Month: November 2023

Record companies will be able to request removal of content that mimics an artist’s ‘unique singing or rapping’ Record companies can request the removal of songs that use artificial intelligence-generated versions of artists’ voices under new guidelines issued by YouTube. The video platform is introducing a tool that will allow music labels and distributors to …

YouTube to offer option to flag AI-generated songs that mimic artists’ voices Read More »

In this week’s newsletter: in early 2022 ‘non-fungible tokens’ were a supposedly revolutionary million-dollar asset. Now, they’re practically worthless • Don’t get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up here A funny thing happened in Hong Kong earlier this month. Well, funny unless you were there. The annual ApeFest, where collectors of Bored Ape NFTs …

Techscape: NFTs were meant to change everything – what happened? Read More »

Minister for communications and information technology says the popular video-sharing platform ‘disrupts family structures’ Nepal has said it will ban TikTok, citing negative effects on the country’s “social harmony”. The popular video-sharing platform, which has around a billion monthly users, has faced restrictions in many countries for alleged breaches of data rules and for the …

Nepal says it will ban TikTok, citing effect on ‘social harmony’ Read More »

Photographs were seen as less realistic than computer images but there was no difference with pictures of people of colour It sounds like a scenario straight out of a Ridley Scott film: technology that not only sounds more “real” than actual humans, but looks more convincing, too. Yet it seems that moment has already arrived. …

White faces generated by AI are more convincing than photos, finds survey Read More »

New immersive sound and better Bluetooth update for comfortable and popular earbuds Bose’s commuter favourite QuietComfort earbuds have been given an upgrade, setting the standard with best-in-class noise cancelling and new immersive audio features. Costing £300 (€350/$300/A$450) the QC Ultra earbuds are £20 more than the excellent QC Earbuds II they effectively replace, rubbing shoulders …

Bose QC Ultra earbuds review: top-class noise cancelling with audio upgrade Read More »

The company has lost much of its value after market scepticism about startups’ prospects The future of the British brand Zapp looked promising as its top team gathered around one of its electric mopeds and stared up at a billboard bearing its logo close to Times Square, New York, in May. They threw their arms …

Stock of British electric moped brand Zapp hits skids months after US listing Read More »

Research is growing into computational models that will move medicine beyond what works on the average patient Imagine having a digital twin that gets ill, and can be experimented on to identify the best possible treatment, without you having to go near a pill or a surgeon’s knife. Scientists believe that within five to 10 …

How digital twins may enable personalised health treatment Read More »

Observer investigation reveals UK Biobank opened its biomedical database to insurance firms despite pledge it would not do so Sensitive health information donated for medical research by half a million UK citizens has been shared with insurance companies despite a pledge that it would not be. An Observer investigation has found that UK Biobank opened …

Private UK health data donated for medical research shared with insurance companies Read More »

Cameras made by Hikvision, which is blacklisted in US, blanket the occupied West Bank, according to Amnesty International In the occupied Palestinian territories, there are cameras everywhere. In Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem, residents say cameras were installed by Israeli police up and down their streets, peering into their homes. One resident named Sara said …

How Chinese firm linked to repression of Uyghurs aids Israeli surveillance in West Bank Read More »

A meander through north-east London led the photographer to a fun, spontaneous moment of family bonding “Some people need directions when you’re taking their photo,” William Lepper says. “Some people just perform. Chani and Kamaria were definitely in the latter camp.” Photographer Lepper was in his local area of Walthamstow, north-east London, on a sunny …

‘I just love how sisterly they are. I love the mischief’: William Lepper’s best phone picture Read More »