傳蘋果洽購Beat：或“密謀”搶占可聽設備硬件市場

????皮特?李說：“從耳朵里肯定能獲得更精確的生理學數據。尤其是心率這類信息，從安靜的耳部獲得數據要比從嘈雜環境中的手環容易得多。由于耳部毛細血管眾多，數據的精度也大為提升。”

????現在業界已有不少成功案例。英特爾（Intel）開發了一款耳機，能跟蹤用戶的心率，并根據用戶的跑步節奏自動選擇歌曲。而LG公司的Lifeband Touch Activity Tracker耳機也能跟蹤用戶心率。

????可穿戴設備最大的挑戰莫過于如何融入大眾。谷歌眼鏡（Google Glass）就被人批評太過于招搖；而腕表這類產品想必就平易近人得多。（當然，它的價格也只有谷歌眼鏡的十分之一。）不過，耳機目前也已經被人們普遍接受，無論是在辦公室里，還是在公路上騎行時，還是身處健身房，佩戴耳機都已司空見慣。最后要強調的是，Beats在高端耳機市場的份額高達70%。而且，它成功地將傳統的工作室級包耳耳機變成了一種生活時尚。

????咨詢公司Cowen & Co分析師蒂姆?阿庫里稱：“蘋果所能收購的公司中，（除了Beats）沒有誰真的有能力為它帶來一系列高端產品，而且這些產品還能夠對蘋果正在開發的可穿戴設備產生積極作用。”

????阿庫里補充道，Beats音樂流媒體服務的核心是個性化引擎。它結合了推薦算法和人工篩選，進一步論證了“人性化數據”理念的高明之處。Beats音樂于今年初推出，為了與Pandora及Spotify等對手競爭，這家公司耗費巨資進行了火力密集的市場推廣。而且，Beats還眼疾手快地與美國電話電報公司（AT&T）達成合作協議，推出了家庭流媒體計劃，同時還收購了Topspin Media，后者能幫助音樂人向粉絲推銷自己的音樂作品。

????把所有這一切聯系起來，我們不難想像，蘋果將會推出新的耳機或是可穿戴設備，它們能根據用戶的心率、位置或心情進行服務。（目前尚不清楚蘋果是否需要與唱片公司就這項服務重新談判許可條款。）

????阿庫里稱：“我認為，蘋果會覺得這有可能改變內容交付的模式。Beats將音樂交付視為一種藝術，而非一門科學。這正是蘋果公司的思維方式。”

????而且，它也符合蘋果以用戶為中心的跨平臺技術路徑。麥克奎維說：“人們愿意允許蘋果公司介入自己的生活，而微軟（Microsoft）或其它公司都享受不到這樣的特權。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：項航

????"You can certainly get much better biometrics from the ear," Li says. "Especially from a heart rate perspective, it's much easier to distinguish what your heart rate is without all the noise you get from the wrist. You also get much better resolution in terms of capillary in the ear."

????Today, Intel offers headphones that track a person's heart rate and select music based on the user's running pace and LG offers with its Lifeband Touch Activity Tracker headphones to track the user's heart rate.

????A formidable challenge for any wearable technology device is normalizing its use. Google's (GOOG) Glass headset has been widely lampooned for how conspicuous it is; electronic wristbands have been more widely accepted. (Though it certainly helps that they are about 10% of the price of Glass.) But headphones are already a socially acceptable mainstay at the office, in transit, and during gym workouts. By most accounts, Beats controls about 70 percent of the high-end headphone market, and has helped accelerate a redefinition of studio-size, over-the-ear headphones as a lifestyle item.

????"There's not really any company [other than Beats] that Apple could acquire that could bring a pipeline of high-end products, and that they could potentially leverage into other wearable products that are already being developed by Apple," says Tim Arcuri, an analyst at Cowen & Co.

????Arcuri adds that the personalization engine at the heart of the Beats Music streaming music service, which blends recommendation algorithms with human curation, as further proof that the deal underscores the "humanization of data." Beats Music launched earlier this year, and the company has mounted an aggressive campaign to thrust the service deep into the pool of music streaming competitors that include Pandora and Spotify. In short order, Beats partnered with AT&T (T) to offer family streaming plans and acquired Topspin Media, which helps musicians sell their music and merchandise to fans.

????Connect the dots and it's not unreasonable to see how Apple could make earphones or another wearable device that could serve up tracks based on the wearer's heart rate, location, or mood. (It is not clear if Apple would have to renegotiate licensing terms with music labels for such a service.)

????"I think Apple looks at it and say this could potentially change the paradigm around content delivery," Arcuri says. "The way Beats looks at music delivery is an art, not a science. That's how Apple thinks about things."

????And it plays into Apple's cross-platform, user-centric approach to technology. "There's a willingness," McQuivey says, "to give Apple permission to insert itself into our lives in a way that we don't give to Microsoft or other companies."