Tech Digest daily roundup: Holocaust campaigner ‘answers questions’ at own funeral
When Marina Smith MBE died aged 87 in June, her grieving loved ones thought all they had left was their memories. In fact, the leading Holocaust campaigner returned to them from beyond the grave in the form of an artificial intelligence-powered hologram, able to answer their questions and reveal family secrets. Mrs Smith was one of the first adopters of new technology, available in the UK from this week, that enabled her to appear at her own funeral in Babworth, Notts. The “holographic conversational video experience” came courtesy of StoryFile, an AI-powered video platform. Telegraph
The EU must end “persistent delays” over the UK’s access to the bloc’s scientific research programmes after Brexit, the government has demanded as it launched legal action. It said the delays have prevented the UK from accessing Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation, and Copernicus, the earth observation programme that provides data on climate change. Other schemes that have been affected include nuclear research programme Euratom, and access to space surveillance and tracking. Sky News
Sennheiser might launch a follow-up to its premium Ambeo soundbar in a couple of weeks. The firm has sent out invites to an event at the IFA tech conference in Berlin picturing an owl walking along an Ambeo-branded soundbar. Attendees are invited to “take a walk on the wild side”. We’re promised “an exciting new product announcement, new product experience” and to be let in on Sennheiser’s vision for the future of audio. The Sennheiser Ambeo is a high-end Dolby Atmos soundbar that won a 2021 What Hi-Fi? Award. It’s huge. It’s expensive. It’s fussy when it comes to positioning. But one listen, and you know it’s been worth the effort. What HiFi
Apple could give the external design of the iPhone a more considerable refresh than it has done in years. While the iPhone 14 will retain the flat sides and curved rectangular shape that it has at the moment, it could lose other features too. Numerous reports suggest that Apple has finally got rid of the notch that is cut out of the top of the display in the new devices. Instead, all of the components that are hidden in there – the facial recognition sensor and the front-facing camera – could be stuck into a small cutout in the top of the screen, allowing the display to go all the way up. Independent
ITV Hub, the streaming app from ITV that offers catch-up and on-demand shows and box-sets, will stop working on a few older Freeview devices, from September 28, 2022. This is due to ITV upgrading their content protection technology, and ahead of ITV Hub being replaced by ITVX, the new streaming service from ITV. The upgrade, however, is incompatible with some devices, mostly older Smart TVs, from brands such as Hisense, TCL, Panasonic and more (see the full list below). Last year, the same thing happened with a few older YouView boxes, when ITV Hub was no longer supported on them due to similar content protection upgrades. Cord Busters
