Month: March 2026

“Nothing is enough for those who have enough is little”

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When more than 2,000 years ago Epicurus walked philosophizing through the streets of Samos or Athens, the world had no idea what the world was. black fridayconsumer anxiety or oniomaniathe disorder that leads some people to feel an uncontrollable desire to buy more and more. What Epicurus did intuit (like other classical thinkers) is that, if he lets himself go, man can end up becoming a bottomless pit of dissatisfaction and frustrations. Hence he left us a warning which today sounds almost premonitory: “Nothing is enough for those who have enough is little.” It may seem like one of those syllogisms (one of many) that 21st century coaches end up sneaking into their talks, but Epicurus’s phrase has much more meaning than it seems. Listening to Epicurus. With Epicurus (341-271 BC) something curious happens. Although most of his works have been lost, of which we barely preserve fragmentsa handful of epistles and collections of quotations, has managed to exert an influence that continues to this day. Logical if you take into account that, in addition to worrying about the nature of the universe (it was an atomist featured), used philosophy to pursue humanity’s greatest desire: happiness. To achieve this joy, Epicurus was convinced that we need to avoid pain, both emotionally and physically. It’s easy to agree with him on that. The interesting thing is how he believed we can achieve happiness. In his opinion, the key is in ‘rational hedonism’ and thoughtfulness: if we want to achieve a pleasurable life, sometimes we will have to give up things that seem pleasurable. Haiku teacher. In the legacy of Epicurus there are two works especially cited today: the Maximum capitals and Vatican rulingscompilations of aphorisms in which the philosopher from Samos talks about topics as varied as physics or ethics. In that last work there is a specific phrase (number 68) that is often cited for its sharpness and form, almost like a play on words: “Nothing is enough for those who have enough is little.” Later (no. 77) Epicurus returns with another maxim that completes that idea: “The greatest fruit of self-reliance is freedom.” In case there were any doubts, in your Letter to Menoeceus (either Letter about Happiness) the thinker of Samos affects the samealthough developing the concept: “We consider self-sufficiency to be a great good. Not to settle for little in any case, but so that, if we do not have much, we settle for little. We are convinced that those who need abundance the least are those who enjoy it the most.” Everything that is natural is easy to obtain, everything that is superfluous is difficult to obtain. Simple tastes provide the same pleasure as a succulent diet when the pain due to deprivation has been eliminated. “Bread and water bring the greatest pleasure when taken by those who are in need.” What did Epicurus mean? If we read all the Letter to Menoeceus We see that Epicurus invites us to live without fear of death and insists: “Pleasure is the beginning and end of a happy life.” If that is so, then why on earth does he encourage us to shun free pleasure and insist on the importance of being content with little? Simple. Because Epicurus does not recommend blind hedonism, but rather a reflective one. The first leads to dissatisfaction. The second is the key to happiness. “So when we say that pleasure is the end, we are not referring to the pleasures of the dissolute and those that consist of enjoyments, but to not suffering in the body or being disturbed in the soul. It is not drunkenness or uninterrupted revelry, nor the enjoyments found with boys and women, nor those provided by fish and other things offered by a richly laid table that provides a life of pleasure, but sober reasoning that examines the causes of each choice.” “We do not choose all pleasures, but sometimes we overlook many when they are followed by something more unpleasant. Many pains we consider preferable to pleasures when a greater pleasure follows after having endured the pains for a long time (…) Therefore, every pleasure is good, but not every pleasure should be chosen.” More than words. They may sound distant or very abstract, but Epicurus’ words are eminently practical and are still valid in 2026. His approach is very simple. To begin with, the philosopher recognizes that all desires are equal (there are “necessary” ones and there are directly “vain” ones). Then he explains that (as counter-intuitive as it may seem at first) he who dedicates himself to fulfilling his desires always and at all costs does not necessarily have to be happier. On the contrary. Austerity well understood can be a much more direct, rational and effective path. Those who blind themselves by satisfying their desires risk losing their moderation and, ironically, the ability to be content. In other words, we become more and more dependent on the source of pleasure, it is more difficult to feel satisfied and, ultimately, we lose that personal “self-sufficiency” that Epicurus spoke of. Things are simpler when we learn to moderate our desires. Remember: “Nothing is enough for those who have enough is little.” From ancient times to 2026. Epicurus speaks of “desires” and “pleasure,” but his words are surprisingly topical in a consumer society in which we often live with the anxiety of meeting needs that are never actually met and whose satisfaction only produces temporary peace. “We live in a world where consumerism is a phenomenon from which it is almost impossible to isolate ourselves. And consumption almost always constitutes a false promise of happiness, and that can bias our internal biological compass, which is the one that can tell us more precisely what we need to be happy,” reflect the doctor Gonzalo Hervasprofessor at the Complutense Faculty of Psychology and former president of the Spanish Society of Positive Psychology (SEPP). 2,000 years are nothing. Faced with the anxiety of consumption, chronic dissatisfaction and self-imposed … Read more

Ouigo has presented record numbers (and profits) in Spain. Renfe’s response is clear: they do not believe it

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“Renfe is today the only high-speed operator in Spain that manages to close the year with profits, while the rest of the companies in the sector continue in the red” The phrase is clear and the content clear: Renfe continues to be considered the only company in Spain that presents benefits in high speed. We could consider the statement valid but it has only been a few days since Ouigo put another piece of information on the table. “For the first time,” they noted in the presentation of their results that the company “managed to generate positive EBITDA for the first time.” And yet, both may be right even if the data seems contradictory. A fight that doesn’t stop From March 15, 2021the Spanish railway sector lives two realities. The first is that Ouigo operates on Spanish railways, standing up to Renfe. The second reality is that both companies maintain an open war in an exchange of statements that does not seem to end. Although a low profile was maintained in the first two years, in 2024 the Government arrived to support Renfe in a fight that they consider unequal. Then, Óscar Puente, Minister of Transportation, already stated that Ouigo operated through unfair competition. According to the Government and Renfe, Ouigo can offer lower prices than them because it is supported by France from the other side of the border. Months later, Puente raised the bar and said that I would report the French to the European Commission for unfair competition. Then it was pointed out that Ouigo was operating in Spain because it was losing money. But, in addition, France would be torpedoing its arrival to new lines in the country that could confront them in the local market. That is to say, Spain had ended up opening doors that France closed to them. Since then, we have not had news of the complaint but it is certain that Ouigo and Renfe maintain an open battle that has presented us with various chapters. We have seen disputes over prices but also over the type of repairs Ouigo was doing in the Renfe workshops (Renfe has to offer them its space but considered that these exceeded the current permits) or statements from the French making it clear that for the particularities of high speed spanish It would be impossible for them to compete in Madrid-Galicia. The last battle of this war has to do with the financial results. January 26, 2026the SCNF group, owner of Ouigo, presented a press release in which it boasted that it had achieved a 44% increase in passengers on its Spanish trains. And, in addition, he pointed out that for the first time they achieved a positive EBITDA. This has been read as if, for the first time, the French company was making profits in our country, although the truth is that the accounts were not detailed and only that financial term is pointed out. The point is that the EBITDA It refers to the operating income of the business and certain expenses but does not take into account taxes on profits, financial expenses such as interest on loans or amortizations. At the moment, Ouigo has not provided these data, but we do know that the companies that operate in our country at high speed they were losing money. This has been a constant since the arrival of Ouigo and Iryo and, in fact, both have had to receive new investments to be able to face the losses that have come upon them in the last four years. This difference between the EBITDA and the net result is what Renfe uses to proclaim itself as the only company that operates on Spanish high speed and making profits. “At the end of 2025, the Renfe division dedicated to passenger transport obtained a net profit of 70.2 million eurosa figure clearly higher than the previous year (5.4 million)”, points out in his statement. Therefore, both companies are right, neither is lying. But none of them tell the whole truth. And Ouigo, everything indicates, will continue to give net losses this year but it is true that it has years left to amortize the investment it had to make to bring its trains to Spain. Collecting a positive EBITDA is a good sign because it indicates that you are moving towards profitability but you will not be able to obtain it until you meet the interest on the requested loans and the amortizations. Renfe, on the contrary, with a consolidated network in Spain and the experience of working in the field since before becoming a company with private capital, has a clear advantage over rivals. It is true that, as Transport Minister Óscar Puente has complainedis also obliged to provide a public service that does not always have to be profitable. Photo | Wayback Machine and Cheng-en Cheng In Xataka | The overwhelming success of the train in Spain: when they gave us a choice, we chose to flee the airports

Germany has a plan to lead the world in nuclear fusion. And it has committed to doing so in the 2030s

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Germany is very serious about nuclear fusion. The state of Bavaria, the company specialized in the development of type nuclear fusion reactors stellarator Proxima Fusion, the energy company RWE AG and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) have agreed to collaborate in the development and implementation of the first fusion power plant of type stellarator of Europe. And, presumably, the world. Its strategy seeks to bring this facility into operation in the 2030s with the purpose of demonstrating a net energy gain. This simply means that the reactor should be able to produce more energy than it consumes. Alpha, which is what this demonstration fusion reactor will be called, will be built in Garching, very close to the IPP facilities. However, this is not all. And Alpha will be used to test the technological solutions that will later allow the construction of Stellaris, the first commercial plant of stellarator type fusion energy. The latter will be hosted in the town of Gundremmingen. If the organizations involved in this project achieve their goal over the next decade, Germany will consolidate itself as a world power in fusion energy. Germany firmly believes in ‘stellarator’ fusion reactors Experimental nuclear fusion reactors stellarator They represent a very solid alternative to tokamakas ITER either JET. And they are not exactly the result of recent research. In fact, both designs were designed during the 1950s. He stellarator It was designed by the American physicist Lyman Spitzer and served as the foundation on which the plasma physics laboratory at Princeton University (USA) was built. The design tokamakHowever, it was devised by the Soviet physicists Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm and Andrei Dmítrievich Sakharov based on ideas proposed a few years earlier by their colleague Oleg Lavrentiev. Both reactors were designed with the purpose of confining very high temperature plasmaand, curiously, during the 50s and 60s the design stellarator received great support from the scientific community in the West due to its enormous potential. ‘Tokamaks’ require that magnetic fields be generated by coils and induced by the plasma itself However, when Soviet and American scientists published their results and compared them, they realized that tokamak design performance was one or two orders of magnitude better than that of the stellarator. From that moment on, this latter design was largely marginalized. The most obvious difference between one and the other lies in their geometry, but it is enough to investigate a little about both to realize that the reactors stellarator they still have a lot to say. type reactors tokamak They are shaped like a toroid (or donut), and stellarator They have a more complex geometry that resembles a donut twisted on itself. However, the fundamental difference that exists between these two designs is that the reactors tokamak require that the magnetic fields that confine the plasma be generated by coils and induced by the plasma itself, while in reactors stellarator everything is done with coils. There is no current within the plasma. This means, in short, that the latter are more complex and difficult to build. In Europe we have a type fusion reactor stellarator extraordinarily promising: Wendelstein 7-X. It is installed in one of the buildings of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald (Germany), and its construction was completed in 2015. The first tests carried out in this fusion reactor between 2015 and 2018 went as planned, so in November of this last year an important moment arrived in its itinerary: it was necessary to modify it to install a water cooling system that was capable of more effectively evacuating the residual thermal energy from the walls. of the vacuum chamber, as well as a system that would allow the plasma to reach a higher temperature. The work that required these modifications was successfully completed in August 2022. And in February 2023, the Wendelstein 7-X reactor reached an important milestone: it managed to confine and stabilize the plasma for 8 uninterrupted minutes in which it delivered a total energy of 1.3 gigajoules. During the last two years everything learned in the development and the first tests carried out on this machine has been used by Proxima Fusion. In fact, its founders come from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. If Alpha goes well, commercial fusion energy will be a reality before the end of the next decade. This is the true purpose of Proxima Fusion. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Interesting Engineering In Xataka | An alternative to ITER in nuclear fusion is being cooked in France: a commercial ‘stellarator’ reactor

These are the three astronomical events of 2026, 2027 and 2028

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Spain has three impact astronomical events in the next three years, and we are going to tell you When and what are the three solar eclipses like? that we can see from our country. These will be scheduled in 2026, 2027 and 2028, and we will tell you in advance so you can plan a trip if you want to see it. What we are going to do in this article is summarize the dates and times in which these eclipses will take place in Spain, so that you can prepare yourself. Then, as each date approaches we will make another article specifying the data for each of them. Total solar eclipse of 2026 The total solar eclipse that we will have in 2026 will take place on August 12. It will begin at 17:34 in the Bering Sea and end at 21:58 in the Atlantic Ocean. It will begin to be seen in Spain at 7:30 p.m. in A Coruña, and about 7 or 9 minutes later it will begin to be seen in Madrid. Its strip of totality will cross the Iberian Peninsulaand we can see them in numerous provincial capitals from A Coruña to Palma, including Lugo, Oviedo, León, Zamora, Valladolid, Palencia, Segovia, Burgos, Soria, Santander, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Logroño, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Zaragoza, Teruel, Lleida, Tarragona, València and Castelló de la Plana. Total solar eclipse of 2027 The total solar eclipse that we will have in 2027 will take place on August 2. It will begin at 9:30 in the Atlantic, and will end in the Indian Ocean at 14:43. The eclipse will begin to be seen at 9:34 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and ten minutes later in both Madrid and Melilla. In this case, Egypt will be the country in the world where it can be seen best, although in the south of Spain and specifically in areas of the Strait We will be able to see it almost in its entirety. In Melilla there will be a total eclipse around 10:52. Total solar eclipse of 2028 The total solar eclipse that we will have in 2028 will take place on January 26. It will begin at 1:06 p.m. in the Pacific, and will end at 7:8 p.m. in Spain. It will begin to be seen at 10:34 in A Coruña, and shortly after in Madrid, passing through Tenerife first, although in none of these places it will be complete. On this occasion, the eclipse will cross most of the south of the peninsula, and also the east, with a strip of totality that will pass through Huelva, Seville, Córdoba, Albacete and the south of Castellón. In Xataka | Half of Spain waits expectantly for the historic eclipse of August 2026. The authorities are already thinking about the problems

what it is, compatible devices and how to use it with a monitor to turn your mobile into a PC

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Let’s explain to you what is android desktop mode, an option that we have been waiting for years as standard on our devices. This is something that Samsung has been offering it through DeX for yearsand that we have seen on mobile phones like Motorola and some Huawei models. Now, it is starting to arrive as standard on Android. We are going to start the article by explaining how this feature works, and what the concept it pursues is. Then, we will explain its implementation so that you know how it can be activated, also mentioning For which mobile phones is it initially available?although it is to be hoped that as months and years go by it will end up reaching many more. What is Android desktop mode Connect your mobile to a monitor and launch an adapted Android at this screen size. It seems like a wet dream, making Android look like a desktop operating system, but this is the desktop mode that Google is starting to enable. When you are using the mobile in this desktop mode, the entire interface will change. You will have a desk with a lower dock with applications that we have launched. We also have a menu bar above where on the left we see the time and on the right the battery and connectivity controls. You will also have a button that acts as a start menu. Besides that, open applications will be seen in windowsand just like in GNU/Linux and macOS, an indicator will appear in the dock telling you which ones are open. This will allow you to do two or three things at the same time, such as reading the content of a social network in one window while watching a video in the other. In general, the experience is similar to that of a PCand you can even open notifications and quick settings. In fact, you can see the quick settings on a double screen to see the options within the menus. In addition to this, you will also be able to resize and move windows of applications to place them wherever you like on the desktop. You’ll be able to pin apps to the taskbar, show all open apps, and even use Android’s three-button control system. Finally, know that desktop mode It will use the apps that you already have installed on Android. It is not a separate operating system, but an interface that the mobile itself has to launch itself that way when you are viewing it on a larger screen. Desktop mode too It will allow you to use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. You will have to link them to your mobile, and when you are in desktop mode you can simply use them as if it were a computer. What mobile is it compatible for? Currently, desktop mode is only supported with Pixel phones from Google. And not with everyone, but from Pixel 8 onwards. You will have to update Android to receive its latest version, and in it you will already have the function natively when you connect your mobile. Being a native Android function, it is possible that over time it will also end up reaching other devices. But as always, you will first have them in the Pixel as an exclusive feature. We’ll have to wait and see when it reaches the others. How to activate Android desktop mode To activate desktop mode, you have to connect your mobile to an external screen. Since the Pixel has a USB-C port, you will have to use a cable with this connector or a cable that connects from USB-C to Micro HDMI, or whatever format the external monitor uses. The mobile will automatically detect that you have connected it to the screen. Then, a pop-up window will appear asking you what you want to do after connecting. In this message, you simply have to click on the option Computer and that’s it. Now connect mouse and keyboard via Bluetooth and voila, your mobile is now a computer. The projector mode that you also have as an option is the one in which you can see on the screen what you are doing on your mobile, but without using it directly on it. The mode to choose is Computer. Images | Javier Pastor In Xataka Basics | The best apps for Android 2026: new, essential and hidden gems

127,000 million in weapons for war

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It took Germany more than seven decades to speak again openly to build the most powerful army of Europe. For much of that time, its military spending was conditioned by the political and legal limits imposed after World War II. Today, however, the country that for years symbolized European strategic pacifism has become the largest investor military of the continent. And that change is having consequences far beyond its borders. Perplexed in half of Europe. The meeting that took place yesterday in the Oval Office left an image that is difficult to ignore: Donald Trump publicly attacking to Spain while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz remained silent at his side. The US president accused Madrid of the “veto” in Rota and of not assuming its share of NATO military spending, and threatened with economic reprisalsa warning that was surprising for its harshness against a European ally. When it was Merz’s turn to respond, avoided questioning the tone or substance of the threat and limited itself to pointing out that all members of the Alliance must increase your investment in defense. The scene drew attention because the leader of the most powerful country in the European Union did not come to the defense of a community partner at a time of maximum diplomatic tension. A calculated strategy. They remembered in the New York Times that very possibly the chancellor’s silence was not improvised. His strategy in the White House was to avoid any direct confrontation in front of the cameras and reserve disagreements for private conversations. Merz had arrived in Washington with the intention of maintaining a functional relationship with an unpredictable president and very sensitive to public criticism. The German priority was to discuss the conflict with Iran, the war in Ukraine and trade tensions with Europe without provoking a head-on clash with Trump. This calculation would explain why the chancellor chose to let the attacks on Spain (and the United Kingdom) pass during the meeting, even knowing that the scene would generate discomfort in several European capitals. 127,000 million reasons. There is, however, an even simpler reason behind this caution: the gigantic rearmament program German. Faced with public reluctance from Spain, Germany is preparing to spend around of 127 billion dollars in defense this year, a figure that makes it by far the largest military investor in Europe. The German Government’s plan is even more ambitiouswith the aim of raising spending up to 3.5% of GDP in the coming years and build the most powerful conventional army on the continent. This strategic leap marks the end of decades of military containment and places Berlin at the center of the new European balance of power. The German project. The German bet responds to a combination of factors: the war in Ukraine, fear of Russian aggressiveness and the perception that the United States could reduce its commitment to European security. After decades of reducing its army, Berlin tries recover capabilities at great speed and become the military pillar of the continent. This process is also transforming its defense industry, with companies like Rheinmetall expanding rapidly thanks to the increase in the military budget. If the Government’s plans are fulfilled, Germany will end up spending more on defense that France and the United Kingdom (and, of course, Spain) together in conventional capacities, a change that profoundly alters the military balance within Europe. Two diametrically opposed visions. In that context, the clash with Spain is better understood. While Germany pushes a massive increase of defense spending within NATO, Madrid has shown a more cautious stance regarding this increase and has defended more critical positions regarding some recent military operations. From the German perspective, the central issue was not the Trump threat, but the fact that Spain stayed away of the new rearmament consensus that Berlin is trying to consolidate among the European allies. That’s why Merz responded by underlining the need for all Alliance members to meet agreed military spending targets. A delicate balance. If you like, the chancellor’s attitude actually reflects a deeper strategic tension. Germany aspires to lead a stronger Europe militarily, but at the same time it needs to maintain a close relationship with the United States for this project to be viable. The US nuclear umbrella, technological cooperation and the NATO structure remain essential pillars of European security. In that context and always from the German prism, confront publicly Trump would have put at risk a balance that Berlin considers fundamental for its own rearmament project. The result is a cautious or fearful diplomacy that seeks to strengthen Europe without breaking the link with Washington, even when that balance forces silence in such uncomfortable and embarrassing moments for half of Europe. Image | IToldYa, Picryl, 270862 In Xataka | The small print that explains why the US has threatened Spain as an enemy: it has been vetoing the shipment of weapons to Israel for months In Xataka | “It’s not what we need”: Germany has just put the finishing touches on Spain’s great military dream, the European anti-F-35 is disappearing

The laptop is still important in the age of AI

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Samsung has reserved the Mobile World Congress to announce the arrival in Spain of its new batch of laptops: the Galaxy Book6 series. This family is made up of three models, namely Book6, Book6 Pro and Book6 Ultra, and its objective is not so much to compete in specifications and price, but also to position itself as one of the fundamental pillars of the AI ​​ecosystem that the firm is developing. The news. Samsung has announced the launch in Spain of its new laptops. The Galaxy Book6 will start at 1,149 euros, the Galaxy Book6 Pro will start at 1,799 euros and the Galaxy Book6 Ultra will start at 3,399 euros base. It will be available from March 11 and its specifications are as follows: Galaxy Book5 Galaxy Book5 pro Galaxy Book5 ultra SCREEN 14 inch IPS Anti-Glare WQXGA+ (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) 350 nits brightness — 16 inch IPS Touch WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels) 350 nits — 16 inch IPS Anti-Glare WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels) 350 nits 14/16 inch Touch AMOLED Anti-reflective panel 16 inch Touch-AMOLED Anti-reflective panel WQXGA+ (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) 1,000 nits DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 14 inches: 313.4 x 221.1 x 14.9mm 1.48 kilos — 16 inches 357.1 x 248 x 16.8mm (touch) 357.1 x 248 x 16.8mm (non-touch) 14 inches: 314.2 x 220.6 x 11.6mm 1.24 kilos — 16 inches: 356.9 x 248 x 11.9mm 1.59 kilos 356.9 x 249 x 15.4mm 1.79 kilos PROCESSOR Intel Core Ultra 5/7 Intel Graphics NPU up to 49 TOPS Intel Core Ultra X7/7/5 Intel Arc Graphics/Intel Graphics NPU up to 50 TOPS Intel Core Ultra X9/9/X7/7 Intel Arc/RTX 5060/5070 Graphics NPU up to 50 TOPS RAM 16/32GB LPDDR5x 16/32GB LPDDR5x 16/32/64GB LPDDR5x STORAGE Up to 1TB PCIe SSD Expansion port Up to 1TB PCIe SSD Expansion port (16″) Up to 1TB PCIe SSD Expansion port (16″) FRONT CAMERA 2MP 2MP 2MP BATTERY 61.2Wh 45W USB C fast charging 14 inches: 67.18 Wh 16 inches: 78.07 Wh 65W fast charging 80.2Wh Fast charging 100/140W OPERATING SYSTEM Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth v5.4 802.11ax 2×2 USB Type-C x2 USB Type-A x2 HDMI microSD RJ45, S-Lock combo jack Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth v5.4 802.11 be 2×2 Thunderbolt 4 x2 USB Type-A HDMI 2.1 port (8K@60Hz) combo jack Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth v5.4 802.11 be 2×2 Thunderbolt 4 x2 USB Type-A HDMI 2.1 port (8K@60Hz) combo jack OTHERS Stereo speaker Double microphone Dolby Atmos Stereo/quad speaker (16″) Double microphone Dolby Atmos 6x speakers Double microphone Dolby Atmos Haptic trackpad PRICE From 1,149 euros From 1,799 euros From 3,399 euros The mobile as the center. Galaxy phones, especially Galaxy S and, more specifically, the Galaxy S Ultraare the central axis around which Samsung’s product strategy pivots. The thread that unites the entire ecosystem, that is, tablets, watches, headphones and, of course, computers, is artificial intelligence. This is how Samsung makes money: the secret is in the IPHONE Samsung Galaxy Book Series6 | Image: Xataka Samsung’s idea is that our devices know us better and anticipate our needs, being proactive when it comes to suggesting data or taking action. In that sense, the more complete the ecosystem is, the more capacity to react it will have. It is something that Motorola and Lenovo They have also understood and that companies like Apple, in their own way, have been working for years. Samsung wants to connect everything and knows that in its enormous ecosystem it has a great competitive advantage, so it makes sense that it wants to continue exploiting it. And it works for them. According to internal data shared by the company, the laptop market grew by 9% in value in Spain last year. Samsung, for its part, has been the brand that has grown the most, with 88% in value and 93% in units. It is possible that AI PCs have not taken off as the market would have liked, but perhaps that is because the real value It is not in the execution of AI models locallybut in how products integrate with each other in the age of AI. Samsung Galaxy Book Series6 | Image: Xataka The role of AI in Book6. Samsung’s new laptops integrate Galaxy AI and Microsoft Phone Link. What does that mean? That the user can use the mobile phone from the PC, transfer files and synchronize devices to, for example, use a tablet as an external monitor. You can also use AI features such as generative editing, AI Select, voice file search, writing assistant, as well as all the Copilot+PC options. To do this, Samsung relies on the cloud, but also on the NPU of the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 that the three laptops mount inside. Roughly speaking, this allows certain functions to be executed locally, which increases privacy. The Ultra model, for its part, mounts NVIDIA RTX 5070/5060 GPUs, so, at least on paper, it should also excel in gaming and graphic tasks. Samsung Galaxy Book Series6 | Image: Xataka The importance of the laptop. And, although AI has proven to be a valuable ally in mobility, when it comes to productivity the laptop continues to be the reference device. The mobile phone is fine for doing things on the go, but when it comes to being really productive, a larger screen and a proper keyboard win out. Brands, aware of this, are working to ensure that their devices understand each other better and better and have found a way to achieve this in AI. AI cannot and should not be seen as something isolated, but as a common thread between devices that, for better and for worse, are condemned to understand each other. Images | Samsung In Xataka | Samsung has a plan for all its factories: have humanoid robots controlled by a central AI work

I have used my Android mobile as a PC thanks to desktop mode. It is a fantastic option

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Ricardo Aguilar, a colleague at Xataka, knows a lot about mobile phones, so from time to time he throws some insult at me about my already somewhat mature Pixel 8 Pro. Today, however, the insult is mine. Because? Well, because as he himself warned the team, Android ‘desktop mode’ is finally available. This optionthat I’ve been waiting for years (he knows it well) it also arrives in a limited way, because only some devices can enjoy it. Specifically, the recent Pixels. And my Pixel 8 Pro is one of them. In the past I have tested this feature on other devices: I did it of course on Samsungs, which has been offering it through DeX for yearsand also on some other mobile such as Motorola and some Huawei models, which they also boasted of said characteristic. Google had been around for a while raising this possibilityand last year an Android beta appeared that offered this capability. Now that option is finally officially available, although as we say, for now only on Google Pixels starting with Pixel 8. Enviable start-up To activate this option you must first activate the developer options in the Android settings, and then enable option for desktop features which we can find almost at the end of those options for developers. Once this is done, the system asks for a restart, after which everything is ready to use desktop mode. To do this, I connected a 15-inch external monitor to my Pixel through a USB-C to Micro HDMI cable (I tried a USB-C to USB-C cable, but the cable I used had a small problem). By detecting that we connect the mobile phone to a screen, The Pixel gives us the option of using the mobile phone as a “Computer” (the desktop mode itself) or of projecting it as it has been possible to do for years. I chose the first option​​ and I finally found that desktop mode that basically makes Android becomes a hybrid operating system which works practically the same as Windows, Linux or macOS do on a PC or laptop. Thus, we have a desktop in which there is a lower bar with the application launcher and a series of “pinned” apps, and at the top a system bar that allows, for example, access to notifications and quick settings on our mobile. From there the experience is very similar to using a PC. We can open applications and, of course, resize and move windows to place them however we like on the desktop. I normally use two competing advantages of the browser to work on the topics I prepare for Engadget, and that is exactly the configuration I have used to write this text: with two Chrome windows I have worked practically the same as I usually do on my Mac mini M4. A small change of mentality Obviously in that desktop mode it is necessary connect a mouse and keyboard to the Pixelwhich I have connected via Bluetooth. The detection and operation of these devices was carried out without problems, and once on the desktop everything works, I insist, as one would expect. You can quickly launch apps from the taskbar launcher and pin certain apps to that taskbar. It is also possible to show all open applications with that old access at the bottom right with a square-shaped icon. There is a strange feeling here because logically what you are using are the applications on your mobile phone natively. Thus, it is not necessary to open WhatsApp in a browser tab because you already have the native app ready and running in the background, and the same goes for the rest of the options, such as the Twitter app (X) or YouTube: they are not tabs, but full-fledged apps. It is a slight but curious change of mentality, of course. And there is also the other reality: some apps that we usually use on the desktop are not as clear as those on Windows or macOS. There is a clear example in the file explorer: Android has its own (Files) and I, for example, usually use Amaze for these tasks, but Google has never conceived Android as an operating system in which the user messes with files and folders. We can do it, yes, but it is not the strong point of this platform, as neither is it, for example, working with the command console. Here again that possibility exists, but you have to “play around” a little more to be able to install a terminal and use it in a similar way as we would do in Linux, macOS or in Windows CMD/Powershell. I have not tried much more demanding applications at the moment, but this opens the door to using some more advanced and ambitious applications in desktop mode: here it occurs to me that an image or video editor could be a striking candidate to take advantage of this desktop mode. There is also striking scope here for entertainment with games that we can play with a mouse and keyboard as we would on a PC, even though they are games for Android. The possibilities are most striking. Your PC can certainly be your mobile These tests have made me realize that this definitely opens up those possibilities that we have been talking about for years. A laptop normally solves the mobility issue, but if you need to have “your PC” anywhereyou don’t even need that anymore: if you have a monitor, keyboard and mouse somewhere else, this Android desktop mode allows you to use your device almost like a PC. I just did it while writing this article, and the truth is, the experience has been surprisingly good. Not perfect, mind you– The on-screen keyboard appears from time to time as if the system does not detect that you have a physical one connected, for example, and window management is not as intuitive as one might wish. But still the overall result is fantastic in my … Read more

In the midst of the RAM and SSD crisis, there are those who are launching laptops and mobile phones with more capacity at the same price: Apple

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Apple has set out to eclipse the Mobile World Congress. He does not attend the Barcelona fair, but he has presented products. For now, the iPhone 17ethe new MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro and M5 Max processorsthe new MacBook Air M5 and the renewal of your monitor Studio Display. And what has caught my attention the most is the “generosity” of an Apple that has not accustomed us to it. Because, with the one that is falling with the RAM crisis and of SSD priceApple is offering more without increasing the price. And it is something that has several readings… and some asterisks. The new devices. There isn’t much new in anything the company has presented so far. It is assumed that there is still a ‘cheap’ MacBook throughout this Wednesday, March 4, but what they have already presented is, basically, the same as last year, but with new processors. The iPhone 17e is a mobile phone with an outdated design, but it includes a slightly cut version of the processor of the iPhone 17 Pro. The MacBook Pros were already beasts in many ways and now they can be equipped with the M5 Pro and M5 Max that reach absurd figures for GPU capacity and memory bandwidth in the most powerful versions. And the MacBook Air was already a very interesting device for mobility, but now also somewhat more powerful. As I say, not much new on the front, until we look at the storage. With the one that is falling… At this point, no one is aware that we are experiencing an unprecedented component crisis. It’s not like 2020, when a bunch of factors caused a global chip crisis. Now there is only one “culprit”: artificial intelligence. There is three main companies that manufacture memory (Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung), and the three have focused almost the entire his production to memories for AI. This is causing not only us to have to pay more to be able to buy RAM or an SSD for our PC, but also the manufacturers themselves are changing their device launch plans –the steam machine-, there is someone who is selling laptops without RAM or without SSDwho looks to Chinese manufacturers to see if they can find a solution or, directly, those who can withdraw from the market. And, in the middle of that hurricane, Apple (which It is not characterized by its popular prices), launches devices. And the surprise came. Generosity. I’m not going to explain much, I’m just going to give some information: The iPhone 17e starts with 256 GB of storage and costs 709 euros. He iPhone 16e It started at 128 GB and cost 709 euros. The MacBook Air M5 costs 1,199 euros with 512 GB of SSD. He MacBook Air M4 It cost the same at launch, 1,199 euros (in October last year they lowered it by 100 euros to 1,099 euros), but with 256 GB. On these devices, Apple has doubled the storage while maintaining the price. And not only that: the Studio Display XDR was sold with a basic tilt adjustment stand, but you could purchase the articulated arm that allowed you to adjust both angle and height. The price of support? 999 euros, which became a meme. Now, the new Studio Display XDR It comes with that ‘Pro’ support included. Of course, the base MacBook Pro M5 costs 100 euros more with a 1 TB SSD instead of 512 GB. Generosity? What is happening here, is the first thing I thought when I started analyzing the price. There are several options that can be compatible… and even all at the same time. No company is there to give away, so it is simply possible that they have a huge stock of 512 GB SSDs that they now mount as a base in their computers. This would make sense if we take into account the very high price of expanding the memory on an Apple device. The most basic option would be the most chosen, so those with 128 GB on mobile phones and 256/512 on MacBooks would be the best sellers and, therefore, have a surplus of the expanded options that fewer people would opt for. Another reading may be that, due to the high price of the devices, Apple decides to absorb part of the cost of RAM because it’s still worth itmaking money per device sold and expanding the Mac user base at a time when Windows laptops can have a very difficult time. What Apple saves are the chargers in its new equipment. The MacBook Pro no longer included a charger, but the MacBook Air did. Now not even that. The turn. The other option is that… it will be our turn. The prices that I have detailed are in euros and for Spain if we take into account the launch price, without subsequent offers or reductions. In the United States, things are very different. They have also doubled the storage, but the MacBook Air in its 13 and 15-inch versions now They are 100 dollars more expensive than the previous generation. It is always complicated because direct conversions cannot be made from the US price to the European price (in fact, the M5 MacBook Air costs $1,099 and $1,299 compared to our 1,199 euros and 1,499 euros), but we may simply have to face that price increase in 2027 models. Because, unfortunately, the RAM crisis is going to last a long time. Intel He thinks he has the rest of the decade ahead of him, NVIDIA does not have good forecasts either and Samsung has just said that, if that, it will begin to ease in 2027. Images | Apple, Samsung In Xataka | Apple has been the industry’s first customer for decades. AI is relegating it to the background

Your subscription to Xataka Xtra includes an exclusive badge for your profile: this is what it will look like

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Xataka Xtra It is loaded with advantages. For only two euros a month you have access to exclusive newsletters, raffles and discounts, to the Discord server, to our editors to resolve your queries and, of course, to show that you, xatakera, xatakero, support Xataka and are part of the Xtra community. That’s why today we present to you another of the benefits included in your subscription: an exclusive badge for your profile. This badge will appear on your profile and in the commentsso that everyone can see that you are part of the Xtra community. It should be noted that it does not mean that your comments will be seen first, that they will not be moderated or that you will earn more karma, but it is a gesture that we want to have from Xataka to value your support in a more visual way. We remind you that Xataka Xtra It has a promotional price of two euros per month or 15 euros per year. In addition, for only 30 euros per year you can unlock advertising-free browsing. If you haven’t done so yet, You can subscribe now from this link. In Xataka | Subscribe now to Xataka Xtra

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