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Now you can Google a phone call.
现在你可以用谷歌(Google)打电话了。
On Wednesday, Google unveiled its long-awaited phone service, called Project Fi, putting the search giant in competition with Verizon, AT&T and other wireless service providers. In addition to new turf, the service is an attempt to blend several communication tools and the multiplying ways of calling people — cellular calls, online calls like those offered by Skype — into a single phone number and service.
周三，谷歌推出了人们期待已久的手机服务Project Fi，这家搜索巨头因此加入了与威瑞森(Verizon)、AT&T等无线服务提供商的竞争中。除了涉足新领域，这项服务还试图把各种通讯工具，以及日益增多的通话方式——手机、Skype提供的那种网络电话——整合进一个单独的号码和服务。
For now, Project Fi could be considered an experiment. It will be available only to people using Google’s Nexus 6 phone, limiting its reach.
就目前而言，Project Fi可以被看做是一种尝试。只有谷歌Nexus 6的用户才能使用它，这限制了它的影响范围。
Analysts see the new service as a bid to reimagine phone calls so that they have greater overlap with Google’s expanding world of devices and services.
分析人士认为，这项新的服务是对手机通话的重新构想，从而让它与谷歌不断扩大的设备和服务有更大的交集。
Video by GoogleProject Fi: Innovating in connectivity and communication
谷歌Project Fi的视频：连通与通讯的革新。
Unlike your typical cell service, Project Fi will mix traditional wireless technology, where calls are routed through cellular towers, with the wireless Internet service found in Starbucks, airports and elsewhere. Google has teamed with Sprint and T-Mobile to provide the traditional wireless service, and said it had about a million wireless hotspots for the rest.
与一般的手机服务不同，Project Fi将把传统的无线技术——通过蜂窝信号塔传输的手机通话——与星巴克、机场和其他地方的那种无线互联网服务结合起来。谷歌已经与Sprint和T-Mobile合作，提供传统的无线服务，并表示，除此之外还提供了约100万个无线热点。
“Wherever you’re connected to Wi-Fi — whether that’s at home, your favorite coffee shop or your Batcave — you can talk and text like you normally do,” wrote Nick Fox, Google’s vice president of communications products, in a blog post. “If you leave an area of Wi-Fi coverage, your call will seamlessly transition from Wi-Fi to cell networks so your conversation doesn’t skip a beat.”
“无论你在哪里连接Wi-Fi——家里、你最喜欢的咖啡馆还是你的秘密基地——你都可以正常打电话发短信，”谷歌通讯产品副总裁尼克·福克斯(Nick Fox)在一篇博客中说。“如果你离开Wi-Fi覆盖的区域，你的通话将自动从Wi-Fi转入蜂窝网络，对话不会中断。”
In addition to changing networks, the service will move users’ phone numbers between screens, so they can talk and text on phones, tablets or laptops. And as with most things Google does, the service is meant to be cheap.
除了切换网络，该服务还可以让用户在不同设备上使用同一个号码，这样以来，他们在手机、平板和笔记本电脑上都能打电话和发信息。就像谷歌的多数产品一样，这项服务同样价格不高。
Traditional cellphone carriers like AT&T and Verizon charge customers upward of $100 a month for their services, including phone calls and mobile data. Google’s service will be $20 a month for basic voice and text service, along with a flat $10 per gigabyte of cellular data.
对包括电话和移动数据在内的服务，AT&T和威瑞森等传统手机运营商每月向用户收取超过100美元（约合620元人民币）的费用。谷歌的基本语音和短信服务月费将为20美元，同时1G移动数据的收费为固定的10美元。
“Since it’s hard to predict your data usage, you’ll get credit for the full value of your unused data,” according to the blog post. “Let’s say you go with 3GB for $30 and only use 1.4GB one month. You’ll get $16 back, so you only pay for what you use.”
“因为很难预计数据使用情况，未使用数据的全部费用会被返还，”福克斯的博客说。“比如，你花30美元购买了3G的流量，但一个月只用了1.4G。所以你会收到返还的16美元，只有用过的数据才花钱。”
In many ways, the wireless service is similar to the Google Fiber Internet service that has been introduced in a handful of American cities, including the Kansas City area and Austin, Tex.
在很多方面，该无线服务都和Google Fiber互联网服务类似。后者已在美国一些城市引入，包括堪萨斯城地区和德州的奥斯汀。
Google is piggybacking on giant physical networks that are owned by other companies, creating a barrier that, for now at least, limits Google’s competitive threat to traditional carriers. But Google has a long history of trying to cut out middlemen — including Internet service providers, online stores and delivery businesses — that stand between the company and users.
谷歌目前所依附的大型实体网络属其他公司所有，由此生出的障碍，至少在目前限制了谷歌对传统运营商的竞争威胁。但在将阻挡在自己和用户之间的中间人——包括互联网服务供应商、网店和快递企业——踢出局上，谷歌有着悠久的历史。
With the wireless service, Google will be operating as what is called a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, which provides a service on other mobile carriers’ networks.
有了该无线服务，谷歌将能以所谓的移动虚拟运营商(MVNO)的身份进行运营，这是一种用其他移动运营商的网络提供服务的方式。
“It’s always an interesting business because you are dependent on the companies who you are trying to compete with,” said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research. “And they will only support you if they think you’re targeting a niche they can’t target themselves.”
“这一直都是一个有意思的领域，因为你依赖的，正是你想与之竞争的公司，”穴鸟研究公司(Jackdaw Research)首席分析师简·道森(Jan Dawson)说。“只有让它们认为，你的目标是它们做不了的小众市场，它们才会支持你。”
