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　　For those who are tired doing the laundry, Samsung has found an answer：a washing machine that can tell you when your laundry is done via a smartphone app(application)．

　　Strange though it may seem-“my wife already does that” was a common response among attendees viewing the device when it was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show(CES)this week-Samsung is just one of many appliance makers racing to install(安装)a large number of internet-connected features in machines in an effort to make them “smart”．

　　Last year, it was a refrigerator that tweeted．This year, it's Wi-Fi-enabled laundry machines and fridges that can tell you when your groceries are going bad．

　　The washers and dryers, available starting in the spring, connect to any smartphone through a downloadable application．The phone can then be used as a remote control, so the machines can be turned on and off while their owners is at work or on the bus．

　　Samsung says it's not just something new-the app connection actually has some practical uses．

　　“If you started to dry clothes in the morning and forgot to take them out, you can go to your phone and restart your dryer for the time when come home, so your clothes are refreshed and ready to go,” said spokesperson Amy Schmidt．

　　The company also says that with electricity rate(电价)varying depending on the time of day, more control over when the machines are used can help save money．

　　Perhaps, but what they will probably really accomplish is what all good technologies do-enable laziness．Rather than getting up to check on whether the laundry is done, users will instead monitor it on their phones while watching TV．

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　　The new iPhone 3G should please everyone．Its look and feel are only slightly improved, but a faster network loads Web pages more quickly, true GPS functionality allows it to easily

　　find places nearby, and the new ＄199 price(down from ＄400)makes it an affordable luxury．

　　Before deciding whether to buy, however, make sure you can actually take advantage of the iPhone 3G's high-speed data network．3G stands for third-generation, which in non-geek speak translates to Web pages and mail messages that, ideally, load about three times faster than on the original iPhone．Even better, 3G coverage enables you to make a phone call and surf the Web at the same time．That's great, if you live or work in a place where the 3G network of AT&T(美国电话电报公司)(the sole wireless carrier of the iPhone)is active．That's not so great in cities like New York where AT&T's cellular coverage is awful．As one of my colleagues in New York City, who bought the original iPhone, commented, "It's just a toy．You can't make phone calls on it, so I carry my Verizon phone with me all the time．"

　　The real fun begins when you tap on the icon called "App Store" and start browsing the hundreds of add-on applications that have been developed just for the iPhone．You'll find tons of games(I like JirboBreak, a free game inspired by the Atari classic Breakout)and mobile versions of popular websites like Pandora, Facebook, MySpace and the New York Times．Most apps will cost you, but the vast majority are ＄9.99 or less．The apps work on the old iPhones too, but you'll enjoy them a lot more on the iPhone 3G because many of the programs, including Yelp(local business reviews), Whrrl(mobile social networking)and UrbanSpoon(restaurant reviews), use your exact location - provided by the iPhone 3G's GPS chip - to make recommendations．The apps also load much faster over the 3G network．

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阅读理解

　　The new iPhone 3G should please everyone．Its look and feel are only slightly improved, but a faster network loads Web pages more quickly, true GPS functionality allows it to easily find places nearby, and the new ＄199 price(down from ＄400)makes it an affordable luxury．

　　Before deciding whether to buy, however, make sure you can actually take advantage of the iPhone 3G’s high-speed data network．3G stands for third-generation, which in non-geek speak translates to Web pages and mail messages that, ideally, load about three times faster than on the original iPhone．Even better, 3G coverage enables you to make a phone call and surf the Web at the same time．That’s great, if you live or work in a place where the 3G network of AT&T(美国电话电报公司)(the sole wireless carrier of the iPhone)is active．That’s not so great in cities like New York where AT&T’s cellular(电台通讯网)coverage is awful．As one of my colleagues in New York City, who bought the original iPhone, commented, “It’s just a toy．You can’t make phone calls on it, so I carry my Verizon phone with me all the time．”

　　The real fun begins when you tap on the icon(计算机图标)called “Apple Store” and start browsing(浏览)the hundreds of add-on applications that have been developed just for the iPhone．You will find tons of games(I like JirboBreak, a free game inspired by the Atari classic Breakout)and mobile version of popular websites like Pandora, Facebook, MySpace and the New York Times．Most apps will cost you, but the vast majority are ＄9.99 or less．The apps work on the old iPhone too, but you’ll enjoy them a lot more on the iPhone 3G because many of the programs, including Yelp(local business reviews), Whrrl(mobile social networking)and UrbanSpoon(restaurant reviews), use you exact location－provided by the iPhone 3G’s GPS chip－to make recommendations．The apps also load much faster over the 3G network．

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