digitization

I remember just before the CD was introduced 30 years ago thinking that digital audio would be a giant leap forward in fidelity, but as soon as I heard a few CDs I knew digital wouldn't do a thing to make music sound more realistic. The CD was vastly better than LPs and cassettes in terms of noise and distortion, but voices still didn't sound like they do in real life, and pianos didn't sound as big and powerful as they do in Carnegie Hall. That mystified me; those early digital recordings were compression-free, and I was … Read more

Sharing photos you've taken with your phone has become second nature. Turning them into framed prints, on the other hand, is probably one of those things you think about doing but never get around to.

A new service, SnapBox, aims to fix that by making it easy and affordable to make your smartphone photos into high-quality framed artwork.

Instead of creating and maintaining apps for different platforms, SnapBox decided to use e-mail instead for its ordering process. All you need to do is attach the photo you want printed to an e-mail and send it to snapbox@snapboxez.com. … Read more

If you want to listen to better-quality digital music, then FLAC files are a great way to do it. They typically use half the storage space of uncompressed music files and should sound identical to music played from a CD. And yes, you can use apps like FLAC Player to listen to them on iOS devices.

Like MP3s, there are two main ways to get FLACs legally: rip them from CDs, or buy them directly. While we cover how to rip your own music to FLAC format here, there are several sites that offer FLAC album downloads for less than the price of a CD, and yet offer the same level of quality. You'll find that most of these sites are independent and that's because major labels have yet to embrace fully lossless downloads, presumably because of the ever-present "piracy concerns."

Below are the best five stores that sell the FLAC format. If you're interested in higher-than-CD quality, some of the following sites also offer 24-bit "HD" downloads for an extra charge.… Read more

I'm happy for N.V., the Economist correspondent who revels in the joys of film photography by shooting with a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex medium-format camera. But there's no way I'm going back to analog photography.

The digital revolution is here to stay, of course, but film photography isn't extinct. The Economist's reporter, after inheriting and refurbishing a 1937 camera, sings its praises. For example, the reporter "enjoys the challenge and forethought involved in setting up a shot with an analogue camera. The discipline of having only a dozen shots on a roll of 120 … Read more

From Kinect to Windows 8, Microsoft has fingered gesture recognition as the future of the user interface.

Now Microsoft researchers are aiming to improve the accuracy and mobility of gesture-controlled interfaces with a new project called Digits.

The prototype system, unveiled today, involves a sensor worn on the user's wrist, which captures the position of their hand in 3D and translates it into software commands.

The system allows discrete or continuous gestures to be used to navigate software — for example, a pinching gesture is translated to zooming in on a document. The human hand controlling Digits can also be … Read more

From the time Lytro launched its first consumer Light Field Camera in March, the company has been clear that the Lytro you buy today will be able to do much more in the future.

For example, as of today, current Lytro owners can get a firmware update via the desktop software (available for Mac and Windows) to add some more control over the camera, including shutter speed and ISO.

Without control over shutter speed or ISO, most low-light shots I've taken end up looking like the above -- grainy with poor color. That's because the camera ramps up … Read more

For many people, buying a camera isn't an easy thing to do. It's not really a one-model-fits-all kind of product, so there's not just a single camera you can point to and say, "Buy this!"

In fact, it's the opposite; with such a range of types, sizes, features, and prices, unless you know your exact needs, you could very well end up disappointed with your purchase. And that's what this guide is all about: Helping you make the best camera purchase for your needs and budget.

For people who just want some good … Read more

Even if you have a dashboard display showing what's behind your car when you back up, it's hard to be 100 percent sure you won't hit something. Or someone. That's why researchers at Japan's Keio University are working on a system that makes the back seat invisible, so to speak.

From the driver's perspective, the back of a car, in this case a Prius, is transparent, thus eliminating blind spots that could conceal hazards. The system is called the "see-through Prius" and it's being showcased this month at the 2012 Digital Content Expo in Tokyo. … Read more

Apple's Passbook isn't the most supported application out there, but it's starting to get some love.

McDonald's is among a few companies now offering support for Apple's new Passbook application. Dubbed McDo France, the application allows people to place an order and pay for it from their iPhone. From there, users receive a QR code that can be scanned at 45 McDonald's restaurants in France.

In addition, both Eventbrite and Airbnb recently updated their apps with Passbook functionality. Now, Eventbrite users who purchased tickets to local events will be able to add them to … Read more