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Struck by a daily onslaught of rumours and speculation about the next iPhone or iPad, Apple always refuses to discuss future product launches.
纵然每天都要面对有关新一代iPhone或iPad的传言与猜测拷问，苹果公司(Apple)总是拒绝谈论未来将要进行的新产品发布。
Surprise is an essential ingredient for Apple’s unveiling of new devices. It generates millions of dollars’ worth of free press coverage, as testimony from senior Apple executives in the technology group’s California court battle with its South Korean arch-rival Samsungshowed.
出人意料是苹果新产品发布中必不可少的元素。苹果与韩国竞争对手三星(Samsung)正在加州法庭上演诉讼大战。来自苹果高级管理层的证言证实，保持神秘能给苹果带来价值数百万美元的免费媒体报道。
However, Apple’s battle over intellectual property rights has undermined its arsenal of marketing strategies and reliance on secrecy as evidence obtained and submitted to the public court by Samsung has spoiled some of its plans with the revelation of discussions last year about a smaller iPad.
但苹果与三星之间的知识产权纠纷减少了可供苹果选择的营销策略，也有损于其依赖神秘感的策略，因为三星取得并向公开法庭提交的证据披露，苹果去年曾就推出一款尺寸较小的iPad产品进行过讨论，如此一来就打乱了苹果的一些计划。
A San Jose courtroom last week heard detailed testimony from Apple executives who rarely give press interviews, detailing the development and marketing strategies behind the technology industry’s biggest hype machine.
美国加州圣何塞市某法庭上周听取了平时极少接受公开采访的苹果管理层的详细证词，证词中细致介绍了这家科技巨头的产品研发以及市场营销战略。
The secretive technology group was required to reveal that it spent $535m marketing the iPad and iPhone last year, with the budget for its tablet computer doubling over 2010 to overtake the smartphone’s adspend, figures it does not usually disclose in financial filings.
一向神秘的苹果公司在法庭要求下透露，去年iPad和iPhone的市场营销费用合计5.35亿美元，其中用于iPad的营销预算在2010年翻了一番，超过iPhone的广告支出，而这些数字在财务报告中通常是不披露的。
The nine men and women who make up the jury in the four-week trial are tasked with deciding how novel the iPhone and its tablet successor really were. Apple accuses Samsung of copying its designs while Samsung argues that touch-screen smartphones with black glass faces and rounded corners predate the iPhone, invalidating Apple’s claimed intellectual-property protection.
在长达四周的庭审之后，由九名男女组成的陪审团将决定iPhone和iPad究竟具有多大的创新性。苹果指控三星抄袭其产品设计，而三星则指出，在iPhone问世之前，外形为黑色镜面圆角的触屏智能手机就已经存在，苹果的知识产权保护主张无效。
Samsung’s courtroom strategy interferes with Apple’s launch plans at the same time as aiming to show the jury that its US rival looks to competitors for inspiration.
三星在法庭上采取的战术旨在向陪审团展示，苹果试图从竞争对手身上寻找灵感，同时也干扰了苹果的新产品发布计划。
Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice-president of iOS, the iPhone and iPad operating system, and Phil Schiller, its head of worldwide marketing, both members of the executive board, told the court that the idea for the iPhone originated in 2004.
苹果负责iOS系统(iPhone和iPad的操作系统)的高级副总裁斯科特?福斯托(Scott Forstall)，以及全球市场营销主管菲尔?席勒(Phil Schiller)在法庭上透露，苹果开发iPhone的想法始于2004年。福斯托和席勒均为苹果执行董事会成员。
On Friday, the jury heard from Mr Forstall, who had worked with Mr Jobs since 1992, and led development of the current Mac operating system, OSX, before joining a top-secret initiative to develop a tablet device in 2004.
上周五陪审团听取了福斯托的证词。福斯托自1992年起就和史蒂夫?乔布斯(Steve Jobs)一起工作，曾领导Mac目前所用操作系统OSX的开发，并于2004年加入了一项旨在开发平板设备的高度机密行动。
Jurors were shown several tablet prototypes and were told that Apple’s success with the iPod had prompted discussion about what the company could do next.
福斯托向陪审团成员们展示了多个平板电脑原型，并表示苹果在iPod上取得的成功引发了对该公司下一步应如何行动的讨论。
The tablet initiative was put on hold for a few years and development efforts were transferred to Project Purple – the code name for what would become the iPhone.
开发平板电脑的行动中途曾暂停数年，研发力量被转移至“紫色计划”(Project Purple)——这就是后来的iPhone的代号。
Questioning and evidence by Samsung’s legal team revealed that Apple had originally discussed using the original iPod’s “click wheel” on the iPhone. Internal Apple discussions about a Samsung device with a circular keypad were shown to the court which, Samsung’s attorney argued, showed the iPhone’s developers had looked to its South Korean rival for “inspiration” – part of its attempt to undermine Apple’s patent claims.
来自三星法律团队的质询和证据显示，苹果最初曾考虑在iPhone上使用自身原创的iPod点触轮(click wheel)设计。三星公司的律师向法庭出示了苹果内部对一款带环形按键三星手机的讨论记录，并指出这表明iPhone开发团队曾从作为其竞争对手的三星身上寻找“灵感”，希望借此减弱苹果的专利主张。
“I never instructed anyone to copy anything from Samsung,” Mr Forstall said later.
福斯托其后表示：“我从未指示任何人抄袭三星的任何东西。”
During Mr Schiller’s testimony on Friday, he described how Apple builds the hype around new products. Immediately after the first iPhone was launched in January 2007, Apple did not spend any money on advertising, instead trading on the excitement when Mr Jobs unveiled the device. Dedicated Apple employees are charged with “buzz marketing” and securing product placement in TV shows and films, Mr Schiller said.
席勒在上周五出庭作证时，介绍了苹果如何围绕新产品构建起庞大的营销攻势。在2007年1月首款iPhone手机刚刚发布之时，苹果没有投入任何资金进行广告宣传，而是抓住乔布斯发布这款产品时引起的狂热大做文章。席勒称，全情投入的苹果员工们承担起了“蜂鸣营销”的任务，并在电视节目以及电影中争取到了植入iPhone产品的机会。
Then closer to the June launch date, Apple began a TV, billboard and press ad campaign that taught people how to use the new device, he said. Total advertising spending for the iPhone has grown from $98m in 2008 to $226m in 2011.
他表示，其后，随着6月份首款iPhone正式发售期的临近，苹果启动了覆盖电视、广告牌以及平面媒体等多种渠道的广告宣传攻势，教给消费者如何使用这款新手机。用于iPhone宣传的广告总支出从2008年的9800万美元猛增至2011年的2.26亿美元。
Apple’s market research into iPhone owners showed that its customers valued its design and its user interface highly – key planks of its case against Samsung. This approach makes copycat products particularly damaging, Mr Schiller argued, because customers might become confused.
苹果对iPhone手机用户进行的市场调查显示，用户对iPhone外观设计以及用户界面的评价颇高——这是苹果反击三星的主要论据。席勒指出，在这种情况下仿制产品造成的危害尤为突出，因其可能使消费者感到迷惑。
In cross-examination, Samsung’s legal team sought to show that touch-screen phones and mobiles which could play music and movies predated the iPhone.
在交叉询问中，三星的法律团队力图说明在iPhone问世之前，就已经有了可以播放音乐和视频的触摸屏手机和移动设备。
Samsung went on to show other market research, which it suggested showed that design was a lower priority than other factors, such as price, when Americans buy smartphones.
三星还给出了其他市场调查结果，称其表明美国消费者在购买智能手机时，对产品设计的重视程度低于价格等其他因素。
But one Apple secret remained intact. Apple’s public relations team looked on nervously on as Mr Forstall was asked by Samsung’s attorney about details of the next iPhone, which his questioner suggested would have a different design.
但苹果的一个关键秘密仍然没有公开。在福斯托被三星的律师问及有关新一代iPhone的具体细节时，苹果的公共关系团队表现得非常紧张。三星的律师指出，新一代iPhone的外观设计可能发生变化。
To the disappointment of the assembled press pack, and relief of the PRs, Mr Forstall declined to answer.
福斯托拒绝回答该问题，这让庭审现场聚集的各路媒体深感失望，同时也让苹果的公关团队长舒了一口气。
The trial continues.
目前庭审仍在继续。
译者:马拉
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