Apple charges a lot for official iPad accessories.

If you plan to do any serious typing on the device, you'll probably want to invest in one of Apple's official iPad keyboards. The dock version isn't exactly portable. It's $69 price tag is also steep.

Here's an easy way to save $40. Buy Apple's official camera kit for the iPad. It contains two dongles. One for SD slots and one for connecting USB cameras. The USB dongle has a hidden function. It supports both USB keyboards and USB headsets.

Simply plug a keyboard you already have into your iPad. It will complain about the device not being supported. Ignore the warning, and type away. I've tried it myself and it works very well. It even supports basic "command - " functions like a normal Mac.

Unfortunately, this trick only works with the iPad and not the iPhone and iPod Touch. Also, it only supports more basic bus powered wired and wireless keyboards. Forget using your LED backlit gaming keyboard.

Radio was the first major electronic device to win the hearts of consumers. But like every other gadget, people weren't satisfied. Sure, you could listen to a concert at Carnegie Hall. That was revolutionary. Still, you couldn't watch the performance as if you were actually there. What if you could?

Developing a system that could transmit both sound and pictures was the holy grail for radio engineers, even before radio was invented.

The roots of such a system can be traced back to 1840, to the 1840s when Scottish inventor Alexander Bain proved it was possible to send images electrically. His complex device used a clockwork system to scan a message and transfer it to a series of electrical pins on a drum. The electrical signals sent by the machine could be reproduced on the other end. In 1861, Italian physicist Giovanni Caselli made a practical version of this device. We know it today as the fax machine.

The next evolution came in 1873, from an English inventor named Willoughby Smith. He was trying to develop a system to test underwater cables as they were being laid. Smith tried using selenium electrodes. Quite by accident, he found the electrical conductivity of the selenium rods dropped when exposed to a bright light. This property of selenium could be used to turn light into electrical signals. The discovery would eventually give birth to electrical cameras.

In 1883, German technician Paul Gottlieb Nipkow developed a perforated disk after reportedly being inspired from beams of light coming from a lamp. The holes were positioned in a spiral pattern and could, in theory, reproduce an image via mosaic of points and lines.

The basis for reproducing images had been laid by the early 1900s. Georges Rignoux and A. Fournier had managed to reproduce images using selenium cells in Paris in 1909. In 1911, Russian scientist Boris Rosing and his student Vladimir Zworykin invented a system to display crude images over wires using a cathode ray tube.

It wasn't until 1925 when the first practical device for showing video first appeared. Scottish engineer John Logie Baird took a Nipkow's disk and worked it into a mechanical device for showing moving pictures. A modulated light source was used in conjunction with the perforated aluminum disc, which was spun with a motor. As each hole passed by, it created a single line in the image. It used AM radio waves to receive the image transmitted from a similar device that acted as the camera. He called his invention the Televisor. The first image it received was "Stooky Bill", a ventriloquist dummy. The Televisor could reproduce images in 30 vertical lines, at five frames per second. The picture was extremely small by today's standards. Maybe about an inch across.

The Televisor revolutionized radio. However, it came about at the worst possible time. When the Great depression hit In 1929, people weren't concerned about moving pictures in the home. Baird only began regular broadcasts through the BBC in that year. The technology was also rapidly improving. By the time the Televisor was being mass marketed, it was already obsolete.




In 1927, American inventor Philo Farnsworth demonstrated the first all-electronic television. The 21-year-old's device used a cathode ray tube instead of a Nipkow disk. It has no moving parts, had a larger screen, and produced better quality pictures.





By the 1930s, the us Federal Communications Commission settled on the Farnsworth design as the future of television. By 1941, the familiar 525 line NTSC format was adopted in the US. The format is still widely used 70 years later. After the end of WWII, televisions became a staple of North American households. It hailed the end of radio's golden era as programming moved to TV.

Images courtesy of Wikipedia & The Early Television Museum

When Ted Rogers Sr. invented the batteryless radio, it sparked a revolution in electronics. It was a simple idea. Create an electronic device that could simply plug into any wall socket. Back when it took three different batteries to power a radio, this was a major blessing.

Today, we have an authentic Rogers batteryless radio on the workbench. This particular model was made in 1936 for by Rogers for DeForest-Crosley. Despite being 74 years old, it still works. This model features all original parts, except for the antenna. It stands as a testament to the durability of tubes when they're taken care off.




Image courtesy of the Canadian Vintage Radio Society.

Electronics affect so much of our daily lives. Right now, you're reading this on your computer, an advanced electronic device.

We're surrounded by electronics but few stop to think how it all began. This month, we're taking you back to the past, way back. To the roots of everything you see on this site and in your daily life.

This September, we'll look at how electronics have evolved since their invention, to their domination in our daily lives. I've also got a couple of surprises in store. Today, we'll be turning back the clock all the way to the birth of the modern world.

The Invention of Electrical Communications
The invention of electronics can't be traced back to one individual or time. Individual components came about from a slew of inventors over a span of 100 years. The first electrical communication devices were telegraphs, dating as far back as 1806. Samuel Morse perfected the design in 1844. The devices used a battery and key to send varied electrical signals through a cable. While primitive, they were the first electrical communication devices.

In 1876, Elisha Grey and Alexandre Graham Bell simultaneously invented an electrical device for two way voice telegraphy. Bell called his invention the "telephone".

By 1890, Nikola Tesla began working on a concept for wireless transmission of messages. In 1894, Indian physicist Jagadish Chandra Bose began experimenting with UHF signals for communication.

Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi began sending signals a distance of 1.5km in 1895. Other inventors such as Russian Alexander Stepanovich Popov began working on similar devices independent of each other.

Marconi's first radio transmitter used a simple oscillator or spark gap to send signals. The system could send Morse Code using a telegraph key to vary radio pulses. His simple receiver used a coherer, a glass tube with metal filings inside that could detect radio waves. The filings were connected with electrodes.

Early radios couldn't amplify signals to send or receive communication over long distances. This made transatlantic and ship-to-shore communications difficult. In 1906, eccentric inventor Lee De Forest began working on the problem.

The Rise of True Electronics
Diodes had existed for some time prior. The principals of a thermionic diode were discovered in 1876 by British physicist Frederick Guthrie. Thomas Edison expanded on his research. The devices consisted of a cathode and anode inside an airless glass envelope. The device could limit the flow of electricity to one direction. Some of the first applications of diodes were radio detectors, such as the coherer. However, they couldn't amplify the signal and make them usable over long distances. The earliest radio transmitters used powerful generators and very high voltages to send signals across the oceans.

Lee De Forest took the basic diode and added a third electrode between the anode and cathode. He discovered that this amplified the electrical signal. De Forest stumbled upon the principle simply by tinkering, and in fact didn't know why this happened. He called his device the "audion". The rest of the world called it the "triode".

De Forest completed the first successful ship-to-shore radio transmission in 1907. By 1912, radio became a fixture on-board ocean going ships. The Titanic famously used a Marconi system to send distress signals after striking an ice berg in April of that year.

With the audion, radio engineers had a way of controlling and amplifying electrical signals. These early signals still used spark gap transmission, which spammed the entire radio spectrum. In 1906, Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden began working on a radio system that used amplitude modulation. It worked by sending signal at a specific frequency. Communication was achieved by varying the voltage of the radio wave rather than electrical pulses. American radio pioneer Charles "Doc" Herrold began sending weekly AM broadcasts out of San Jose, California in 1909.

By the 1920s, De Fortest's vacuum tube triode was becoming a household staple. The first commercial radio station launched in Montreal, Quebec on May 20th, 1920. Interest in home electronics exploded.

Work continued on improving the radio. Originally, AM radio receivers required three different batteries to run them. Each of the vacuum tubes required their own specific direct current voltages. Many of them were kit builds, involving a hodgepodge of parts. This made the systems bulky and complicated.

Canadian inventor Edward S. Rogers Sr. began exploring ways to run radios off mains electricity. After examining US designs, Rogers invented a new type of vacuum tube that could run off alternating current. In 1924, he introduced the Rogers Batteryless Radio. The device was the first to use a standard wall socket. Top of the line models began selling in 1925 for $370, worth about $4,800 in today's money. The system was the first to make radio simple and easy to use for the average homeowner.

Rogers went on to found the Standard Radio Company, later named the Rogers Vacuum Tube Company, to make the radios. He founded Toronto radio station CFRB to sell these radios.

How does a Rogers Batteryless radio work? In our next article, we'll be taking a closer look at this revolutionary device.

The Smart Fortwo has polarized the auto and tech worlds. It's either loved or hated.
Mercedes' stubby little "microcar" hit Europe back in 1998. The company thought it would create a revolution in North America by marketing it an ultra-fuel efficient city car. At the time, gas prices were hovering well over $1.20 a litre in Canada. As the green trend dropped off, so has Smart. Sales of of the cars have dropped 70 percent since the beginning of 2010. It's not hard to see why people are steering clear of this high mileage revolution.

I had the pleasure of taking a Fortwo out for a test drive last summer. It was the 2009 three door with a 1.0 litre gasoline engine. Similar to a full size sport motorcycle. The Smart comes in four models: coupe, cabriolet, and the same two with the Brabus tuner package. The Brabus adds better wheels, suspension, and a sportier interior. The Smart Fortwo Coupe starts at $14,990 while the Brabus cabriolet goes up to $24,900. By comparison, the Toyota Yaris three door hatchback starts at $13,620.

One of the first things you notice is how cramped it is. There is no storage space in its tiny trunk. While it's not uncomfortable, it's certainly not something you want to go any distance in.

The control layout is also odd for North American car. It has two shifters: paddle on the steering wheel and stick in the centre console. The ignition switch is also in the centre console, rather than the dash or wheel column.


Driving the Smart Fortwo is like driving a go-kart. Acceleration is very sluggish. It seems to take forever to get up to 60km/h, typical city driving speed. You can forget about taking it on the highway. It will struggle to do 100km/h and can't overtake. The engine is rated at 70hp but it definitely lacks torque. Steering handles as you would expect for a car its size. It turns quick but you're not going anywhere fast. For such a small, light car, it doesn't handle like you'd expect it to.

My biggest beef with the Fortwo is the transmission. It's automatic, but lacks a torque converter. The part of an automatic transmission that allows it to always stay in gear. Instead, it opts for an automated clutch system. It has the option of a fully or semi-automatic mode. There is no fully manual option, even though that would be ideal.

The Smart's shifts are abrupt, causing it to jerk with each gear change. It's a bit like driving a standard car with someone who can't drive standard. Overall, it's just not a nice car to drive.

You might be wondering about safety. One would logically think the Fortwo would be unsafe due to its weight and compact design. I must tip my hat to Mercedes. It's a safe car for the most part, due to its built in roll cage. The car performed well, receiving a top rating of "good" in everything but offset crashes. In offset crashes, the Fortwo performed poorly due to it's cramped interior. There was too much intrusion into the foot-well and a high risk of impact with the steering wheel. Its light weight caused the car to spin easily.

On fuel efficiency, the Smart Fortwo Coupe doesn't get high marks. The United States EPA estimated 36 miles per gallon of combined city and highway driving. It's good but it's not a major improvement over other small cars in its class such as the Kia Rio, Toyota Yaris, and Suzuki SX4, which get 30mpg combined and have engines twice the size. The Smart also requires premium gasoline while other sub-compacts use cheaper regular. The diesel option, while ideal, disappeared form North American models.

Obviously the Smart is designed for narrow European city streets, not long, high speed North American roads. Americans love their big cars. The promise of a cheap, 40mpg car isn't going to shake that. Due to it's cramped size and rough handling, the Smart is little more practical than the giant SUVs it seeks to replace. Aside from that, and I have to be frank here, you'd also look like a total wanker driving it.

Images courtesy of Wikipedia, Google Picasa

It it's usual rock star fashion, Apple lifted the lid on its new iPod lines. Pundits seem to agree that there was a little less excitement at this event than past ones. Apple seems to be loosing its edge when it comes to producing something completely unexpected from behind the curtain. That's partially due to a slew of Internet leaks. But, the declining favour in the company towards the venerable iPod has just as much to do with it.

iPod Touch
The new touch is exactly what we expected it to be. It's basically the iPhone 4 without the cell chip. Interestingly, Apple has chosen not to use the new minimalist chassis. Instead, they opted to use the same rounded case style used in past Touches. There's not much to complain about. It features improved battery life, the new retina display, Apple's A4 processor, three-axis gyroscope, front and back cameras, and 256mb of RAM.

UPDATE: I originally reported the new Touch had 512mb of ram, but teardowns show it only has 256mb.

The fourth gen Touch runs iOS 4.1 and, supports FaceTime, and can record 720p video. Apple fans have been calling for a Touch with a built in camera for a long time. But, this camera is limited to just 0.6 megapixels. About equal to a camera phone six years ago. Very unimpressive given the iPhone's 5 megapixel camera.

Aside from that, Apple has also introduced a slightly cheaper 8gb model along side the 32 and 64gb. They start at $229.

iPod Suffle
The third generation Shuffle was a mistake. Apple knows that. The tiny player had no buttons, just a rocker on the earbud wire which used complicated commands. Plus, you couldn't use third party headphones with it..

The new fourth generation Shuffle is a blast from the past. Apple has gone back and resurrected the design of the of the 2007 model. The click wheel has made a return. It's a little smaller. The wheel now takes up the entire front. Button controls are a welcome return for fans of Apple's smallest and cheapest player. It starts at $49.

iPod Nano
This is the one redesign that has everyone talking, and not for the good. It's the most radical change the mid-sized iPod line has ever seen. The fifth generation gave people what they wanted with their Nano. A bigger screen and a standard definition video camera. All was good. The sixth generation took that away.

The new Nano looks like a Shuffle on steroids. The device is only slightly larger than it's little brother. While it has a small touch screen, it's actually a lower resolution than the older model.



Apple has really taken the knife to the Nano. Gone are video recording, video playback, and even the photo album. The FM radio tuner and Voice Over are still there. Apple hasn't added anything at all to the device. They've only made it smaller. Heath nuts are already complaining about the lack of physical buttons.

The new Nano is a glorified iPod Shuffle. Despite slashing back its features, Apple still wants $149 for it. That price is much too high for what it is. Apple's competitors have it matched or beat, at a lower prices.

iPod Classic
The Classic is a dying breed. The last ancestor of the original iPod didn't even get a mention. It's looking more and more like Apple will eventually phase out this model. It's sad for fans who enjoy it's beefy hard drive space. As it stands right now, it's the only non-touch iPod that can play photos and video. But at $249, it's not exactly the best value anymore. If you want one, get one while you can. Apple will dump it sooner or later to focus on the Touch as its flagship line.

iPad
The iPad can print now. That is all. Well, it will once iOS 4.2 is released in November of this year. Aside from Flash, this was probably the biggest feature Apple omitted from the original OS. Despite having a word processor and photography apps, I guess Steve Jobs figured nobody would ever want to print something from it. Unfortunately, printing is wireless only. So if you don't have a wifi enabled printer, you'll need to set up a print server.

The iPad will also get AirPlay, which allows it to stream photos, videos, and music from iTunes. It will also get all the other features of iOS4.

iOS
Apple unveiled iOS 4.1. It's biggest new feature is the Game Centre. Game Centre will allow players to connect with their friends and others to play multiplayer games online. It's Apple's answer to the Playstation Network and Xbox Live. The iPhone and Touch have needed a unified online gaming system for a long time.

Apple also claimed to have 50% market share in portable gaming. I find that a little hard to believe. Not everyone who owns an iPod Touch uses it to play games. Though, there is a shred of truth if you factor in highly casual titles.

The Xbox 360's controller is very nice. It's D-Pad is not. Microsoft opted for a rocker style pad in the original design. Many gamers didn't like it since the buttons were too low. It wasn't exactly meant for man sized fingers.

The new design is more like the D-Pad on Sony's venerable Dual Shock. Microsoft has raised it, which should improve its feel and ease of use. No more accidentally going to the wrong menu, or having a 2D character go where you don't want them to. Twisting it goes from the original to the new raised plus, depending on which you prefer.
This new controller only comes in a monochrome style. The coloured buttons have been replaced by grey ones. The border along the bottom of the controller is also now piano black rather than a matte grey. Otherwise, the basic design is still the same.

It will launch November 9th exclusively with the Play & Charge kit. The entire package will cost a hefty $64.99.

Major Nelson via Kotaku. Image courtesy of Kotaku.

Pokemon is a game where adorable monsters battle it out. When they loose the fight, they feint. All they need is a little rest at the Pokemon Centre to bring them back to fighting strength. But do Pokemon die? Even though it's just a kids game, the original Pokemon Red & Blue says they do. It's even implied that the games villains kill the lovable creatures. That's heavy stuff Doc.

People seem obsessed with Lavender Town because of that. It's the only location in the series where there's a Pokemon cemetery. Even though it's a fairly minor location, it has spawned plenty of urban legends. Many of these are downright disturbing. Here are some of the more bizarre Pokemon ghost stories.

The Existential Pokemon Silver
This legend appeared on 4Chan, posted by an anonymous user. It reappeared linked to an article on Kotaku, posted by commenter Travakh.

A gamer bought a used copy of Pokemon Silver from a Gamestop. Upon loading the save file, he found the last owner had all 251 Pokemon, had played for 999 hours, and had all gym badges.

The game started up in Bellsprout Tower, inside an inescapable room. The trainer, simply named "..." had five Unown in his party with a sixth Cyndaquil named "HURRY". Unown were a species of Pokemon that looked like letters of the Latin Alphabet. The gamer discovered the Unown spelled out "LEAVE".

After finding a way out, he was confronted with a sign that read "Turn Back Now". HURRY suddenly fainted for no apparent reason. A new team of Unown replaced him, spelling out "HEDIED". The deceased is replaced by a Celebi.

Still trapped in the tower, the gamer engages in a battle with Red, the final boss of the game and protagonist from the first generation. The fight was between his Pikachu and the gamer's Celebi. Pikachu uses curse. Both Pokemon die at the end of the fight instead of feinting. His Celebi is now gone from his party. The gamer then notices his avatar's sprite is missing limbs and has turned transparent.

The game then cuts to the trainer's house at the very beginning. He has no items, his Pokegear doesn't work, and outside the house is nothing but a black abyss. After wondering aimlessly for awhile, the gamer eventually encountered himself, or rather his regular sprite. The sprite says "goodbye forever ..." He checks the Unown in his party, which now spell out "IMDEAD". He then finds himself in a room with blocked walls. A final text reads "R.I.P". The gamer figures out his trainer is dead and this is his grave.

The gamer believes the moral of this hack is about the futility of life. Despite his efforts to become the greatest Pokemon trainer, "...", who he refers to as Gold, was unable to cheat death. His adventures become forgotten in time. We've all had this go through out minds at some point. Usually lying in bed wide awake at 3am.

Since this was originally posted on 4Chan, we can assume it's fake. The site is famous for its viral pranks and hoaxes. However, it is plausible since hacked cartridges do exist. Like all great urban legends, stories like this are impossible either prove or disprove.

Lavender's Missing Frequencies
Lavender Town is known for it's sad, haunting theme music in the original game. This legend is based on reading between the lines, and finding missing sounds. Almost like a Pokemon DaVinci Code.

A young man and his best friend Anthony were obsessed with Pokemon as kids. They go their separate ways in college but Pokemon ties them together. They keep having wifi battles nearly every day. Anthony eventually asks him to replay Pokemon Red & Blue together. Despite not really wanting to, the young man goes through with it. When he asks Anthony why, he says he might find something nobody else has before.

Three weeks later he receives a call from the Anthony's parents. Anthony has died. He suffered what appeared to be an intense seizure, despite having no history of epilepsy.

The man finds his friend had been obsessed with the music in Lavender Town. Anthony bragged about finding a rare rip from the original Japanese release. This rip apparently contained audio frequencies later versions missed. It was supposedly due to sound limitations of the Gameboy. Anthony began experimenting to replace the missing frequencies.

The young man describes finding the audio.

Driven by my desire to know what caused his untimely death, I opened the properties dialog box for the audio file, without opening the file to listen to it. Within the comments section of the metadata, he had written, "binaural tones, i added the necessary frequencies, i know why lavender town sounds so sad, and i know the part that was missing". Even eerier, I looked in his default audio program (still without listening to the file) and found the playcount for this file. One. I chatted with a sound enthusiast online in hope to decipher these cryptic comments. He gave me some special software which would analyze the audio in real time and said that was the most that could be done. This video is a screen recording of me running the aforementioned software with the original audio file. To this day I have not listened to the actual audio, as I am too emotionally disturbed by my best friend, Anthony's, death.

The story implies the missing frequencies caused Anthony's seizure. You can listen to the remix here along with the full story. I seriously doubt it will cause your head to explode as Anthony's did.

This particular story is very implausible. No audio engineer could work on something without listening to it multiple times. It sounds all too similar to the "brown note" legend, where a specific audio frequency was said to cause loss of bowel control. It also has a dash of a real world Pokemon incident. In that case, flashing lights in one particular anime episode triggered seizures in Japan.

A similar legend claims the original Lavender Town music contained frequencies only children could hear. The tones apparently caused Japanese children to go insane and die. While it's true Lavender Town originally did have slightly different music in Japan, no deaths have been linked to it.


Pokemon Black
Pokemon Black, not to be confused with the real Black & White, is supposedly a hack of the original Red. The gamer claims it features a "Ghost" pokemon, with the same sprite as the mystery ghosts found in Lavender Town before obtaining the SilphScope. It acts as your starter and cannot be removed from the party. It also only comes with one move, "Curse". When used, the move apparently kills the target Pokemon, and their trainer. The trainer is replaced by a tombstone with their name on it in the overworld.

The story gets a bit more interesting after you beat the Elite Four.

After viewing the Hall of Fame, which consisted of Ghost and a couple of very under leveled Pokémon, the screen cut to black. A box appeared with the words “Many years later…” It then cut to Lavender Tower. An old man was standing, looking at tombstones. You then realized this man was your character.

The man moved at only half of your normal walking speed. You no longer had any Pokémon with you, not even Ghost, who up to this point had been impossible to remove from your party through depositing in the PC. The overworld was entirely empty — there were no people at all. There were still the tombstones of the trainers that you used Curse on, however.You could go pretty much anywhere in the overworld at this point, though your movement was limited by the fact that you had no Pokémon to use HMs. And regardless of where you went, the music of Lavender Town continued on an infinite loop.

After wandering for a while, I found that if you go through Diglett’s Cave, one of the cuttable bushes that normally blocks the path on the other side is no longer there, allowing you to advance and return to Pallet Town.

Upon entering your house and going to the exact tile where you start the game, the screen would cut to black.

Then a sprite of a Caterpie appeared. It was the replaced by a Weedle, and then a Pidgey. I soon realized, as the Pokémon progressed from Rattata to Blastoise, that these were all of the Pokémon that I had used Curse on.

After the end of my Rival’s team, a Youngster appeared, and then a Bug Catcher. These were the trainers I had Cursed.

Throughout the sequence, the Lavender Town music was playing, but it was slowly decreasing in pitch. By the time your Rival appeared on screen, it was little more than a demonic rumble.

Another cut to black. A few moments later, the battle screen suddenly appeared — your trainer sprite was now that of an old man, the same one as the one who teaches you how to catch Pokémon in Viridian City.

Ghost appeared on the other side, along with the words “GHOST wants to fight!”.

You couldn’t use items, and you had no Pokémon. If you tried to run, you couldn’t escape. The only option was “FIGHT”.

Using fight would immediately cause you to use Struggle, which didn’t affect Ghost but did chip off a bit of your own HP. When it was Ghost’s turn to attack, it would simply say “…” Eventually, when your HP reached a critical point, Ghost would finally use Curse.

The screen cut to black a final time.

Regardless of the buttons you pressed, you were permanently stuck in this black screen. At this point, the only thing you could do was turn the Game Boy off. When you played again, “NEW GAME” was the only option — the game had erased the file.

I played through this hacked game many, many times, and every time the game ended with this sequence. Several times I didn’t use Ghost at all, though he was impossible to remove from the party. In these cases, it did not show any Pokémon or trainers and simply cut to the climactic “battle with Ghost.

I’m not sure what the motives were behind the creator of this hack. It wasn’t widely distributed, so it was presumably not for monetary gain. It was very well done for a bootleg.

It seems he was trying to convey a message; though it seems I am the sole receiver of this message. I’m not entirely sure what it was — the inevitability of death? The pointlessness of it? Perhaps he was simply trying to morbidly inject death and darkness into a children’s game. Regardless, this children’s game has made me think, and it has made me cry.

Pokemon Black was also posted on 4Chan so it's authenticity can't be verified. The unnamed author claims he lost the game cartridge years ago. Some versions claim he sold it out of fear. One variation on the story says a demonic image appeared on the screen after the character's death, with the words "you're next." It's still a great ghost story for any gamer out there.

Image courtesy of Bulbapedia, originally from the Pokemon anime.

Twenty-eight years ago today, August 17th, the first compact discs were released to the public. Digital audio enthusiasts consider this the big bang of the digital revolution. It changed the way we listened to music forever. Let's take a trip through history to see how digital music has evolved since the beginning.




1976:
-Sony demonstrates an analogue prototype optical audio disc.

1978:
-Soundstream becomes the first digital tape recording format. The format encoded audio at 50khz and 16-bit. For three years it reigned as the format of choice for producing audiophile grade vinyl records. No home players were released.
-Sony demonstrates a prototype digital optical audio disc offering 150min play time at 44.05khz with 16-bit sampling.

1981:
-The first test CD is printed in Germany. A public demonstration is performed on Britain's BBC.

1982:
-The first CD player is released in Japan as a joint venture between Sony and Phillips. The format was a 12cm disc encoded at 44.1khz / 16-bit sampling, with up to 80min playtime. This was double the playback time of vinyl records. It proved an instant hit with audiophiles.
-The first album released on CD was Billy Joel's 52nd Street.
-The tape format continued to evolve into the early 80s with versions produced by 3M and Sony. The latter introduced DASH in 1983, a digital reel-to-reel recorder. Mitsubishi released ProDigi in that same year, which was also reel-to-reel.

1983:
-The first CDs are released in the United States.

1984:
-Sony releases the DiscMan, the first portable CD player.

1985:
-Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits becomes the first CD album to sell 1 million copies.

1987:
-Sony introduces Digital Audio Tape. It offered the same audio quality as CDs, but in a compact cassette tape form factor. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) tries to lobby against its sale, claiming it enabled piracy by enabling perfect digital copies. Their bid was unsuccessful.

1990:
-CD recorders make their debut, allowing individuals to make their own audio CDs at home.

1991:
-Sony debuts MiniDisc. The first small digital audio player that became the basis for all modern MP3 players. It used Sony's proprietary ATRAC format and could hold 80min of music on a disc half the size of a CD. The format remains popular in the radio industry.

1992:
-Creative launches the Sound Blaster 16, an expansion card that brings true 16-bit audio to home PCs. It allows people to record and play back their own CD quality audio.

1994:
-The Fraunhofer Society, a group of German audio engineers, releases the first MP3 encoder.
-WXYC, a radio station in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, begins streaming their broadcasts online digitally.

1995:
-Fraunhofer releases WinPlay 3, the first MP3 playback software for home computers.

1996:
-DVD is launched in Japan with theatre quality surround sound audio tracks. It popularizes 5.1 home audio systems. Full concerts are released on DVD in surround sound.

1997:
-DTS begins experimenting with a 5.1 music format.
-WinAmp, a popular MP3 software player, is released. CDs could now be ripped to computers in the MP3 format, allowing discless playback.
-Audio Highway releases its Listen Up player, the world's first portable MP3 player.
-The MP4 Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) is introduces as a more efficient successor to MP3. Unlike MP3, it includes optional copy protection.

1999:
-Sony releases the Super-Audio CD, also known as SACD, as a high resolution audio format aimed at audiophiles. Strict copy protection, cost and lack of player support means the format fails to catch on.

2000:
-DVD-Audio is released as a competitor to SACD. It suffers from the same issues that held the former back.
-Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker launch Napster, a peer-to-peer service that allows people to easily share and pirate music over the Internet. It launches the digital download revolution. Legal alternatives wouldn't be available for another three years.

2001:
-Apple debuts the iPod. The device revolutionizes MP3 players due to its large storage capacity, small size, and simple interface. The iPod soon becomes a pop culture icon and catapults Apple from a struggling computer company to a consumer electronics giant.
-XM Satellite Radio becomes the first commercial digital radio provider in the United States. It offers commercial free music for a monthly fee.

2002:
-Napster ceases operations and its assets are liquidated. It is replaced by other illegal services such as Kazaa and LimeWire. CD sales begin to drop with the rising popularity of MP3.

2003:
-Apple opens the iTunes Store, a portal and web store that allows consumers to legally buy and download songs online. Songs are sold for 99 cents.

2005:
-Sony issues copy protection on CDs released through their BMG label to stop the tide of file sharing. The DRM violated Phillips' Red Book audio standard, the base format for audio CDs. The protected discs fail to play in computers and some stand-alone players. Sony is sued and the defective discs are recalled.

2006:
-Microsoft introduces the Zune and Zune Store to compete with iTunes. It rapidly becomes the second most popular portable digital audio player in the United States.

2007:
-Apple intros iTunes Store app on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Users can now purchase and download digital music directly from their player.
-Amazon.com launches Amazon MP3, one of the first major online stores to sell digital music without controversial copy protection.

2008:
-SlotMusic launches music on MicroSD flash cards. The format gains little traction against digital download.

2009:
-Apple strips controversial copy protection from its entire music library on the iTunes Store. Prices of new songs rise to $1.29 as a result.
-Vinyl albums stage a comeback, with sales doubling this year.
-CD sales worldwide, for all variations including data, total 200 billion.

2010:
-Digital Singles have eclipsed album sales by this time. In response, 70s rock band Pink Floyd pulls its catalogue from the iTunes Store in protest of its songs being sold "a la carte". They demand their songs only be sold as part of entire albums.
-Audio CD sales declined over the past 8 years.

Naughty Bear (PS3, Xbox 360)
505 games, you've been very naughty. You've released a game that just might be one of the worst major releases of the year. You see, Naughty Bear is a very naughty bear. He's not invited to a birthday party for all the other bears on Perfection Island. So, he takes out his revenge by... uh, scaring them to death.

What the trailers presented was far from what the game actually was.

This is why you should never trust trailers that don't show gameplay.

We expected it to be a stuffed animal orgy of gore. Killing the beloved Care Bear-esque enemies in increasingly creative and gruesome ways. Instead, Naughty Bear proved to be a rush job with clunky controls, ugly graphics, bad animation, technical glitches, poor AI, and limited gameplay.

Gameplay focuses more on chasing and scaring the other bears for points. So much for Manhunt with teddy bears we were promised. IGN called it "an embarrassment and shouldn't be purchased by anyone anywhere." All this and more for just full retail price! This may be a candidate for shovelware of the year.