Smoke detectors are a forgotten necessity in our homes. I only think about the detectors in my house about once a year—when the batteries are depleted enough to trigger a piercing chirp that startles me in the middle of the night. Beeepp! Beeepp! Beeepp!

烟雾探测器是一个经常被我们遗忘的家庭必用品。我大概一年只有一次才会想到家里还有这么个东西——也就是当电池电力不足开始报警的时候，那刺耳的“滴滴”声会在半夜将我惊醒。
You know the drill. Step one: Stumble out of bed and wonder if there’s a real fire. Step two: Knowing there isn’t one, lumber from room to room as the beep taunts and dares you to figure out which one it’s actually coming from. Step three: Locate the room, flip the plastic door open and rip out the detector’s battery (with, let’s be honest, a degree of spite). Step four: Find a replacement battery and put it in. Step five: Collapse in bed.
你知道这声音有多刺耳。第一步：我会踉踉跄跄地从床上爬下来，看看是不是真的着火了。第二步：发现并没有着火，在“滴滴”声中挨个房间寻找，看看究竟是哪一个烟雾探测器报的警。第三步：找到那个房间，打开烟雾探测器的塑料壳，把电池抠出来（说实话，心里非常不爽）。第四步：找到一个新电池装上。第五步：一头扎到床上继续睡。

Ah, technology.
唉，高科技。
That well-worn homeowner tradition may soon come to an end. You may not have noticed but household appliances are slowly gaining the ability to connect to the Internet. With that capability, it was only a matter of time before a company developed a “smart” smoke and carbon monoxide detector.
在千家万户中不时发生的这一幕，可能很快就会终结。或许你没有意识到，如今的家用电器正在慢慢地具备联接互联网的功能。有了这种能力，某家企业开发出一款烟雾和一氧化碳“智能”探测器，只是时间问题。
That company, of course, is Nest Labs. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company made headlines when it released its slick Learning Thermostat in 2011, and gained enough buzz to convince Google to acquire it earlier this year. In October, Nest released its second product, the Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector, but a software glitch forced the company to pull the $129 device from store shelves.
这家公司当然是Nest Labs。2011年，这家总部位于加州帕洛阿尔托市的公司推出了一款精巧的学习型恒温器(Learning Thermostat)，引起媒体广泛关注。今年年初，这家公司被谷歌（google）收购。去年10月，Nest Labs推出第二款产品，即Protect烟雾和一氧化碳探测器，但一个软件故障迫使该公司召回了这款售价129美元的设备。
The Protect returned to stores in late June with updated software and a $99 price tag. Is it still worth the dough? Maybe.
今年6月末，Protect探测器携升级后的软件重新上市，价格也下调至99美元。它是否依然值得购买？也许吧。
The Protect gains its powers by connecting to your home’s Wi-Fi network. (It can also work in tandem with a Nest thermostat, should you have one installed in your home. More on this in a minute.) The Protect is capable of sending alerts to your smartphone when it detects an issue. With a combination of lights, audible alarms, and voice commands, the primary goal of the Protect is to do as its name implies—protect you by alerting you of present danger.
Protect可以联入家庭的Wi-Fi网络。（它也可以与Nest恒温器进行协作，前提是如果你家里也安装了Nest恒温器，关于这一点稍后再谈。）如果Protect探测到问题，它会向你的智能手机发送警报。另外它也能通过光、声、语音等警报模式向你报警。总之，Protect的目标正如它的品牌名称所示——保护你免受危险的侵袭。
Like its thermostat sibling, the Protect is designed with clean lines. With a rounded square shape and a floral hole pattern, it doesn’t really look like a conventional smoke detector—more of a wireless speaker, really. In the center of the unit’s face is a large circular button, surrounded by a light ring. The button can be used to test the device or hush an alarm. The light ring plays an important role in the alert process, using several colors to alert those in sight of impending or immediate danger. The ring also lights up green each night, as you turn off nearby lights, to let you know the unit is functioning properly.
像该公司的恒温器一样，Protect的设计也是简约风格。它采用了方型圆角造型和网眼式开孔，看上去不像传统的烟雾探测器，倒像是一台无线音箱。其表面中心处有一个圆形按钮，旁边是一圈会发光的圆环。这个按钮可以用来对设备进行测试，或者关闭警报。按钮旁边的光环在报警过程中扮演了重要的角色，它可以发出好几种颜色的光，警告人们即将或正在出现的危险。每到夜晚熄灯时，这个光环就会自动变成绿色，让你知道这个设备运行正常。
It takes a smartphone or tablet running Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android, a Wi-Fi network, the Nest companion app, and a few minutes of time to set up the Protect. A combination of voice commands and illustrations—some from the app, some from the device itself—guide you through the process. At one point, the app prompts you to scan a QR code on the back of the unit using your smartphone’s camera to identify each device. Of the two I tested, only one worked with my iPhone, but thankfully the app allows for manual entry of the unit’s unique key.
要安装这款烟雾探测器的话，你需要一台运行iOS或安卓系统的手机或平板设备、一个Wi-Fi网络、Nest的配套应用程序，以及几分钟的时间。届时会有声音和画面来指导你完成整个安装过程——其中一部分来自移动应用，另一部分来自设备本身。安装到其中一个环节时，这款应用还会让你用手机扫描设备背面的二维码来对设备进行确认。我测试了两台Protect，但我的iPhone只扫出了其中一台的二维码，好在另一台也可以通过手工输入产品验证码来验证。
After that, the app instructs you to connect your smartphone to a small wireless network emitted from the Protect, after which the app will request the credentials for your home Wi-Fi network to connect the Protect to the Internet. You must repeat this process for each Protect you install.
随后，这款应用会指导你把手机联入Protect发出的一个小型无线网络。接下来，它会要求获得你的家用Wi-Fi网络的授权，以便让Protect连接到互联网。每安装一台Protect，你都得重复一遍这个流程。
Only after each Protect is wired up digitally can you actually install the unit in your wall or ceiling. The duration and difficulty of this process depends on the type of electrical connection in your home. I live in an older home that lacks a hard-wired network for smoke alarms, so I made sure to purchase the battery powered version of the Protect. (The hard-wired version costs the same.) It took a few minutes to mount the bracket and unit.
只有在Protect连接到你的无线网络后，你才能把它真正地安装到墙上或天花板上。这个过程持续时间和难易程度取决于你家的电路。我住在一套没有安装烟雾探测器电路的老房子里，所以我买了一套电池版本的Protect（跟电线提供电力的Protect价格是一样的）。花了几分钟时间才把支架和设备装好。
When it first begins detecting smoke, the Protect is supposed to give early warning to danger with a combination of a pulsing yellow light and a verbal command. On the two occasions I managed to accidentally set off the alarm—I’m a really good cook, I swear—the Protect skipped the warning alert and went headlong into emergency mode. The two units in my house began talking—”Emergency, there’s smoke in the kitchen!”—their light rings lit up bright red, a familiar fire alarm sound echoed throughout the house, and my iPhone received alerts from the Nest app. I was able to quickly hush the alarm by pressing the center button, but was surprised when the Protect alerted me 10 minutes later, once the smoke had cleared from the room.
当Protect首先探测到烟雾时，按理说它会通过闪烁的黄光和语音口令来进行早期预警。但是有两次我意外地触发了警报（我真的是一位不错的厨师，我发誓），但是Protect省略了报警程序，直接启用紧急模式。家里的两台Protect开始说话了：“情况紧急，厨房里有烟雾！”它们的光环开始发出红光，像火灾警报一样的警笛声在房子里回响，我的iPhone也收到Nest应用发来的报警。我马上按下Protect的按钮停止了警报。不过，10分钟后，虽然房间里的烟雾已经散尽了，但Protect再次发出警报声。
In a situation where there might be a fire, it’s smart to be overly cautious. But one of the selling points Nest uses for the Protect is its ability to provide early warnings. In my testing, I never received one.
在可能发生火警的情况下，过度小心也不为过。但是Nest公司称，Protect的卖点之一就是它的早期预警能力。但是在我实测过程中，我从来没有收到过早期预警。
Aside from its primary purpose, the Protect also moonlights as a nightlight. Using its built-in motion detectors, the light ring will turn white when it senses nearby movement in a dark room. In conjunction with a Nest thermostat, those sensors help optimize heating or cooling when you’re not home—though it’s not foolproof, and a thermostat positioned in a low-traffic area like a hallway might enter auto-away mode even when you’re home. At any rate, motion detection is a very subtle feature that helps round out the overall Protect experience.
除了具备探测烟雾功能，Protect还可以作为夜灯使用，在夜里发出柔光。在一个黑暗的房间里，如果它利用内置的运动探测功能，探测到附近有人运动，其光环就会变成白色。如果与Nest的恒温器协作使用，那么当你不在家的时候，这些传感器可以自动优化暖气和冷气——不过它不能保证完全。比如，恒温器如果安装在走廊这种你不经常经过的地方，哪怕你在家，传感器可能自动进入外出模式。但不管怎样，运动探测毕竟是一个非常细腻的功能，还是丰富了Protect的整体使用体验。
It’s also the sole reason my wife and I elected to purchase a Protect. We recently moved into a fairly large house, and the added detector improves the performance of our existing Nest thermostat, which is mounted in—you guessed it—the hallway. The ability of the mobile app to alert me to trouble wherever I am was icing on the cake.
这也是为什么我和妻子都同意购买一台Protect的原因。我们最近搬到了一幢非常大的房子里，这台新买的Protect也改善了我们已有的Nest恒温器的性能。而那台恒温器正是安装在走廊里。另外不论我身在何处，家里一旦有了火灾隐患，Nest就会随时通过移动APP通知我，这种能力也的确算是锦上添花。
Even at $99, the price for Protect is steep, and one that is prohibitive for most people interested in its primary function. (A run-of-the-mill combo device will run you about $25 at Lowe’s.) If you’re a Nest Learning Thermostat owner, the equation is a little less lop-sided. Still, after using the Protect for three months, I appreciate the additional features it incorporates. The night light, green OK light, voice commands, and mobile alerts are all capabilities you never think you’d want in a smoke detector, but they do a great job helping a home feel safer. Not a bad feature of a piece of tech you hope to never have to use.
即使Protect的价格已经下降到99美元，它还是太贵了，尤其是让那些只关心防火功能的人望而却步。（家居建材卖场Lowe’s卖的一款普通的烟雾探测器只有25美元。）如果你已经有了一台Nest的学习型恒温器，也许你就不会觉得这个价格过分离谱。不过，在试用了Protect三个月后，我还是挺喜欢那些附加功能。它的夜灯、绿色的OK灯、语音控制功能、移动报警功能，都是以前你不会想到会出现在烟雾探测器上的功能，但是它们的确会让你觉得家里变得更安全了。对于一种你永远不希望它真的派上用场的设备来说，这些都是不错的功能。