亞馬遜Fire手機初體驗
????在我親自測試這款應用的過程中,我發現它在識別圖書、視頻游戲封面上,可以算得上是“秒開”,但是在識別一般日常用品比如食品和清潔用品時,有時卻不是很順利。比如有一次我掃描了一盒凱洛格公司的Special K薯片,但是這款應用卻顯示它是一盒藍莓味的Special K餅干(不過第二次掃描成功了)。當我試圖掃描微軟的Xbox One游戲機或蘋果iPhone 5S手機時,Firefly根本就不識別它們。(你一定是故意的,杰夫?貝佐斯。) ????Firefly識別出一樣物品后,會給你提供一個在亞馬遜上直接購買的選項。另外亞馬遜也允許第三方開發者整合Firefly。比如通過iHeartRadio等應用,你甚至可以根據一首FireFly識別出的歌曲,建立一個自己的音樂電臺——這樣就使它的功能遠遠超出了一臺簡單的銷售終端系統。 ????在這款手機首次發布時,亞馬遜的CEO貝佐斯努力想把Fire描繪成一種與眾不同的智能手機。在這一點上Firefly做得很不錯。另外貝佐斯在發布會上提到的“獨特的用戶體驗”,其實來自一個叫“動態視角”的功能。它本質上就是亞馬遜耗時四年開發的一個3D界面。 ????在手機上應用“3D”社交并不是什么新鮮事,比如HTC公司的Evo 3D和蘋果iOS系統的視差滾動效果等等。不過Fire的不同之處,在于它利用手機的四臺前置攝像頭來抓取你的頭部相對于手機屏幕的角度。因此如果你想要調節顯示屏中物體的角度,你可以不用動手,只需要移動你的頭就行了,就像看真實世界的物體時一樣。 ????當你第一次體驗這種視覺效果時,留下的印象的確很深刻。但過了幾天后,這種新鮮感逐漸變淡,你就會注意到一些信息以奇怪的方式從手機上“滑落”了。(比如要想讓狀態欄在屏幕上多停一會,好看一看剩余的電量,簡直像耍雜技一樣難。當然,手機上也有永久顯示狀態欄的設置,但莫名其妙的是,它是默認禁用的。) ????在我禁用了動態視角功能后,這部手機的整體性能大大提高了。使用APP的卡頓、解鎖時的延遲統統消失了。(不過攝像頭的遲鈍反應仍讓我稍嫌不足。)我覺得手機的續航時間可能也相應提高了,不過這很難說——在我的測試過程中,幾次續航時間的差異很大,有時我大部分時間把它放在車上的杯托里,它只能堅持11個小時;有時我整天都在把玩,包括用它給孩子從網站上放動畫片,但它卻能堅持一整天。 ????亞馬遜的應用商店里可以找到大多數我們期望的常用應用,比如Facebook、Instagram和Twitter等。值得注意提星巴克(Starbucks)和Fourquare這兩個常年占據我自己手機主頁的應用,在亞馬遜的應用商店里卻下載不到。(由于對應用的偏好眾口難調,或許你的感覺跟我不一樣。) ????在拿到Fire手機的那一刻,你就會發現這部手機存在的主要原因,就是銷售亞馬遜的產品和服務。當然從這一點上看,它和你口袋里現有的智能手機也沒什么兩樣,但是Fire表現得要更加直白些。人們會被它的直白嚇得敬而遠之嗎?這可難倒我了。我想象著有一天,我可以隨手掃描一樣喜歡的東西,然后讓亞馬遜的無人機把它投遞到我家里。我已經迫不及待想和妻子分享這種驚喜體驗。(財富中文網) ????譯者:樸成奎 |
????In my experience testing the app, I found that Firefly was flawless in zeroing in on book or video game covers, but struggled when tasked with identifying common items such as food or cleaning supplies. When I scanned the front of a box of Kellogg’s Special K Cracker Chips, the app identified it as a box of Blueberry Special K Bars. (A second attempt did the trick.) When I tried to scan a Microsoft Xbox One game controller or an Apple iPhone 5S, Firefly didn’t recognize them at all. (Message received, Jeff Bezos.) ????After Firefly identifies an item, it presents you with the option to purchase it directly from Amazon. The company also allows third-party developers to integrate with Firefly—for example, iHeartRadio will create a radio station based off of a song identified by the app—extending its role beyond that of a point-of-sale system. ????During the phone’s debut, Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, worked to paint the Fire as a different kind of smartphone. Firefly helps, but the “unique user experience” he alluded to comes from a feature called Dynamic Perspective—in essence a three-dimensional interface that Amazon has been working on for four years. ????The use of “3D” on phones isn’t new—see the sleight-of-hand employed by HTC’s Evo 3D, or the parallax effect in Apple’s iOS. The Fire approaches it differently by using the phone’s four front-facing cameras to track the location of your face relative to the screen. Instead of moving your hand to shift the perspective of the items on the phone’s display, you can move your head. ????It’s impressive the first time you experience it; a few days later, the feeling wears off, and you’ll notice information slipping off the display in odd ways. (Getting the status bar to remain on screen long enough to view battery percentage was a balancing act worthy of a Cirque du Soleil acrobat. Before anyone writes in, yes, there is a setting for making the status bar a permanent fixture, but critically, it’s disabled by default.) ????And here’s the kicker: After I disabled Dynamic Perspective, the overall performance of the phone vastly improved. The stuttering behavior I experienced as I whizzed through the app carousel? The delay in how quickly the lock screen appeared after I pushed the phone’s wake button? Essentially gone. (The camera’s sluggish burst mode still left me wanting.) I suspect I’ll find the phone’s battery life improved as well, though it’s difficult to tell —it varied wildly during my testing, from 11 hours parked in my car’s cup holder to a full day that included streaming cartoons for my kids. ????If you’re wondering, Amazon’s App Store carries most of the big-name apps we’ve come to expect such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Notably missing: Starbucks and Foursquare, two staples on my home screen. (Your mileage in this highly personal area may vary.) ????The moment you pick up Amazon’s Fire, it’s clear that the phone’s primary reason to exist is to sell Amazon’s products and services. In truth, that’s hardly different from the smartphone in your pocket today—but the Fire is less subtle about it. Will people be put-off by that harsh reality? Beats me. I’m too busy thinking about the day when I’ll be able to scan an item and have it delivered to my exact location by Amazon drone. I can’t wait to share that amazement with my wife. |