More and more people are using their big, flat-panel TVs to watch Internet video, view photos, play music and casual games, and access apps, social media and websites. The trouble is, this is primarily being done via plugged-in PCs, or add-on boxes like Apple TV, Microsoft's Xbox, and Roku players. They use separate remotes and are accessed via separate inputs on the TV.
越来越多的人都在用大尺寸平板电视机来观看网络视频、浏览照片、播放音乐、玩休闲游戏并运用应用程序、登陆社交媒体和网站。问题在于这主要是通过连接PC电脑，或苹果电视（Apple TV）、微软(Microsoft)Xbox和Roku播放器等外接盒子来实现的。它们各用各的遥控器，并且通过不同的接口接入电视机。
Lots of people have been counting on Apple to unify standard TV with these apps and Internet content in a simple, elegant device. The company is working on it, but the major TV makers aren't waiting. They are offering Internet-connected 'smart TVs.' Their pitch is that you can switch between, or even combine on one screen, regular TV and Internet content, without adding extra devices and remotes, or switching inputs.
很多人都在指望苹果公司能把普通电视机和这些应用程序、互联网内容统一到一部简单易用的设备当中。苹果正在努力，但几家主要的电视机生产商也没有按兵不动。它们推出了连接互联网的“智能电视”，其卖点在于，不需要配置多余的设备和遥控器，也不需要切换接口，你就可以在普通电视节目和互联网内容之间转换，甚至把这些内容放在同一个屏幕上。
I decided to check in on the state of the smart TV by living for a few days with the latest version from Samsung. While competitors like LG, Sony and others also offer smart TVs, I chose Samsung for two reasons. First, it's a powerhouse across the world of digital devices that run apps. Second, this year it introduced to its smart TVs a new kind of touch-based remote and a concept called Smart Interaction, which uses a camera and microphones built into the TV to support voice control, gesture control and facial recognition.
我决定用几天三星(Samsung)的最新款智能电视，来看看智能电视行业的现状。虽然LG、索尼(Sony)和其他竞争对手也有智能电视出售，但我因为两个原因选择了三星。首先三星是智能数码产品界的巨头。其次，今年它为自己的智能电视推出了一款新型触摸式遥控器，并引入了“智能互动”(Smart Interaction)的概念，用电视机内置的一个摄像头和麦克风来支持语音控制、手势控制和面部识别。
I installed the smallest top-of-the-line Samsung LED model with these new features, the 46-inch ES8000. It costs about $2,000, after rebates.
我安装了三星拥有这些新功能的LED电视机当中配置最高、尺寸最小的型号，即46英寸的ES8000。优惠后的价格在2,000美元左右。
My verdict is mixed. The Samsung Smart TV worked well for some functions, like watching standard cable TV, conducting Skype conversations with the camera and mics, and watching streaming television and movies via services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and MLB.TV. I appreciated not having to switch inputs and remotes. I also liked the companion apps for the TV Samsung makes available for Android devices and for the iPhone and iPad, which act as remotes or can beam content onto the TV without an adapter.
我对它的评价有好有坏。三星这款智能电视的某些功能表现不错，如观看普通有线电视，用摄像头和麦克风进行Skype通话，以及通过Netflix、Hulu Plus和MLB.TV.在线观看电视电影等。我喜欢它不需要在接口和遥控器之间换来换去。我也喜欢三星为安卓(Android)终端和iPhone、iPad提供的附带应用程序，安装程序之后，这些手机、平板电脑就可以充当遥控器，或在不用适配器的情况下把媒体内容传输到电视机上去。
But I found the new Smart Interaction - voice, gesture and facial recognition - unreliable and awkward. Many of the key apps, including Facebook, Twitter and the Web browser, seemed crude and hard to use without a keyboard, which Samsung sells for about $100. The Smart Touch Remote was disappointing. I focused my testing on the Smart Interaction, the new remote and the latest version of the Smart Hub, Samsung's built-in interface for apps and Web content. I wasn't evaluating the ES8000 as a standard TV, though it handled regular TV just fine.
但我发现新的“智能互动”（语音、手势和面部识别）不可靠、不好用。包括Facebook、Twitter和网页浏览器在内，很多关键应用程序似乎都很粗糙，在不使用键盘的情况下不太好用。三星有键盘出售，价格在100美元左右。“智能触摸遥控器”让人失望。我的测试重点是智能互动、新的遥控器和最新版“智能应用中心”(Smart Hub，即三星提供应用程序和网页内容的内置界面)。虽然ES8000播放普通电视节目没什么问题，但我不是把它当普通电视机来评估的。
Setup was easy. The TV easily hooked up to my cable box and linked to my home Wi-Fi quickly and reliably.
设置过程并不复杂。这部电视机很容易就接上我的机顶盒，并迅速而可靠地连上了我家里的Wi-Fi网络。
Smart Interaction
智能互动
The Samsung ES8000 allows you to control many functions, like turning the TV on or off or launching apps, by saying 'Hi, TV' then speaking a command. When you say the trigger phrase, a list of possible voice commands appears at the bottom of the screen.
说一声“你好电视”(Hi, TV)，然后讲出命令，你就可以控制三星ES8000的很多功能，如打开、关闭电视，或启动应用程序等。当你说出“你好电视”的时候，屏幕底部就会出现你可能会用到的一些语音命令。
It was disappointing. In many cases, my commands were ignored, interpreted inaccurately, or had to be repeated several times - even in a quiet room and within the recommended distance. I could only get the TV to turn on via voice once in a dozen tries.
这个功能让人失望。在很多时候，我的口令都被忽略、被误解，或者是不得不重复数遍。而且在安静的房间里、在建议的距离之内都是这样。测试通过语音打开电视的时候，我试了十几次才能有一次成功。
Gestures were similarly frustrating. You're supposed to enable them by just waving your hand toward the camera, but this often failed. When it didn't, I found using gestures to navigate among apps on the Smart Hub screen to be cumbersome. The exception was 'Angry Birds.' It worked well with gestures.
手势功能同样让人绝望。本来只要朝着摄像头挥手，你就应该能够启动手势功能，然而这一功能常常失灵。没有失灵的时候，我发现用手势在“智能应用中心”屏幕上浏览应用程序非常不方便。《愤怒的小鸟》(Angry Birds)是一个例外，手势功能用起来很顺畅。
Face recognition - mostly used as an alternate to a password for logging into Samsung's Internet services - failed for me utterly, even when I left my chair and squatted with my face lined perfectly up to the camera just a few feet away.
面部识别主要被用来取代密码登陆三星的互联网服务。我使用这一功能一次也没有成功，哪怕是我从椅子上起身蹲下去，让脸部完全对准摄像头、中间只隔几英尺也无济于事。
Even the guy conducting Samsung's online tutorials for Smart Interaction suffered some embarrassing failures in a video series called, ironically, 'Keep It Simple.'
就连有个人在网上演示三星“智能互动”功能的那部分内容也出现了一些令人难堪的故障。讽刺的是，该系列演示视频的名字就叫“Keep It Simple”（别搞复杂了）。
Smart Touch Remote
智能触摸遥控器
I had better luck with the Smart Remote, which attempts to get rid of the typical plethora of buttons by using a touch pad. But I found this touch pad to be much less responsive than the best laptop touch pads. I sometimes grabbed for the standard remote that comes with the TV and preferred using Samsung's Smart Remote app on my iPhone. It was responsive and performed the same functions.
“智能遥控器”试图通过一个触摸板来摆脱普通遥控器上的多余按钮，用它的时候我的运气要好一些。但我发现这只触摸板的灵敏度远远比不上最好的笔记本电脑触摸板。我有时候会去找与电视机搭配的普通遥控器来用，并且更愿意使用iPhone上的三星“智能遥控器”程序。这个程序反应灵敏，功能是一样的。
Also, typing in things like passwords, search terms, tweets and Web addresses, was clumsy with either remote, and inconsistent, as it is on many TV-based apps. You have to peck out letters on an on-screen keyboard. The iPhone (and Android) remote app often was better.
另外，和很多电视机上的应用程序一样，不管是用哪种遥控器，输入密码、搜索关键词、Twitter信息和网址都不方便、不连贯。你只能是在屏幕软键盘上费力地打出字母。iPhone（以及安卓手机）上的遥控器应用程序常常要好一些。
Smart Hub
智能应用中心
This screen, separate from the main TV display, contains the ES8000 apps and Internet functions. It isn't new, but has been improved. It contains some Samsung-based apps, like a family-photo and chat program, a kids' game and learning app, and a fitness app for exercise videos and charts of results. You also can download third-party apps from a built-in store containing 784 choices, of which about 70% are free.
这个屏幕与显示电视节目的主屏幕独立，含有ES8000的应用程序和互联网功能。它不是新推产品，但较老版有所改进。其中包括一些三星的应用程序，如一款家庭照片和聊天程序，一款儿童游戏与学习程序，一款播放健身视频和成绩表的健身程序。你也可以从一个含有784种选择的内置商店中下载第三方应用程序，其中70%的程序是免费的。
The Smart Hub screen features a small window that shows the TV program you were watching. But if it gets annoying, it can't be turned off. There also is a feature called Social TV, which wraps a large TV window with a small display of your social network feeds.
智能应用中心的屏幕上有一个小窗口，显示你正在观看的电视节目。但如果觉得吵人，你是关不掉它的。还有一个功能叫“社交电视”(Social TV)，可以把一个显示电视节目的大窗口和一个显示社交网站新内容的小窗口放在一起。
There are Facebook and Twitter apps, but they seemed stripped down. As noted, the best-performing apps were those that mimicked TV, such as Netflix. I also liked a Samsung app called SwipeIt, which lets you take a picture or video from a phone or tablet and with a swiping gesture, make it appear on the TV. It worked perfectly on a Samsung tablet and an iPhone.
里面有Facebook和Twitter应用，但这些程序似乎只具备最简单的功能。如前所述，运行最佳的是Netflix等模拟电视的程序。我也喜欢三星一个名叫“SwipeIt”的程序，你用手机、平板电脑拍一张照片或一段视频，然后通过一个划动手势就可以让它显示在电视机上。这个程序在三星平板电脑和iPhone上表现完美。
There are flashes of a great future merging regular TV and the Web on the Samsung Smart TV. But it needs work.
我的结论是：三星智能电视将普通电视和网络融合在一起会有很好的前途，但它还需要进一步的改进。