????上周，《金融時報》（Financial Times）報道稱，蘋果公司（Apple）正商談以32億美元收購耳機潮牌兼音樂流媒體服務商Beats Electronics。這筆交易至今尚未得到蘋果或Beats公司的證實，但已經引發了科技行業觀察人士的不解和批評。

????首先，此次收購將是蘋果迄今規模最大的收購案。而且，蘋果作為備受尊崇的品牌，一貫收購較小型的企業。這次一反常態的收購另一家明星企業，似乎有些不符常規。新的問題隨之浮現：蘋果此舉莫非是為了重振自己的先鋒品牌形象？還是為了再度涉足音樂流媒體業務？還是說是為了Beats公司聯合創始人——備受推崇的音樂制作人吉米?艾歐文？而據稱艾歐文可能接管蘋果的內容戰略。

????又或者，Beats公司的技術路線最適合首席執行官蒂姆?庫克不斷提到的蘋果新產品類別？

????市場調研機構弗雷斯特（Forrester）分析師詹姆士?麥克奎維說：“我著手分析的假設是，蘋果是一家聰明的公司。他們豪擲30億美元，不會是為了一家配件公司，也不會是為了某項音樂流媒體業務，而是為了一個更大的計劃，旨在改變人們生活的大計劃。歷史表明，蘋果喜歡、也有能力做這樣的大事。”

????盡管蘋果仍然現金充裕（蘋果上季度利潤為95億美元），但庫克可謂壓力山大。因為蘋果自2010年推出iPad后，一直再沒有推出開創性的新產品，而是專注于優化現有的產品組合。可穿戴設備似乎是最有前景的新型消費技術，盡管有分析師認為，超便攜設備的利潤率太低，蘋果可能看不上。

????但相關的證據層出不窮。上月，多篇報道稱，蘋果正不動聲色地招聘時尚、健身和保健行業的專家。隨后，耐克（Nike）首席執行官馬克?帕克證實，耐克將終止FuelBand電子腕帶業務，同時退出這個市場，至少是這個硬件市場。有人認為，此舉表明，耐克作為蘋果長期的合作伙伴計劃支持蘋果將推出的可穿戴設備。蘋果于今年二月獲得的專利涉及能跟蹤性能指標并通過“耳機、耳塞或耳麥”積累生理學數據的設備。

????所謂的蘋果iWatch傳言由來已久，尤其是在競爭對手三星（Samsung）開始發售Galaxy Gear之后。但有分析師稱，蘋果的“可穿戴設備”可能與眾不同。同科幻片《她》（Her）中的杰昆?菲尼克斯一樣，有些人士大力推崇“可聽設備”（即針對聽覺的可穿戴設備）這一理念。自稱“無線福音傳道士”的尼克?胡恩寫道，到2018年，“可聽設備”業務的市值可能超過50億美元。

????可穿戴設備公司Atlas Wearables聯合創始人皮特?李表示，耳朵是無線傳感器很好的著陸點。比如，通過耳朵可以獲得更精確的生理學數據。

????Last week, the Financial Times reported that Apple (AAPL) is in talks to acquire the trendy headphone and music streaming service Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion. The deal, which has yet to be confirmed by either party, drew both befuddlement and criticism from technology industry watchers.

????For one, the acquisition would be Apple's largest to date. And the logic of one revered brand buying another seemed broken, based on Apple's history of acquiring smaller companies. New questions arrived quickly: Is this about reviving Apple's cool factor? Is it about Apple's reentry into the music-streaming race? Is it more about Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, a well-regarded music executive who could presumably take over Apple's content strategy?

????Or is the smaller company's technology and approach best applied to Apple's new product categories to which chief executive Tim Cook keeps alluding?

????"I start from the assumption that Apple is a smart company," Forrester analyst James McQuivey says. "That they wouldn't be spending $3 billion for an accessories company or a music streaming business, but that they would spend it as part of a bigger plan to change our lives in the way that Apple has historically shown it likes to do and can do."

????The pressure is mounting on Cook, even as his company continues to be flush with cash. (Apple made $9.5 billion in profit last quarter.) The company arguably hasn't introduced a pioneering new product since the iPad in 2010, instead focusing on refining its existing portfolio. Wearables seem to be the most promising new consumer technology, even as some analysts argue that margins for the ultra-portable devices are too thin for Apple's taste.

????But the evidence has begun to pile up. Last month, on the heels of various reports that Apple is quietly hiring experts from the fashion, fitness, and health industries, Nike CEO Mark Parker confirmed his company's discontinuation of its FuelBand electronic wristband and exit from the category, at least as it pertains to hardware. Some suggest the move is an indication that Nike, a longtime Apple partner, plans to support an Apple wearable device. And in February, Apple was granted patents on devices that track performance metrics and amass biometric data through "headphones, earbuds or headsets."

????A so-called Apple iWatch has been rumored for years, especially after rival Samsung began selling its Galaxy Gear. But some analysts say that a "wearable" to Apple may rely on an entirely different body part. Much like Joaquin Phoenix in the futuristic film Her, some have hailed the idea of "hearables," or wearables for your ear. Self-proclaimed "wireless evangelist" Nick Hunn writes that "hearables" could be worth more than $5 billion by 2018.

????The ear presents an interesting environment for wireless sensors, says Atlas Wearables co-creator Peter Li. For one, biometric data is more accurately measured through the ear.