Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. vibration (n.) [vahy-brey-shuhn] – a shaking motion
Example: Earthquakes
are caused by vibrations in the ground.
2. jolt (n.) [johlt] – a sudden movement
Example: The car made
a jolt as the engine was started.
3. subtle (adj.) [suht-l] – something not obvious or hard to detect
Example: She prefers
perfumes with a subtle scent.
4. edge (n.) [ej] – an advantage over others
Example: His ability
to speak good English was his edge in getting the job.
5. divulge (v.) [dih-vuhlj, dahy-]– to reveal (information)
Example: One should
take care not to divulge important phone numbers, key codes or passwords to
people on the Internet.
Article
Read the text below.
Read the text below.
Immersion,
a company based in California, has developed a unique hardware technology for
cell phones that may soon be used on other electronic devices. The hardware makes
phones produce not only different kinds of vibrations, but also
taps and rolling movements.
Immersion’s
Vice President Dennis Sheehan explains that its design uses piezoelectric, a
type of ceramic that produces an electric jolt when applied with
pressure. Unlike the mechanism in Apple’s iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy phone and
Nokia phones, this one allows a wide variety of vibrations—from subtle to
strong ones.
With
varying kinds of vibration, a phone user can set a specific vibration for each
contact or scroll through the menu by simply tapping the touchscreen without
having to look at it.
Adding
unique features such as vibration modes gives mobile devices more edge than
other qualities such as design, processing speed or phone memory. These
qualities, Sheehan explains, tend to be the same among different devices.
Smartphone
developers are already preparing to use the new technology. However, Sheehan
chose not to divulge which company will be the first to use it.
Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
Do you think the vibration feature
is necessary on cell phones? Explain your answer.
·
How do you think different vibration
features help users?
Discussion
B
·
Do you think people can live without
cell phones? Why or why not?
·
Do you think other cell phone
features (games, GPS, wi-fi, etc.) are necessary? Explain your answer.
