亚马逊Fire手机初体验

    在我亲自测试这款应用的过程中，我发现它在识别图书、视频游戏封面上，可以算得上是“秒开”，但是在识别一般日常用品比如食品和清洁用品时，有时却不是很顺利。比如有一次我扫描了一盒凯洛格公司的Special K薯片，但是这款应用却显示它是一盒蓝莓味的Special K饼干（不过第二次扫描成功了）。当我试图扫描微软的Xbox One游戏机或苹果iPhone 5S手机时，Firefly根本就不识别它们。（你一定是故意的，杰夫•贝佐斯。）

    Firefly识别出一样物品后，会给你提供一个在亚马逊上直接购买的选项。另外亚马逊也允许第三方开发者整合Firefly。比如通过iHeartRadio等应用，你甚至可以根据一首FireFly识别出的歌曲，建立一个自己的音乐电台——这样就使它的功能远远超出了一台简单的销售终端系统。

    在这款手机首次发布时，亚马逊的CEO贝佐斯努力想把Fire描绘成一种与众不同的智能手机。在这一点上Firefly做得很不错。另外贝佐斯在发布会上提到的“独特的用户体验”，其实来自一个叫“动态视角”的功能。它本质上就是亚马逊耗时四年开发的一个3D界面。

    在手机上应用“3D”社交并不是什么新鲜事，比如HTC公司的Evo 3D和苹果iOS系统的视差滚动效果等等。不过Fire的不同之处，在于它利用手机的四台前置摄像头来抓取你的头部相对于手机屏幕的角度。因此如果你想要调节显示屏中物体的角度，你可以不用动手，只需要移动你的头就行了，就像看真实世界的物体时一样。

    当你第一次体验这种视觉效果时，留下的印象的确很深刻。但过了几天后，这种新鲜感逐渐变淡，你就会注意到一些信息以奇怪的方式从手机上“滑落”了。（比如要想让状态栏在屏幕上多停一会，好看一看剩余的电量，简直像耍杂技一样难。当然，手机上也有永久显示状态栏的设置，但莫名其妙的是，它是默认禁用的。）

    在我禁用了动态视角功能后，这部手机的整体性能大大提高了。使用APP的卡顿、解锁时的延迟统统消失了。（不过摄像头的迟钝反应仍让我稍嫌不足。）我觉得手机的续航时间可能也相应提高了，不过这很难说——在我的测试过程中，几次续航时间的差异很大，有时我大部分时间把它放在车上的杯托里，它只能坚持11个小时；有时我整天都在把玩，包括用它给孩子从网站上放动画片，但它却能坚持一整天。

    亚马逊的应用商店里可以找到大多数我们期望的常用应用，比如Facebook、Instagram和Twitter等。值得注意提星巴克（Starbucks）和Fourquare这两个常年占据我自己手机主页的应用，在亚马逊的应用商店里却下载不到。（由于对应用的偏好众口难调，或许你的感觉跟我不一样。）

    在拿到Fire手机的那一刻，你就会发现这部手机存在的主要原因，就是销售亚马逊的产品和服务。当然从这一点上看，它和你口袋里现有的智能手机也没什么两样，但是Fire表现得要更加直白些。人们会被它的直白吓得敬而远之吗？这可难倒我了。我想象着有一天，我可以随手扫描一样喜欢的东西，然后让亚马逊的无人机把它投递到我家里。我已经迫不及待想和妻子分享这种惊喜体验。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    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.