Technology Titans Battle Over Format Of DVD Successor.docVIP

Technology Titans Battle Over Format Of DVD Successor 科技巨头卷入全球DVD标准之战 Its been only a few years since DVD players started taking over from VCRs in the living room. But a new battle is already raging over the DVDs high-definition successor. The prize: enormous strategic influence over the consumer-electronics market. The players: practically everyone in the technology world, from personal-computer titans that want to reach into consumer electronics to upstart Asian companies that want to lure manufacturing away from Japan.虽然DVD影碟机在前两年才刚刚取代老式录像机进入了家庭，但一场新的关于下一代高清晰度产品的战斗早已拉开帷幕了。谁能取得这场斗争的胜利，谁就能在电子消费品市场上独领风骚，施展巨大的影响力。几乎整个科技界都参与了进来：既有试图把触角伸入电子消费品市场的个人电脑业巨擘，也有希望与日本在制造业领域一争高下的亚洲新秀。The fight could get as messy as the VHS vs. Betamax battle over videotape formats in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving people so confused they end up buying nothing.在上世纪七八十年代，VHS(家用录影系统)与Betamax(Beta制大尺寸磁带录像系统)曾就录像带的格式争得不可开交，到后来消费者们都被弄糊涂了，不知道买什么好，而如今的这场战争恐怕也是如此。By Phred Dvorak in Tokyo, Nick Wingfield in San Francisco and Sarah McBride in Los AngelesWe thought everyone would agree this time, says Kiyoshi Nishitani, a former Betamax engineer at Sony Corp. who is a key player in the new battle. We never thought it would become such a big deal.曾在索尼公司(Sony Corp., J.SNY, 又名：新力公司)研究Betamax的工程师kiyoshi Nishitani认为，这次大家会达成一致了，以前大家根本没想到这是块大蛋糕。Nishitani那时是主要的参战者。On Sonys side is Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic products, as well as PC maker Dell Inc. and many others. The opposing camp is led by Toshiba Corp. and plans to make room for video software from Microsoft Corp. 站在索尼公司一边的有松下电器产业公司(Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., 6752.TO)、戴尔公司(Dell Inc., DELL)以及其他许多企业。另一阵营则由东芝公司(Toshiba Corp., 6502.TO)领头，并打算使用微软(Microsoft Corp., MSFT)的影像软件。Unlike the old days of the stand-alone VCR, DVD players now go in computers and videogame machines as well as underneath the television set. In the converging world of digital music, movies and pictures, the technical specifications of the DVDs