新兴科技爱好者齐聚奥斯汀参加SXSW互动盛典

    This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

    Tens of thousands of people travel to Austin, Texas each year to attend the South by Southwest festival. The festival is most famous for its music and film presentations. In recent years it has also become one of the biggest new media events of the year.
    每年,成千上万人前往得克萨斯州奥斯汀市参加SXSW盛典(South by Southwest festival,SXSW又译为西南偏南)。这次盛会因音乐和电影艺术而闻名。近年来,它也开始成为最大的新媒体年度盛典之一。

    注:SXSW盛典包括互动技术、音乐、电影三部分。

    Last year more than fourteen thousand people from fifty-four countries attended the event. It is the place to learn about promising new technologies.
    去年,来自54个国家的1.4万多人参加了这次盛典,人们可以在这里了解到各类富有前景的新技术。

    Margie Newman describes the event as "a sea of Mac-toting, smartphone-obsessed, new media snobs on a mission to know what is next." Ms. Newman is a public relations professional in Washington D.C. She made her third trip to the South by Southwest festival this year. We spoke with her by phone at the festival.
    玛吉·纽曼形容这次盛典“到处是背着苹果电脑,痴迷于智能手机的新媒体牛人,他们在搜寻下一个技术热点。”纽曼女士是华盛顿一位公关关系专家。她今年是第三次来到SXSW盛典。我们通过电话联系了她。

    MARGIE NEWMAN: "When you can go to a place and not only see what's next and see how to better use what's already here, but also connect with people who love it as much as you do, it's just kind of a special thing. A lot of people call South by Southwest Interactive the geek spring break. And that's pretty accurate."
    纽曼:“当你来到这里,不仅能看到下一个技术热点,了解如何更好的运用当前科技。还可以和有着相同兴趣的人一起交流。这是非常特别的经历。很多人把SXSW盛典称为奇客春假(怪人云集),这是相当准确的。

    South by Southwest Interactive has seen the successful launch of several products. It helped push Twitter into mainstream popularity in two thousand seven. In two thousand nine, a company called Foursquare launched its mobile networking service at the festival. The service lets friends tell other friends where they are by "checking in" using a mobile application or a text message. Foursquare's owners say they now have more than six and a half million users around the world.
    SXSW盛典见证了几个产品的成功推出。2007年该盛典推动了Twitter的普及。2009年,一家名为Foursquare的公司在SXSW盛典推出了手机网络服务。这项服务允许朋友之间通过手机程序或短信“检入”(checking in)分享自己所处的地理位置。Foursquare公司表示,现在他们在全球拥有超过650万用户。

    Margie Newman says quick response codes are big news at this year's festival. The codes turn URLs and text into barcode-like images that can be scanned using a mobile phone or a QR code reader.
    纽曼表示,今年嘉年华上的最大热点就是QR码(二维条码的一种)。它将网址和文本转换为类似图形的条形码,可以通过手机或QR码阅读器读取信息。

    MARGIE NEWMAN: "It looks like a scanning device like when you're at the grocery store but it's a square. A lot of people aren't quite using QR codes for marketing just yet in mainstream. But you're seeing a lot of it here. It's very hot this year." Cloud computing is also expected to be a hot topic this year, as is group messaging. The five-day festival runs through March fifteenth. Hundreds of events are planned each day. They include speeches by some of the world's leading technology industry experts, hands-on training workshops and many group discussions.
    纽曼:“QR码看上去就就像你在杂货店购物时看到的那种扫描条码一样,区别是QR码是正方形的。QR码尚未成为购物时的主流条码,但在这里你能看到很多这种QR码。它是今年的热点。”云计算和群组通信也有望成为今年的热门话题。为期5日的嘉年华到3月15日结束。每天都安排了数百项活动。包括世界技术行业的主流专家的演讲,亲自动手的体验店和许多群组讨论。

    MARGIE NEWMAN: "Without a doubt I would say South by Southwest Interactive is the place to be if you are into digital new media. You don't want to miss it. And in fact, part of it is just being able to say you were here makes you one of the cool kids, even if you didn't go to one panel. Just having the badge that says you were here kind of makes you worth your salt if you're part of the new media landscape."
    纽曼:“毫无疑问,如果你从事新媒体行业,SXSW嘉年华是你不容错过的地方。而事实上,嘉年华的一些东西足以让身处其中的你成为最时尚者之一,即使你没有去任何一个展台。如果你是新媒体的一部分,拥有代表你来过这里的徽章都让你觉得值得。”