【英语科技】下一代iPad或配摄像头和USB接口

Analysts at Goldman Sachs say Apple's next-generation iPad will likely include a camera and a mini USB port and will be lighter. The company is also considering making a smaller tablet, they say.

The possible changes sound a lot like the new features on BlackBerry's PlayBook, which the company unveiled this week and expects to ship in early 2011. The PlayBook includes a few bells and whistles that reviewers of the first iPad said they wanted - particularly cameras and a USB port for connecting the tablet to other devices.

A project to make a 7-inch iPad 'has not yet been finalized,' the analysts wrote. The iPad's screen measures 9.7 inches diagonally, but the PlayBook comes in at the smaller 7-inch size, and computer maker Dell recently offered a glimpse of a 7-inch tablet of its own.

Apple is ahead in the tablet game, having introduced the original iPad last spring. But competition in the category is heating up, with tablets already running on Google's Android operating system and others planned for Microsoft's Windows 7 and, now, BlackBerry's new Tablet OS. Other manufacturers might be playing catch-up, but they haven't been caught as flat-footed as they were when Apple introduced the iPhone.

By next summer, the analysts said, the big story could be a head-to-head competition between the iPad and devices running on Android 3.0, which is set to be released early next year. They said Android 3.0 has a 'competitive advantage' over other Apple competitors because of its stability.

The analysts, Henry King and Kevin Lu, based their projections on supply-chain checks and indicated that the next iteration of the iPad could be launched in spring of 2011. Such timing would make sense given Apple's propensity for introducing new versions of its mobile devices near the same time every year.

Readers, what do you think? Are there any changes you'd like to see on a new iPad? Would you want a smaller tablet?

高盛（Goldman Sachs）分析师说，苹果公司（Apple）下一代iPad平板电脑可能将包括一个摄像头和一个迷你USB接口，而且分量更轻。分析师说，苹果公司还在考虑生产更小型平板电脑。

Reuters苹果平板电脑可能出现的变化与黑莓（BlackBerry）平板电脑PlayBook的新功能听起来有许多相似之处。智能手机厂商RIM本周推出了PlayBook，预计将于2011年初发货。PlayBook包含第一批iPad买家希望具有的一些功能，尤其是摄像头和将平板电脑与其他设备连接的一个USB接口。

上述分析师写道，苹果公司生产七英寸屏幕iPad的项目“尚未最终确定”。iPad屏幕尺寸为9.7英寸，但PlayBook则为七英寸。电脑生产企业戴尔（Dell）近期向人们粗略展示了其七英寸屏幕的平板电脑。

苹果公司在平板电脑这一领域的竞争中拔得头筹，去年春天推出了最早的iPad。但这一领域的竞争不断升温，已出现运行谷歌（Google）Android操作系统的平板电脑，其他公司计划推出基于微软（Microsoft）Windows 7操作系统的平板电脑，目前黑莓新的平板机系统(Tablet OS)也已推出。其他制造企业或许正在奋起直追，但还没有像苹果公司推出iPhone时那样被打个措手不及。

分析师指出，明年夏天将上演iPad与运行Android 3.0平板电脑激烈竞争的大戏，Android 3.0将于明年初推出。分析师说，Android 3.0在稳定性上较苹果等对手有竞争优势。

高盛分析师金文衡(henry king)和Kevin Lu的预估是基于对供应链的检查，他们并暗示下一代iPad可能将在2011年春天推出。鉴于苹果公司习惯在每年差不多同一时间推出新款移动设备，因此这一时间推断是有道理的。

读者们，你们有什么感想？你希望新iPad有什么改变吗？你希望平板电脑更小吗？