纽约，10月13日：苹果将于周二展示一轮新的智能家居产品，包括一种类似iPad的设备，可挂在墙上或放在桌面上，用于展示其AI升级的Siri虚拟助手。
NEW YORK, Oct 13 : Apple on Tuesday is expected to show off a new round of smart home products, including an iPad-like device meant to hang on walls or perch on tabletops that will showcase its AI-upgraded Siri virtual assistant.
这些设备将帮助用户控制门铃、恒温器和智能门锁，而苹果在这一市场已摸索十年却未取得重大成功。分析师称，这些设备还可能包括对其HomePod智能音箱和Apple TV设备的升级。
The devices will help users control doorbells, thermostats and smart locks in a market where Apple has tinkered for a decade without major success. The devices could also include upgrades to its HomePod smart speaker and Apple TV devices, analysts said.
苹果推出这些产品是为了应对竞争对手的挑战，包括传统竞争对手如亚马逊公司，后者在其Echo音箱和Ring门铃上投入巨资，且上周推出了高端平板电脑，以及像OpenAI这样的新兴AI公司，它们也有自己的硬件野心。
Apple is launching these products as it tries to fend off challenges from rivals, including traditional competitors like Amazon.com, which has invested heavily in its Echo speakers and Ring doorbells and last week launched premium tablets, as well as newer AI upstarts like OpenAI that have hardware ambitions of their own.
随着公司服务收入面临监管压力，投资者正更密切地关注苹果的硬件销售以寻求增长。
Investors are looking more closely at Apple's hardware sales for growth as the company's services revenue has come under regulatory pressure.
苹果于2016年首次推出Home app来控制智能小工具，随后在2018年推出HomePod智能音箱，但这些产品正面临来自Alphabet的Google Home音箱和亚马逊Echo系列的竞争。分析师称，苹果面临的两大障碍是使其设备能与各种第三方小工具兼容，以及Siri提供有用回答的能力有限。
Apple first released its Home app to control smart gadgets in 2016, with HomePod smart speakers following in 2018, but those offerings are competing with Alphabet's Google Home speakers and Amazon's Echo line. Analysts said two major hurdles for Apple were making its devices work with a variety of third-party gadgets and the limited ability of Siri to give useful answers.
今年夏天，苹果在谷歌的协助下升级了Siri的能力，但TECHnalysis Research首席分析师Bob O'Donnell表示，为许多苹果消费者布置智能家居的过程仍然过于复杂，以至于他们难以看到其好处。
Apple this summer upgraded Siri's capabilities with assistance from Google, but the process of wiring a smart home is still too difficult for many Apple consumers to see a benefit, said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research.
“AI的进步最终应该会有所帮助，但苹果的关键问题是，它们是否具备简化流程的连接智慧，以及它们是否愿意在智能家居生态系统中进行合作，而不仅仅局限于自己的封闭花园，” O'Donnell说。
"Advancements in AI should finally help, but the key questions for Apple are, do they have connectivity smarts to simplify the process and are they going to be willing to work across the smart home ecosystem and not just within their own walled garden," O'Donnell said.