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专栏作家莫博士就有关电脑和其他电子设备的常见技术问题答读者问。问:我是Palm Treo用户,想买台iPhone,因为它的应用软件还不错。但我在店里试用了iPhone的虚拟键盘,觉得很不喜欢。有没有一种感应笔能增强按键的准确性,或是通过某些软件来实现?答:有几个专门用于iPhone和iPod Touch的感应笔品牌,不过我不知道它们能不能增强准确性。这些感应笔旨在让打字更方便,尤其是在你的指甲很长或带着手套的情况下。Pogo就是一例,它是一款用于iPhone的感应笔,售价15美元,来自Ten One Design公司,网址是tenonedesign.com。除此之外,有几款iPhone应用软件允许用户使用宽键盘写邮件短信和发布在Twitter的贴子,而无需使用窄小的标准键盘,从而帮助用户提高按键的准确度。你可以在这些应用软件内输入文字,软件随后会将你输入的信息发送到iPhone的邮件程序进行转换。我用的一个应用软件名为TouchType,写邮件和Twitter都可以用,价格为0.99美元。另一个有趣的解决方案是一个名为ShapeWriter的免费应用软件,你可以在键盘上拖动手指,将按键上的字母连成单词。在打字过程中你无需提起手指,直到完成整个单词。用ShapeWriter编写的文本可以保存,也可以转到邮件程序发送出去。最后,关于在iPhone上打字我得强调两件事。第一,仅仅在店里试用几分钟很难确定你能不能习惯使用,因为通常需要几天才能掌握用iPhone打字的技巧。第二,有的人永远也不会适应虚拟键盘,他们应当选择有实体键盘的手机。问:在对新版Safari网络浏览器的测评中,你提到有的网站登载了一些方法可以取消这个版本中为你所诟病的一些新变化。能否解释一下怎么做?答:有两种方法可以改变Safari 4,让它的外观和功能更像原先的版本,同时保持新版更快的速度。其中一个方法需要在电脑中输入很专业的命令。不过对于主流用户我还是推荐另一个方法:下载一个新的免费小工具,名为Safari 4 Buddy。可以通过swoon.net/site/software.html下载。Safari 4 Buddy让你可以自己设置按钮,以改变Safari 4的分页面标签的位置,将它们置于工具栏项下,而不是屏幕顶端,并恢复被苹果公司取消的页面下载蓝色进度条。它还可以让用户从浏览器的“自定义”菜单中选择苹果省略的其他设置。我已经测试过这个工具,它很好用。不过,这款小工具只适用于Mac版的Safari 4,我不知道有什么办法能在Windows版的Safari 4上实现这些变化。还有,苹果说不定还会对Safari 4浏览器作出进一步修改,从而令通过Safari 4 Buddy实现的个性化设置被撤销。Walter S. Mossberg(编者按:本文作者Walter S. Mossberg是《华尔街日报》科技栏目Personal Technology,Mossberg's Mailbox等栏目的专栏作家。这些栏目主要介绍一些最新的消费类科技产品和解决方案,并解答读者提出的问题。) 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年03月19日09:12', 'AAPL'));苹果公司英文名称:Apple Inc.总部地点:美国上市地点:纳斯达克股票代码:AAPL
Q: I am a Palm Treo user and would like to get an iPhone for the apps. But I have tried the virtual keyboard on the iPhone in the store and hate it. Is there a stylus you can use for better accuracy, or some software trick?A: I don't know if they improve accuracy, but there are several stylus brands made for the iPhone and iPod Touch. They are aimed at making typing easier, especially if you have long nails or are wearing gloves. One example is the Pogo, a $15 iPhone stylus from a company called Ten One Design, at tenonedesign.com.In addition, there are several iPhone apps that attempt to help typing accuracy by allowing you to compose emails, text messages and Twitter posts using a wide, landscape keyboard rather than the narrower standard keyboard. You type your message in these apps, and then the app sends them to the iPhone's email program for transmission. One that I have used is called TouchType. It works with email and Twitter, and costs 99 cents.Another interesting solution is a free app called ShapeWriter, which lets you type by sliding your finger along a keyboard to connect the letters in words. You never have to lift your finger until you are done with a whole word. Messages you compose in ShapeWriter can be saved as notes or shipped to the email program for sending.Finally, I should note two things about typing on an iPhone. First, it's difficult to know if you'll be comfortable with it from just a few minutes in a store, because it usually takes a few days to master. Second, some people won't ever find it acceptable, and these folks should choose a phone that has a physical keyboard.Q: In your review of the new version of the Safari Web browser, you said some Web sites were publishing methods for undoing some of the changes in it that you criticized. Can you explain how I can do that?A: There are two methods for changing Safari 4 so it looks and works more like the previous versions, while retaining its faster speed. One method involves typing techie commands into the computer. But, for mainstream users, I recommend another: downloading a new free utility called Safari 4 Buddy. It's available at swoon.net/site/software.html.Safari 4 Buddy allows you to just check off buttons that can change the placement of tabs in Safari 4 so they're under the toolbars, rather than at the top of the screen, and restore the blue page-loading progress bar that Apple killed. It also permits users to change other settings Apple omitted from the browser's Preferences menus. I have tested it and it works.However, this utility works only on the Mac version of Safari 4. I don't know of any way to make these changes in the Windows version. Also, there's no guarantee that Apple won't make future modifications to the browser that might reverse any customizations Safari 4 Buddy makes.Walter S. Mossberg