2019.01.04

周五 Friday

wrech /rek/ 

n. 失事

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun’s presentation of Xiaomi’s virtual assistant Xiao Ai on Nov. 28 was described by some as a train wreck.
小米的CEO雷军在11月28号当众展示了小米的虚拟助手小爱，而一些人说这简直就是火车事故现场。

"What can you do?” Lei asked Xiao Ai.
雷军当时问小爱：“你能做什么呀？”

"I’m still too young, this question is too hard," the AI voice assistant said, speaking through a tiny Bluetooth speaker.
然后这个小助手用自己的人工智能声音从一个小小的蓝牙扬声器里说：“我还太年轻，这个问题太难了。”

"Xiao Ai, what is 125 plus 357 plus 567?” Lei asked again. Xiao Ai kept silent.
然后雷军又问：“小爱，125+357+567等于多少？”小爱保持了沉默。

“Xiao Ai, do you make mistakes every time there’s a demonstration?,” said Lei, laughing after the voice assistant failed to deliver correct answers to an audience gathered at Xiaomi’s AIoT conference in Beijing.
雷军看着自己的语音助手当着满场观众却不能给出正确答案，笑出了声，然后他又问：“小爱，你是不是每次表演的时候都要出错啊？”（在场的观众都是来北京参加小米的智联网大会的。）

Despite not dazzling the audience, Xiao Ai made a pretty good deal for itself that day. The voice assistant will be able to control Ikea's smart devices like lamps, under a new strategic cooperation deal with the Swedish furniture maker.
不过，虽然小爱当天并没能惊艳到观众，但却敲定了一笔不错的生意：由于小米和宜家建立了新的战略合作关系，以后小米的语音助手小爱就能控制这家瑞典家具品牌的智能家居了，比如他们的台灯。

Wait, what? Ikea has smart devices? The trendy furniture seller launched its own connected devices in March 2017 under the name Trådfri, including lights and sensors.
等一下，什么？宜家有智能家居？是的，这家新潮的家具商在2017年3月就推出了自己的互联式家具，名叫Trådfri，其中包括灯具和传感器。

Despite its ambitions, Ikea does seem to be lagging behind in the tech department. For one thing, the company still doesn't offer online purchasing in China except in Shanghai.
然而，虽然宜家的野心很大，但它在技术这个领域似乎一直比较落后。比如在中国，这家公司在上海以外的地方依旧不提供网购服务。

On the other hand, Xiaomi has been churning out goods that are not typical for tech companies, with its online store starting to look a lot like Japanese household goods brand MUJI. The smartphone maker is now offering mattresses, sofas, toothbrushes, and even underwear.
而另一方面，小米则在推出一些一般科技公司不会推出的东西，这让它的网店开始变得有点像日本的家私品牌无印良品了。这家原本专门做智能手机的品牌，现在还卖床垫、沙发、牙刷甚至内衣。

At this rate, it might even turn into Ikea’s rival.
照这个速度发展下去，小米很有可能会成为宜家的竞争对手。

 

今日词汇

wrech /rek/ 

n. 失事

 

这个词表示撞车的“事故”等等，可以是汽车、火车、轮船或者飞机。

例如：

Two passengers were badly injured in the car wreck.
两位乘客在那场车祸中受了重伤。

它也可以表示事故的“残骸”、“事故现场”：

例如：

Those two passengers are still trapped in the wreck.
那两名乘客依旧被困在事故残骸中。

此外，在口语环境中，这个词也被用来形容“身体或精神上收到严重创伤的人”：

Now I feel like a total wreck.
我现在觉得自己完全就是个废物。

它也能直接作动词，单纯表示各种“破坏”：

The weather wrecked all our plans.
这天气把我们的计划全毁了。