双语新闻：无线充电技术将成主流

2014-08-14 14:47:29来源：可可英语

　　Induction, the technology behind wireless charging, isn’t new—it’s been around for well over ahundred years. Here’s how it works: an induction coil creates an electromagnetic field (on acharging dock of some kind) that comes in contact with another induction coil (attached to thedevice to be charged), transferring electricity to it. It’s the same process used to juice up yourelectric toothbrush in its charging stand, Grajski says.

　　电磁感应作为无线充电的基础技术，早就不是什么新鲜事物了，它已经存在了足有100多年，其原理如下：首先，充电座上的电磁感应线圈会形成一个电磁场，这个磁场与另外一个电磁感应线圈接触后(这个线圈一般连接在需要充电的设备上)，就会向其输送电力。格拉吉斯基表示，它的工作原理跟用充电座给你的电动牙刷充电没什么不同。

　　But induction technology has limitations that have limited its mainstream appeal. It only allowsfor a single device to be charged per coil, making it clunky and relatively inefficient in today’smulti-device world, and it requires precise placement of the device to be charged so that thecoils are aligned in order to initiate and sustain the charging process.

　　不过电磁感应技术也有缺点，使它难以成为一种主流技术。首先，每个电磁感应线圈只能给一台设备充电，因此在如今多设备并存的社会中不免显得低效、不便。其次，它需要你把设备的位置放得很准确，才能让线圈启动和保持充电程序。

　　Proponents of inductive technology like Ran Poliakine, chief executive of Powermat, believe thekey to increasing adoption of wireless charging lies not in figuring out the fastest or mostefficient connection, but in making the technology available to people where they need itmost. “The issue we are trying to address is how do we keep consumers charged throughoutthe day,” he says. “The barrier to entry was relevancy. Where do we put the charging spots?”He added: “The place you mostly need this service is outside your home and your office.”

　　电磁感应技术的支持者，比如Powermat公司的CEO兰o波利亚凯恩等，都认为推广无线充电技术的关键，并不在于怎样实现最快速或最有效的连接，而在于如何让人们在最需要的地方用上它。波利亚凯恩表示：“我们试图解决的问题是，如何让消费者整天都能充电。最大的阻碍就是关联性，我们应该把充电点放在哪里?”他补充道：“你最需要这项服务的地方，是在家或办公室以外的地方。”

　　He has a point. Placing charging stations in Starbucks locations is one way to do that, savingcustomers from the inevitable outlet search that comes with a drawn-out session at the café.Placement in airports and hotels, also in the works at Powermat, are two more ways. (One thingpeople may not know about Powermat’s charging stations: when used in conjunction with acloud-based management system the company provides, a retailer can monitor who is at whichstation and for how long. Which means Starbucks could either give you the boot for squattingfor six hours or beam you a coupon for a free refill to keep you there.)

　　他说的很有道理。把充电点放在星巴克的门店里不失为一个好办法，至少可以避免消费者在咖啡厅里长聊时不得不到处找电源插口。另外我们也可以把它放在机场、酒店或Powermat的充电站里。(大家可能不知道Powermat充电站的一个功能，如果它与该公司提供的一套基于云端的管理系统协同使用的话，那么一家零售店就可以监测谁在哪个充电站待了多久。也就是说星巴克可以选择让你在那儿坐六个小时，或给你发送一张免费续杯的优惠券把你留引过来。)

　　Another reason for the technology’s slow adoption? A good old-fashioned standards warbetween industry groups. The Power Matters Alliance, or PMA, backs one type of inductionstandard and counts Duracell, Procter & Gamble, Qualcomm, and WiTricity as members.The Wireless Power Consortium, or WPC, backs an induction standard called Qi (pronouncedchee) and counts Hitachi, IKEA and Verizon as members. Some companies, such as Microsoftand Samsung, are members of both groups.

　　电磁感应充电技术推广较慢的另一个原因，则是两大阵营之间爆发的标准之争。其一是电力事业联盟(PMA)，代表成员包括金霸王(Duracell)、宝洁(Procter & Gamble)、高通和WiTricity等。其二是无线充电联盟(WPC)，该联盟支持一套叫做“Qi”的标准，日立(Hitachi)、宜家(IKEA)、威瑞森(Verizon)等都是它的成员。但有些公司同时加入了两大阵营，比如微软(Microsoft)和三星(Samsung)等。

　　The two standards use what is essentially the same technology but apply it with differentspecifications, creating problems for the companies that must embed the technology in theirproducts. According to John Perzow, vice president of market development for WPC, 63 phoneson the market today support the Qi standard, including those from Nokia, Google, and Sony.Meanwhile, Google Nexus and LG phones, among others, will have Powermat compatibility builtinto them.

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