For mobile touch technology, it's only the beginning.
就移动触摸科技而言,现在还只是刚刚开始。
Apple Inc.’s iPhone revolutionized the mobile phone with easy-to-use touch-screen technology that allows users to surf the Web, tap out messages or control any number of inventive applications. But the iPhone and the touch-screen handsets every major phone maker has since come out with have only scratched the surface of the potential of touch.
苹果公司(Apple Inc.)的iPhone无疑是移动电话行业的革命 性产品,其便利的触摸屏技术可以便于用户浏览网络、发短信或者 掌控任何数量的新颖应用软件。但是,iPhone以及其他主要移动电 话制造商推出的触摸屏手机都只是具有无限潜能触摸科技的冰山 一角而巳。
Developers are working on new applications for “multitouch” screens, like those on the iPhone, the GD900 from LG Electronics Inc., due for release in the U.K. imminently, and others soon to come, including Palm Inc.'s Pre. These screens can process commands the user gives with more than one finger, which broadens the possibilities for applications. Other developers are working on advances in “haptic” feedback~vibrations and other physical sensations that are now used, for instance, to let a gamer know she's reached a new level, but that can also be used to communicate emotions and may soon give a touch-screen keyboard the feel of a physical keyboard. And for those who still prefer to work with keys on their phones, even some traditional keyboards will perform certain functions in response to touch commands.
尤其引人瞩目的是，开发人员正在研制针对“多触摸”屏幕 的新的应用软件，如iPhone,以及LG电子很快将在英国推出的 GD900,还有Palm Inc?最近推出的Pre等等所使用的触摸屏。这 些屏幕可处理用户多个手指下达的要求,从而拓宽了应用软件的 可能性。其他开发人员则在攻克触觉反馈技术——比如说，用来让 游戏玩家知道自己跳升一级的振动及其他人体感觉，同时也可以 用来沟通感情，甚至很快让触摸键盘具备物理键盘的感觉。对于那 些仍然青睐使用手机按键的用户，一些传统按键也将能够响应部 分触摸指令。
When the iPhone was introduced in 2007，its multitouch capability was among its most eyecatching features. Apple Chairman Steve Jobs demonstrated how photos could be resized simply with a pinching or expanding gesture using a thumb and a finger on the screen.
当iPhone于2007年推出的时候，多触摸功能是其最大的卖点之 一。苹果电脑董事长史蒂夫?乔布斯演示了照片是如何通过一个手 指在触摸屏上挤压或者扩大被缩小或者放大的。
Software developers set to work on multitouch applications. Some, for instance, allow usersto play virtual musical instruments on the phone. But multitouch developershavelargelyfocusedon games.
软件开发人员着手开发多触摸应用软件。比如说,一些可以让 用户在手机上演奏虚拟乐器。但是,多触摸技术的开发人员大体上 更多地关注游戏。
Haptic technology already has many nonmobile applications. In videogames, for instance, it can give gamers the sensation of actually steering a car they’re controlling on the screen. In medical training, it can make procedures like endoscopy performed on a simulator feel real, so that medical personnel can develop a better sense of how to perform them.
触觉技术在非手机领域已经得到了广泛运用。比如说，在视频 游戏当中,它可以让游戏玩家感到自己好像真的在驾驶他们所控制的赛车一样。在医疗培训当中，它可以让在模拟器上操作的内窥镜检查法等程序感觉异常真实，医 疗人员从而可以更好地了解如何使用这些器材。
The use of haptics in mobile phones is still in its infancy, with Samsung Electronics Co. leading the way. Its Omnia phone, for exampie, vibrates to confirm each touch of the screen, and a vibration that shudders to a stop indicates that a call has been dropped.
触觉技术在手机方面的使用仍然处于萌芽阶段，三星电子(Samsuns Electronics Co.)是这方 面的领先者。比如说，其Omnia手机在用户触摸屏幕后会产生振动，而渐渐停止的振动则表明来电 被取消。
But the wider deployment of haptic enabled phones will open the door to new applications.
不过，触觉技术手机更为广泛的运用将为新兴的应用软件开辟全新的天地。
“The technology is such that we could blindfold you and you would be able to feel the demarcation between the keys of a keypad，on completely flat touch screen，” Mr. Vachon says. The technology is being tested in handsets now and should be made available to consumers sometime in the next 12 months, he says.
瓦尚先生说这种技术能蒙骗你的眼睛，而且能让你在这种完全平面的触摸屏上，感受到键盘 按键之间分明的界限。”目前这种技术还在测试阶段，预计在大约1年后面市。
For now, at least, many mobile users prefer the accuracy of a physical keyboard rather than a touch screen. A new technology is being designed to allow the best of both worlds: a keyboard that can also respond to touch commands.
至少在目前来看，许多手机用户仍然偏爱物理键盘的准确性,而不是触摸屏。开发人员正在设 计一项可以兼顾这两种需求的新技术:一个可以同时回应触摸指令的物理键盘。
The keyboard, being developed by Berlin-based Tech21 Sensor GmbH, responds normally when a letter or number is pressed. But a user could, say, scroll down a Web page by running a finger lightly across the keyboard; pressing a little harder might be the command to scroll faster or zoom in on a page. The technology is expected to start being deployed in mobile phones in 2010 or 2011.
柏林的Tech21 Sensor GmbH就在研制这种键盘。当用户按下一个宇母或者数字的时候,它可 以正常回应。但是，用户也可以通过手指轻轻地上下触摸键盘来滑动网页;如果按得稍重一点,可能就 是代表滑动得更快一些或者放大页面的意思。这项技术预计将于201脾或者2011年运用在手机上。
“We want to provide any object with keys or a keypad with smarter keys," says Tech21 Chairman Christian Lindholm.
Tech21董事长克里斯汀?林德海姆表示：“我们希望为任何带有按键或键盘的设备提供更加 智能的按键。”