, thanks to a new software application. SnappCab lets users call a taxi simple by touching the screen of their smartphone.
要在纽约乘坐出租车很容易，只用站在街道旁挥挥手。在约翰内斯堡则更加容易，这要归功于一款新的软件应用程序。SnappCab让用户通过触摸他们智能手机的屏幕叫出租车。

Anton van Metzinger is the managing director of SnappCab. He and two partners launched their smartphone app in September. He explains how it works.
Anton van Metzinger是SnappCab的董事长。他和两位合伙人在9月推出了他们的智能手机应用程序。他解释了这款程序如何工作。

"You open the app. And you literally with two clicks of a button you can order a cab. Using your GPS, you click the button, you electronically hail the cab, it connects you to the closest cabs in the area. So I get the cab driver's name, I get the cab driver's company ID he or she works for, their vehicle registration details and the vehicle description. So I know, as the passenger I know exactly which cab is coming to me and I can now track it on my smartphone," said van Metzinger.
van Metzinger说，“打开该应用程序，通过你的GPS，简单地双击就能电子化地预定出租车，它会联系该地区最近的出租车。这样你就能知道出租车司机的名字和公司名称，他们的车辆登记信息和车辆描述。所以作为乘客，我知道哪辆车过来接我，我可以用我的智能手机来跟踪它。”

When the vehicle arrives, the app sends a message to the passenger. When the ride is done, He or she can either pay the driver directly, or pay using the smartphone.
当车辆到达时，该应用就会发送一个消息给乘客。当乘坐完成时，乘客可以直接付款，或使用智能手机付款。

"We've been in the market only for about a month now and we already see that the credit card payment option is very popular, in fact more popular than we expected initially... People are getting used to the idea of online shopping, they're getting used to the idea of mobile. We predict that a year down the line, the majority of our transactions will be by credit card," said Metzinger.
Metzinger 说：“我们进入这个市场只有一个月左右，现在我们看到信用卡支付选项非常受欢迎，实际上比我们最初预期的更受欢迎。人们已经习惯了网上购物，习惯于手机。我们预测，接下来的一年大部分的交易将会通过信用卡完成。”

But critics say the move to financial transaction through mobile apps has been slow. Arthur Goldstuck is managing director of World Wide Worx, he also marks as a writer who specializes in South African technology. He says many South Africans are not get ready to make online purchases by telephone. He says they lack trust in the technology.
但批评者称，通过移动应用程序进行金融交易的进展非常缓慢。Arthur Goldstuck是World Wide Worx公司的常务董事，也被认为是擅长于南非科技的作家。他说，许多南非人都没做好通过电话进行网上购物的准备。他说，人们对技术缺乏信任。

"There's a phenomenon in this country and probably across Africa, that we call the digital participation curve. And it shows that the average Internet user needs to have been online for five years or more before they're ready to start transacting online," said Goldstuck.
Goldstuck说，“这个国家甚至可能在整个非洲都都有一种现象，我们称之为数字化参与曲线。它表明，一般的互联网用户需要在线5年或更长时间，才会准备好进行网上交易。”

But there have been success stories. An app called Powertime was launched in 2009, it sells pre-paid, or pay-as-you-go electricity. Before Powertime, power users would have to go to a fueling station or store to buy pre-paid electricity.
但南非已经有一些成功案例。一款在2009年推出的名为Powertime的应用程序，该应用出售预付电费。在Powertime推出之前，电力用户不得不到加油站或商店购买预付费电能。”

"What I find that is working in South Africa, is if you build an app that is relevant to the country because it solves a local problem. Kind of a local app for a local problem. And I think that was part of the success of Powertime. It was a very, very significant issue in South Africa to buy pre-paid electricity,"said Lacour.
“我发现在南非如果开发和该国相关的应用就会成功，因为它解决了一个本地的问题。类似于本地应用解决本地问题。我认为这是Powertime成功的一部分原因。在南非购买预付费电能是一个非常显著的问题。”

With the group of dependable customers, Powertime has now moved into paying for other services, like water bills and airtime for mobile phones.
有这群可靠用户的参与，Powertime现在已经进入其它服务支付领域，如水费和手机话费。

There are an estimated 14.7 million smartphones registered with South African telecom networks. That number is sure to grow as local smartphone prices drop below $100 and as South African technology companies began launching smartphones of their own.
估计有1470万用户在南非电信网络注册。随着本地智能价格跌破100美元，以及南非的科技公司开始推出他们自己的智能手机，该数字肯定会继续增长。