Windows or curtains（注1）
良機還是死路？
The software giant is desperate to make a splash in the smart-phone business
軟件巨頭孤注一擲，想要在智能電話行業(yè)大展拳腳
Oct 7th 2010 | San Francisco
AT A company meeting last year, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s pugnacious boss, spied an employee taking a photo on an Apple iPhone. He promptly grabbed the offending device and pretended to stamp on it. Microsoft would love to crush competitors in the smart-phone market, but it has repeatedly failed to come up with compelling offerings of its own. Now the software firm is gearing up for another assault on a business that is crucial to its future.
去年，在一次公司會議上，斗志旺盛的微軟老板斯蒂夫?鮑爾默，發(fā)現(xiàn)一名雇員正在用蘋果的iPhone拍照。他一把奪過這臺令其不快的設備，作勢猛踩。微軟巴不得擊垮智能電話市場上的對手，卻一而再再而三地、未能整出強有力的產(chǎn)品?，F(xiàn)在，這家軟件公司正憋足了勁，要在智能手機行業(yè)發(fā)起又一輪出擊，該行業(yè)對其未來至關(guān)緊要。
On October 11th Microsoft is due to unveil phones from manufacturers such as HTC and Samsung that incorporate its new operating system, Windows Phone 7 (WP7). An accompanying media blitz will seek to position it as an attractive alternative to Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Symbian, which powers many Nokia phones (see chart). The stakes are high for Microsoft and for Mr Ballmer, whose stewardship of the firm is the subject of intense debate. Microsoft’s share price has fallen by almost 20% since the beginning of this year, while the S&P 500 stockmarket index has risen by 4%.
10月11日，微軟打算揭曉幾款含有其新操作系統(tǒng)WP7的手機（由諸如HTC與三星等制造商生產(chǎn)）。隨之而來的媒體廣告狂轟濫炸，試圖將此操作系統(tǒng)定位成蘋果iPhone、谷歌Android及驅(qū)動許多諾基亞電話的塞班系統(tǒng)的替代物（如圖所示）。無論對于微軟還是因公司管理工作而飽受非議的鮑爾默先生來說，這一賭注的風險都極高。今年初以來，微軟的股價下跌了近20%，而標準普爾500股價指數(shù)卻上漲了4%。
Microsoft hopes not only to profit from selling licences for its software but also to push its other services via the phones. Bing, the firm’s internet search engine, Xbox Live, its gaming platform, and Zune, its music and video player, are baked into the new operating system. Microsoft is also betting that WP7 will help it preserve its once vice-like grip on the workplace. That hold is slipping as firms let employees toting iPhones and Android-based devices use them for work.
微軟不僅希望從軟件授權(quán)銷售中獲利，也期望通過這種智能手機推銷別的業(yè)務。該公司的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)搜索引擎Bing，游戲平臺Xbox Live，及音樂視頻播放器Zune，均植入了這款新操作系統(tǒng)。微軟也打賭說，WP7將幫助其捍衛(wèi)昔日在工作場所中堅不可摧的掌控地位。由于許多公司讓雇員配備iPhone及基于Android系統(tǒng)的設備用于工作，這種掌控正慢慢松弛。
The new phones boast a slick touch-screen interface and several novel features, including one that makes it easier than on most smart-phones to post news and photos to social networks on the move. Microsoft has also laid down minimum standards to which phonemakers must adhere for things such as built-in cameras. Some earlier Windows phones suffered from poor hardware. “There isn’t a thing about our approach to this business that we haven’t changed,” says Greg Sullivan, a Microsoft executive.
這種新電話自詡擁有平滑流暢的觸摸屏界面及數(shù)個新穎的特點，其中之一，是人們移動時用其發(fā)布新聞及照片到社交網(wǎng)絡上，要比其它大部分智能手機更為輕松方便。微軟也制定了電話制造商必須支持的某些事物如內(nèi)置攝像頭的最低標準。早期的某些Windows系統(tǒng)手機深受工藝落后的硬件之苦?！拔覀冞M入這個行業(yè)，沒有什么是一成不變的，”微軟高級主管格雷格?沙利文說。
The firm is also expected to spend enormous sums promoting its new system. According to some estimates, it has earmarked $400m-500m to boost WP7, an amount that is likely to be matched by phonemakers and telecoms companies that will offer the new devices. By comparison, Motorola, Verizon and Google spent $100m on the launch of the Android-powered Droid smart-phone at the end of 2009, reckons Deutsche Bank. Microsoft is also taking to the courts. Last week it sued Motorola, arguing that the firm’s phones violated some of its patents.
微軟也料到新系統(tǒng)推銷會花費巨大。根據(jù)一些估計，它將撥出4到5億美元?？钚麄?span lang="EN-US">WP7，這一數(shù)額可能相當于那些提供這種新設備的手機制造商與電信公司的行銷費用。相比之下，根據(jù)德意志銀行估計，2009年底，摩托羅拉、弗萊森與谷歌公司發(fā)布Android驅(qū)動的Droid智能電話花了1億美元。微軟也習慣上法庭了。上周，它起訴摩托羅拉，理由是該公司的智能電話侵犯了自己的某些專利。
Such legal quarrels are unlikely to halt the rise of Android. Google’s operating system is now the most popular one among recent buyers of smart-phones in America, although Apple will become a stronger competitor if it releases a Verizon iPhone, as has been rumoured. “Microsoft is way behind the competition and the chances of it catching up are fairly low,” says Brent Thill of UBS, an investment bank. He points out that it will take time to persuade developers to create a rich range of software applications for Microsoft’s operating system. IDC, another research company, reckons that by 2014 Microsoft will still trail both Apple and Android, as well as Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry.
此類法律爭端不大會遏制Android的發(fā)展。若蘋果如傳言那般，發(fā)布一款Version iPhone，它就將成為更為強有力的競爭者，但即便如此，近期的美國智能電話買家，目前最親睞的仍是谷歌的操作系統(tǒng)?！拔④浽诟偁幹羞h遠落后，趕上的機會也極為渺茫，”一家投資銀行瑞士聯(lián)合銀行（UBS）的布倫特?希爾稱。他指出，要說服開發(fā)者創(chuàng)建出一系列適用于微軟操作系統(tǒng)的豐富多彩的軟件應用，尚需時日。另一家研究公司國際數(shù)據(jù)集團（IDC）估計，到2014年，微軟仍會被蘋果及Android甩在身后，亦將落后于黑莓手機制造商移動研究所（RIM）。
Hence persistent speculation in Silicon Valley that the software behemoth, which has a $37 billion cash pile, might be tempted to bid for RIM, whose phones are popular with corporate road-warriors. If Mr Ballmer is still around to negotiate such a deal, it might be the best chance he has of putting Microsoft’s stamp on the smart-phone world.
因此，硅谷不斷推測，這家擁有370億美元現(xiàn)金資產(chǎn)的軟件巨無霸，試圖競購RIM，而RIM的智能電話廣受經(jīng)常出差的公司員工歡迎。若鮑爾默先生仍盤算著要談判這樣一項交易，那么，這將是其所擁有的、在智能電話領(lǐng)域打上微軟烙印的一個最佳機會。
注1：windows or curtains
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