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The best deals on Bluetooth headphones during Prime Day with deals on Sony, Beats, Sennheiser and more

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

If you had been waiting for Prime Day like water May June to buy some Bluetooth headphones, this year we have once again found very good offers on different brands, whether Sony, Beats, Apple and many others. For this reason, in this article we are going to review the best deals that we can find until tomorrow, which is when the campaign ends. Sony WH-1000XM5 by 197 eurosheadphones with one of the best noise cancellations. Beats Studio Pro by 185 eurosheadphones with good theoretical autonomy. Sony WF-1000XM5 by 161.50 eurosTWS headphones that sound very good. Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Special Edition by 179.99 eurosheadphones in which the brand promises up to 60 hours of autonomy. AirPods 4 by 133 eurosperfect headphones for iPhone users. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sony WH-1000XM5 The Sony WH-1000XM5 They have not missed this year’s Prime Day and have dropped to one of the best prices we have seen to date (for a difference of less than five euros). They are found by 197 euros and they are perfect for those people who are looking good sound, good price and one of the best active noise cancellation on the market. In case you want to buy the current generation, the Sony WH-1000XM6 They are also on sale for 335 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Beats Studio Pro We can also find at a very good price the Beats Studio Pro; In fact, we haven’t seen them this cheap since January. By 185 euroswe are talking about headphones that have active noise cancellation and a battery that the brand promises offers up to 40 hours of autonomy. In addition, they have Bluetooth 5.3 and are compatible with spatial audio. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sony WF-1000XM5 On the other hand, if you want good TWS headphones, the Sony WF-1000XM5 They are also on sale for 161.50 euros (they are close to their historical minimum price). They are headphones that offer very good active noise cancellation, they are compatible with the LDAC codec and support high-resolution audio (Hi-Res), they offer resistance to water jets (IPX4) and Sony promises that they reach up to 8 hours of playback with noise cancellation activated. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Special Edition Returning to headband headphones, if you usually prioritize the battery in this type of device, be very careful with the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Special Edition which are currently on sale for 179.99 euros. The brand promises up to 60 hours of autonomya very high figure to use them for several days. They also have adaptive noise cancellation and do not have buttons, but rather a touch interface with gesture control. Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Special Edition The price could vary. We earn commission from these links AirPods 4 Without a doubt, one of the best offers on Bluetooth headphones has fallen on the AirPods 4and you can also buy both versions at a discount: The version with ANC is perfect for everyday usewhether to listen to music at home or to do so without distractions on the street or public transport. On the other hand, the version without ANC is more oriented to use inside the home. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Laura Lopez, Javier PenalvaSony, Beats, Sennheiser, Apple In Xataka | Best Bluetooth speakers in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and seven recommended models In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price (2026). Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 99 euros

ASML host nation enters anti-Chinese bloc

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

ASML is an essential piece in the technological and commercial war that the US and China are fighting to gain world supremacy. This company from the Netherlands is, at the moment, the only one capable of manufacturing the equipment extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) that use TSMC, Samsung, Intel or SK Hynix to produce your cutting-edge chips. This absolute bottleneck position explains why the Netherlands’ formal accession to the Pax Silica initiative, the US-led semiconductor bloc to reduce dependence on China, is one of the most relevant geostrategic movements of 2026. Pax Silica, or “Silicon Peace”, was born in December 2025 at the initiative of the US State Department with a very clear objective: to build semiconductor supply chains, artificial intelligence (AI) and rare earths unlinked from China. The trap of being essential This bloc started with seven signatory countries and has been adding accessions until reaching sixteen members. The Netherlands participates from the beginning, but with the status of non-signatory partner. This week Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma traveled to Washington to finalize the official accession in a meeting with Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick. The problem is that this firm has not put an end to the friction. Sjoerdsma acknowledged before the press that both countries share the goal of preventing sensitive technology reach dangerous handsbut he was also very explicit in his rejection of MATCH law (Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware o Multilateral Alignment of Technological Controls in Hardware). “The starting point for the Netherlands is that each country is responsible for its own laws,” said Sjoerd Sjoerdsma. This bipartisan proposal would force companies like ASML to stop maintaining even machines already delivered to China under the threat of losing access to American components, software, and customers. “The starting point of the Netherlands is that each country is responsible for its own laws,” declared Sjoerd Sjoerdsma. The trade and technology war between Washington and Beijing has been escalating for years. The US vetoed Huawei and ZTE in its government agencies in 2019, expanded export controls of semiconductors in 2022 under the mandate of Joe Biden and approved the sale of some Nvidia GPUs to China in 2026. Beijing responded by restricting access to its rare earths and manufacturing industry. The result was paradoxical: a boom of domestic chip production in China and, in parallel, a buoyant smuggling industry that ended up with several executives of American companies in jail. Pax Silica and the MATCH Act are the most ambitious and most coercive version of this decoupling strategy. For the Netherlands, this scenario does not have a clean exit. ASML is not only its most valuable company: it is the reason why an economy of 18 million people influences global politics of supply chains much deeper than its size corresponds to. Without their SVU lithography machines, chipmakers like TSMC, Micron or Samsung would not be able to produce the cutting-edge hardware they make today. But that same relevance makes ASML a target for legislation that could force ever-closer integration with Washington, without whose components, software and market access ASML itself would find itself in serious difficulty. Image | ASML More information | Tom’s Hardware In Xataka | Japan wants to regain leadership as a manufacturer of lithography equipment. And he has a plan to break ASML’s monopoly In Xataka | An unexpected salvation for the end user emerges from the memory market debacle: Chinese chips

work until 70 years old

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

In 1889, Otto von Bismarck invented the public retirement pension in Germany and set the retirement age at 70 years. At that time, only a lucky few made it alive to collect it. Now, 137 years later, Germany has proposed recovering that age limit so that its employees can retire. So that they later say that history is not cyclical and pendulous. As and how to collect ReutersChancellor Friedrich Merz last week presented a 33-point plan to reform the German pension system. Merz’s plan has a priority objective: that the pension system does not collapse. To achieve this, the German chancellor is betting on a package of measures that involves working more and forgetting about early retirement. Germany doesn’t get it right. Germany has one of the oldest pension systems in the world, but also one of the most stressed. Germany’s problem is an old acquaintance for Spain: every time there are fewer workers to pay the pensions of more and more retirees. According to data According to the German Federal Statistics Office, there are now 33 pensioners for every 100 people of working age. In 2070, that figure could reach 61 pensioners for every 100 contributors. That means less than two workers per retiree. By 2035, the forecast is that one in four Germans will be over 67 years old. With the current financing system, today’s German workers pay the pensions of today’s retirees. Without a sufficient workforce to contribute contributions, the scheme does not hold. and the baby boomers They are reaching retirement right now. We live longer, we work more. The most striking proposal of those presented by Merz is to link the legal retirement age to life expectancy in Germany. That is, since we live longer, employees must also contribute for more years. The easiest way to do this is to delay the minimum legal age for retirement. Currently, anyone who retires before 2023 will be able to do so at 67, just like that in Spain. However, with the new plan that the Foreign Ministry has put on the table, that age would rise to 67.5 years in 2041, to 68 in 2051, and would evolve until reaching 70 years by the end of 2090. We are not facing a sudden change, but rather the executive seeks to progressively adapt to the demographic ramp of its population, trying to cushion the strong impact that the planned mass retirement will entail. for the next decade. Merz sold it as a guarantee for young people: “No citizen has to worry,” he said. The system, according to him, is not going to collapse, but “All the elements of this reform package must be implemented quickly and make up a comprehensive concept that only works as a whole.” Goodbye to retirement at 63. In addition to extending the legal age to access retirement, the German Chancellor’s proposal is complemented by a tightening of the requirements to qualify for early retirement, the so-called Rent mit 63the formula that allows you to retire at age 63 without penalty if you have contributed for 45 years. It is estimated that about 270,000 Germans take refuge each year in a early retirement without penalty. Unions see it as a direct blow to blue-collar workers. In statements collected By DW, Christiane Benner, leader of IG Metall, pointed out that the proposal “completely ignores” the conditions of those who work in factories or construction, because spending the last few years behind a computer is not the same as spending the last few years on a scaffold. To reduce this difference, the Government proposes that those who cannot continue for health reasons have easier access to this early retirement, which will no longer be automatic for those workers with long-term careers. The Swedish model as inspiration. Along with the changes in the retirement age, the package of measures proposed by Merz also points to a change in the way in which Germany manages its employees’ pension funds, opting to invest part of them in capital markets. The chancellor has not invented anything that is not already being applied in other European countries. An example would be the swedish systemwhere 2.5% of employees’ salaries go to individual accounts that are invested in funds. In Germany, the proposal is to start with an additional 0.5% on the salary and gradually reach 2%. Each worker would have their own account. Merz estimates that the fund would channel at least 30,000 million euros a year to the markets. Critics warn that the stock market could fall, and that a sharp decline at the wrong time could pose a serious risk to the liquidity of the pension system. In Xataka | Collecting two retirement pensions is the dream of any worker. What we didn’t know is that Social Security allows it Image | Unsplash (Maheshkumar Painam, Oxana Melis)

The blue crab is a pest throughout the Mediterranean. In Italy they have found the key to resist the invasion: cultivate oysters

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

It’s not no newcomer to the Italian coasts, but still the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) represents a huge headache for the Government of Georgia Meloni. Originally from the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, this crustacean with powerful pincers, a bluish color and a voracious appetite has turned Italy’s clam and mussel production upside down, causing millionaire lossesthreatening jobs and affecting the country’s culinary tradition. To combat it, in Italy they have resorted to huge networksthey have financed their capture and have even opened their restaurants to blue crab. Now, in the absence of results, they are adopting a new strategy: farming oysters. A blue and pincer threat. He Callinectes sapidus (the famous blue crab) is recognized above all for its tone and its claws, so powerful that they allow it to easily climb and break fishermen’s nets. However, there is another trait that defines it much better: the voracity. An insatiable predator, it devours clams, mussels, fish eggs, other native crabs with weaker shells… The same resources that have kept thousands of fishermen afloat for generations and nourished part of Italian gastronomy. It is assumed that the Callinectes sapidus takes in Italy since 1940but now its expansion begins to reach unsustainable levels. “A desert”. “The blue crabs are eating everything. This stretch of lagoon is turning into a desert,” regretted a few years ago from the Po Delta Gianluca Travaglia, a 52-year-old fisherman dedicated to catching clams. The situation was so drastic that, he admitted, some of his colleagues no longer used networks. “The crabs swim towards them and break them.” In 2023 Flu Fedaa sector association, estimated the economic impact of the invasive species at about 100 million euros in Italy. According to his calculations, the predator was killing about 90% of the young clams in the Po delta. Daniela Borriello, from Coldirettishared in 2024 another estimate: In the northern Adriatic, the area most affected by the invasion, production has plummeted by 80%. “The jobs of 3,000 people are in danger.” Looking for solutions. The situation is so dramatic that both the authorities and the fishermen themselves have sought ways to stop the plague. In the Venetian lagoon, for example, clam farmers have come to “fortify” your nurseries with nets that appear five feet above the water. Without success. Crabs climb and break them. Campaigns have also been launched to remove tons of crabs from the coasts and invested million of euros in the fight against the invasive species, although without great results. The warming of the oceans and the absence of predators do not make it easy for fishermen either, so some time ago in Italy they took heart and they applied an old strategy: ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. Or eat them, if necessary. The chefs they started looking ways to include the invasive species on your plates or look for new marketslike the US or China. Is it a solution? It certainly doesn’t seem optimal. And for several reasons. To begin with, more and more scientists warn of the environmental risks of ‘invasiveness’the trend of opening local cuisines to invasive species and turning species like blue or Kamchatka crab into ingredients. In the specific case of Callinectes sapidus, Their consumption does not seem to be arousing passions in Italy either, despite the attempts of some chefs to incorporate them into their pasta dishes. The Italian economic environment Quifinance assures that only 15% of blue crabs find an outlet in the food market and their commercialization is limited by the complexity of their processing. In fact, other avenues are already being tested, such as its use in feed. Oysters to the rescue. Beyond the nets, mass captures or their incorporation into local cuisine, in Italy they have deployed another strategy to fight against blue crabs. Which? Bet on oysters. As points out Il Sole 24 Orethe idea is very simple: move from clam nurseries to the cultivation of oyster varieties that, due to their characteristics, are much more resistant to attacks by blue crabs. It’s not just theory. In the Sacca di Goro lagoon (located in the Po Delta), fishermen’s cooperatives they have already diversified its production betting on stras. “More resistant”. “A first step has been taken thanks to the financing, through the Development Fund, of a study dedicated to the enhancement of crab meat,” comments Roberto Saviniby Confcooperative Romagna-Estense. “At the same time, cooperatives have begun significant investment in the cultivation and marketing of certain oysters.” Even media like The Republic have been echoed how there are fishermen dedicated to clams who have decided to switch to oysters, “more resistant.” One of the most recent cases It is left by the Goro cooperatives, in Ferrara, which, faced with the harassment of the blue crab, have decided to give more weight to oyster cultivation. Specifically, the professionals from Gorino and Sant’Antonio have begun to invest in varieties that are a priori more resistant to the new predator (such as Mignon or Lampa) and that at the same time can have an outlet in the Italian gastronomic market. Solved then? No. The commitment to oysters is just one of the strategies deployed by the Government and Italian fishermen. And it is not without challenges either. One key is the image that oysters have. Unlike clams, a large part of the market continues to view them as a luxury item. To solve this and aware of the opportunity they represent for the fishing industry, Italy has considered reducing its VAT, passing it from 22 to 10%. “Oysters are a luxury good because they are expensive, not because nature has made them luxurious,” recognize the Minister of Agriculture. Another challenge is to expand the gap that oysters now occupy in the market. Fedagripesca estimates that Italians consume around 10,000 tons of oysters annually, the vast majority (97%) of foreign origin. “Italy, with its more than 7,000 km of coastline, could compete with France for the title of cradle of the oyster, recovering a production … Read more

There are people recommending putting a coin on the WiFi router to make it work better. It’s stupid like a temple

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

The WiFi coverage problems They are a common evil in many homes and that causes all kinds of problems to arise. tips and tricks to improve itsome of them quite questionable. One of the viral tricks that has been circulating the most lately is the one that ensures that simply By placing a coin on top of the router we can amplify the signal of our WiFi. I wish it were that simple. The trick has been successful because it combines several factors: it is very easy to do, problems with WiFi are very common and it has a certain scientific basis. The logic is that, as the antennas are metal and the coin too, if we put it on top of the router we will make the signal increase. Let’s explain to you why it doesn’t make any sense. Debunking the myth of the coin and the router Placing a coin on the router has the same effect on the signal as leaving it next to it: none. For a metal to act as an antenna, it has to be connected to the circuit that emits the signal, but this is not the case. Between the coin and the circuit are other components, air and a plastic casing. Come on, it’s not going to have any effect. Placing metal near a router can even worsen the signal. If we surround a signal emitter such as the router with metal, we will achieve the well-known effect Faraday cagethat is, the signal is blocked. Obviously with a single coin we are not going to make WiFi worse, but this destroys the belief that a metal object on top of the router is going to amplify the signal. Photo by Pierre G on Unsplash As we said, the basis of the trick is that the antennas are made of metal, but there is a key issue and that is that not just any metal will do, it must be one who is a good driver. The metal that conducts electricity better It is silver, followed by copper, gold and aluminum. Euro coins are made of different materials depending on what currency it is. The 2 euro one combines a copper-nickel exterior with a nickel and brass interior; those of 50, 20 and 10 cents are made of Nordic gold (an alloy of copper, aluminum, zinc and tin) and those of 5, 2 or 1 cent are made of copper-coated steel. Even if the trick worked, none of these materials would be ideal for building an antenna. Tips that will improve your WiFi Most WiFi problems at home have their origin in one very specific thing: the router is incorrectly placed. The usual thing is that the installation comes through a wall and that we install the router right there, but it is a mistake. The more focused you are, the better. The router emits the signal in all directions, so if we put it at one end of the house we will be making the signal very good in that room and outside (on the other side of the wall), but it will be increasingly weaker as we move away from it. The best location for the router is to place it as centrally as possible within our house. Another issue to take into account is the obstacles. The walls, the closets full of clothes, the appliances… all of this will weaken the signal of our WiFi, so the fewer obstacles you have to cross, better. There is more tips that allow you to optimize the WiFi signal at homehow to keep your router updated or choose well what we connect to each bandbut if nothing works you can always turn to additional devices such as a WiFi PLC amplifier or what is by far the most effective: a WiFi Mesh system. I myself have suffered problems with WiFi at home due to a poorly placed router and The only thing that solved it was installing two additional mesh routers. I wish it had been as simple as putting a euro on top of the router. Image | Alex Alcolea, Xataka In Xataka | The new WiFi 7 router from Movistar compared to the previous one with WiFi 6: a leap that is worth it in almost everything

force Russia to bunkerize its nuclear fleet

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

In October 1962, in the midst of Missile Crisis of Cuba, the Soviet Union ordered disperse and hide a good part of its nuclear bombers for fear of a surprise attack by the United States. It was one of the few times in history when Moscow assumed that even its most sensitive strategic assets might not be safe at home. More than sixty years later, that old logic of vulnerability has returned. The image that summarizes a change. For decades, Russian strategic bombers were a military rarity: nuclear machines parked in the open, visible from satellite, relying on Russia’s territorial depth and the logic inherited from the Cold War. The Tu-95 and Tu-160 They were part of the most sensitive core of Moscow’s military power, and yet they never needed mass shelters. That is changing, because new satellite images show something unprecedented: Russia is building huge fortified hangars at the air base in Engels Air Base to protect its strategic fleet. It’s not just a work of engineering. It is proof that Ukraine has achieved something that seemed unthinkable just three years ago: forcing Russia to bunkerize one leg of its nuclear triad. Engels: the heart of the Russian nuclear air arm. Engels is not any base. It is one of the nerve centers of Russian strategic aviation and is home to the 22nd Heavy Bomber Division, including the only operational squadron of Tupolev Tu-160s and several Tupolev Tu-95MS. A good part of the cruise missile attacks against Ukraine take off from there. We talk about irreplaceable devices: The Tu-95 has been out of production for decades and the industrial reactivation of the Tu-160 is progressing extremely slowly. Therefore, losing one is not losing a plane, it is losing a central piece of the Russian nuclear balance. That’s also why the fact that they now need to hide them under concrete says a lot about how war has changed. Ukraine has broken strategic depth. The great transformation of this conflict has been psychological before physical. For decades, Russia’s geographic depth was its greatest shield. Engels is almost 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Once, that distance was equivalent to absolute safety, but not anymore. we have been countingUkrainian drones have repeatedly hit fuel depots, arsenals and logistics areas linked to the base. In 2022 there were already attacks. In 2025, massive fires caused by drones They once again demonstrated that even strategic assets could be reached. Perhaps most important is not just the material damage, it is that Ukraine has collapsed the idea of the Russian inner sanctum. Image from June 20 shows the massive construction project in the northeast corner of the base From tires to silhouettes painted on concrete. The evolution of Russian defenses tells a story forced adaptation. First they dispersed planes, then they built retaining walls between aircraft to limit explosion damage. And later they appeared almost improvised measures: tires on the wings to confuse sensors, old used planes like lures and painted silhouettes on landing strips to deceive drones and satellites. All of this reflected an uncomfortable reality: Russia had no doctrine to protect strategic bombers against cheap and persistent threats. Now that improvisation gives way to something much more serious: seventeen giant shelters under construction, designed specifically for their nuclear bombers. Satellite view of damage caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on a weapons depot in Engels in March 2025 The Cold War returns, but in reverse. They remembered the TWZ analysts The most striking thing is that this did not even happen during the Cold War. In that period, the nuclear threat was existential, but the logic of deterrence and the practical impossibility of cheap precision attacks made this level of physical protection unnecessary. Today the change comes from below: not so much by intercontinental missiles, but by relatively cheap drones capable of cross hundreds of kilometers. It is a strategic turnaround in the war scenario. Ukraine, without a strategic air force or nuclear capacity, has forced the second atomic power on the planet to physically reconfigure the protection of its nuclear air arm. Nuclear bombers underground. That said, structures do not guarantee immunity. A heavy cruise missile could penetrate them depending on its final design. But that’s possibly not the point. The objective is raise the cost of the attackmake identification difficult and protect against drones, cluster munitions or secondary explosions. In essence, Moscow is accepting that the threat is no longer sporadic, but structural. That changes how you operate, plan and distribute resources. Even if you want too, it’s a symptombecause when a nuclear power begins to build shelters to protect assets that it previously displayed without concern, it is in some way admitting that its strategic environment has worsened. Lesson to the rest. The Russian case is already being closely watched in the United States. There, bases like Barksdale Air Force they maintain bombers like the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress practically exposed, something that has generated a growing debate after recent incidents with drones. The conclusion is uncomfortable and global: the era in which air superiority or distance was enough to protect strategic aircraft is dying. Ukraine has proven it with crudeness. It has taught that modern warfare allows a weaker actor to threaten assets of maximum value with cheap, persistent and difficult-to-intercept tools. The invisible victory in kyiv. Beyond the front, the maps and the kilometers gained or lost, there are other types of victories that are measured in another way. Force Russia to cover with concrete its nuclear fleet is one of them. It is not a visible destruction, nor a territorial advance nor a flag over a conquered city. It is something deeper: changing the strategic behavior of the enemy. The satellite images of Engels teach precisely that. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, Russia is acting as if its nuclear bombers are no longer safe at home. And that simple fact, alone, says a lot about the real scope of the … Read more

against Toy Story and Minions

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

The second film of DC universe by James Gunn does not compete only against the enthusiasm that aroused the ‘Superman’ 2025. There are more traditional rivals to face: this summer’s release schedule places ‘Supergirl’ between two guaranteed-success animation giants, and the first box office analyzes already anticipate an opening below ‘The Flash’, the film that became symbol of the end of the previous stage of DC. And on the shoulders of this Supergirl falls nothing less than the continuity of the model that James Gunn is building. Animation sandwich. ‘Toy Story 5’ has been in theaters for less than a week and has already surpassed 200 million in the US. The Pixar franchise is a real black hole, and attracts young children, teenagers and adults. And that’s not all: next week, on July 1, ‘Minions & Monsters’ arrives, the seventh installment of the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise, with expectations of exceeding $100 million in five days thanks to July 4, a holiday in the US. ‘Supergirl’ has to stand up to these two colossi. The Warner film also faces an unflattering tradition: in its second week, films with moderate openings or divided reviews they usually sink. This is what happened to ‘The Flash’ in 2023: it opened with 55 million and fell 72.5% in its second week, suffocating under the pressure of ‘Spider-Man: Crossing the Multiverse’ and ‘Elemental’. Today that film is remembered as a catastrophe and it is difficult for ‘Supergirl’ to face a comparable financial and reputational crisis, but the truth is that it is not easy at all. The long shadow of The Flash. The point is that although we remember ‘The Flash’ as a fiasco, it started from better positions. It had a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes when it was released, a better score than the 58% current ‘Supergirl’‘. It had Ezra Miller as a lure, then a big star, and the promise of bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman. And there are also two worrying precedents this summer, two failures at the box office that failed to go beyond their insufficient audience of loyalists to their corresponding franchises: ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe‘ and ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’. DC: a lot to prove. The point is that DC still has to demonstrate something that Marvel achieved a long time ago: that the publisher’s brand is enough to sell the films, beyond its characters. The DC films that do not have a Batman or a Superman in the title start from an audience base that is perhaps too narrow for the budgets they manage. Even so, ‘Supergirl’ is a relatively modest production: it cost around $175 million and does not have box office percentage sharing agreements with the actors, so the box office profits are greater. It is believed that the film has to raise around 300 million to recover its budget. From the 40-45 projected starting point, it has a long way to go. What Gunn has done. The release of ‘Superman’ last year gave Gunn a solid start, with 125 million domestic opening and 618 million worldwide. Not a phenomenon, but something solid from which to build a universe that, according to Gunn himself, will not require fans to “do their homework” and watch all the movies. It is, of course, a relief given the drift of Marvel, but it has its problems: if the public does not know Supergirl or is not interested in the character, they may skip the movie while waiting for the next Superman movie. Xataka’s opinion. We have had the opportunity to see ‘Supergirl’ and it does not seem worthy of the bile with which the critics are receiving it. It is true that it lacks the charisma that the films directed by Gunn such as ‘Superman’ overflow, and that it often seems like an imitation of the formula exploited by the director in his ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ for Marvel, but with much less ingenuity. And sometimes it falls into the detestable vices of superhero franchises, such as presenting flashy secondary characters (here, a completely decaffeinated Wolf) just because it can. However, and despite a somewhat ramshackle final third (what superhero movies get rid of that, a couple in twenty years?), Milly Alcock is perfect in the title role and the effort to create a three-dimensional character is appreciated, but without false traumas. There is a certain modesty, a certain air of a “secondary comic” that is very satisfying, even though the result is light years away from the original Tom King comic that inspired the film. The result is more of a “yes” than anything else but… is that enough to save the box office? In Xataka | Talent drain: why in the Spanish industry there is no space for the comic artists who sell the most in the US.

Google puts a death date on the Android we knew. The developers are clear that your phone is about to stop being yours

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

In August of last year, Google announced one of the most controversial maneuvers from the history of Android: completely changing the DNA of your operating system. This means that, in the future, any app you want to install on your Android device, wherever it comes from, must be signed by a verified developer. Now we know the implications of this a little better and there is a group that is not happy: app developers. In short. With the objective, according to Google, of strengthening the security of ecosystems and in full trial against Epic for the antitrust case which led Android to open up to third-party stores, the company announced a series of measures to make its system and users safer. In essence, there are critics pointing out that what they really want is more control, but basically what Google is going to start asking for is that developers identify themselves if they want their app to be downloaded. We are not talking about an ID to publish in the Play Store, but in any Android store. According to the company, they will begin by verifying the installations from the following stores: Google (Google Play) Honor (HONOR App Market) OPlus (OPPO App Market) Samsung (Galaxy Store) Transsión (Palm Store) Vivo (V-Appstore) Xiaomi (GetApps) The justification of malware. Google defends the decision in order to strengthen the security of ecosystems and “prevent malicious actors from hiding behind anonymity to launch harmful applications.” In fact, when they took the measure they pointed out that they have detected 50 times more malware in apps downloaded outside the Play Store than in their store. According to the company, it is the beginning of a deployment that will be an industry-wide effort, but will contribute to creating a safer ecosystem. And, if the question is how they will do it, developers will have access to a new ‘Android Developer Console’ that will be mandatory and in which they will have to provide legal name, address, email and telephone number. Additionally, organizations will need a corporate website and a DUNS number (like a business ID). Very sensitive data, but which Google promises not to show to anyone but themselves. As if leaks of this kind of thing didn’t exist, wow… The airport metaphor. In the message from a year ago, Google compared this measure to airport procedures in which travelers renounce rights in order to gain security. “Think of this as an identity check at the airport, which confirms a traveler’s identity, but separates it from the security screening of the bags,” Google commented. “We will confirm who the developer is, but we will not review the content of their application or where it came from,” they said. Calendar. That said, the wheel keeps turning for Google and in the post blog of developers have better detailed the calendar: June 2026– A new developer authentication service will be installed on most Android devices. July 2026– The Developer ID Status API will be launched globally, as well as an account type designed for students and hobbyists to share their apps with up to 20 devices without a country-issued ID, coming in early access. August 2026– July early access will be consolidated, but they will also launch an “advanced flow” system for installing apps from unverified developers that will include security checkpoints to resist coercive scams. They assure that it is the method so that advanced users continue to be able to download apps from unverified developers. September 30, 2026: the big stuff begins. App registration will be required for participating stores in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Unregistered apps can be downloaded with Android Debug Bridge or advanced flow. 2027: After receiving feedback from everyone and the first tests in those countries mentioned, they will expand the program worldwide. Worry. How it will affect us users remains to be seen. Google comments that the majority of developers in the Play Store are already verified and more than 99% of their apps have been registered. Those who distribute outside of Google Play can register from the android developer console and the students have this access to prepare (in case you are interested). On Reddit, developers have shown concern due to the need to show a national identification, arguing that Google is not an airport or an official institution, but reactions have also been seen positive arguing that anything that involves preventing coercive scam apps (an important group of apps that Google wants to eliminate with these practices) is fine. The head of Android himself already commented in August of last year that It is a fundamental feature for Androidwhich is not going away and they simply want to protect users from malicious developers, not limit user options. The problem is that it is not so clear what is going to happen with all those apps that are distributed via APK, which do not have to be malware or piracy and that, certain users who have chosen Android, did so precisely when the system was opened. and reaction. As points out my colleague Iván in Xataka Móvilthe developers have not sat idly by. Despite Google’s pro-security arguments, they see this move as something that simply wants to give them more control over the system and its developers. That is why campaigns such as ‘Keep Android Open’ have emerged, bringing together signatories from around twenty countries, including heavyweights such as EFF, the Free Software Foundation, the Tor Project, Proton, KDE, LineageOS and Nextcloud. The argument is the following: “You, the consumer, bought your Android device trusting Google’s promise: an open computing platform on which you could run any software you wanted. However, starting in September 2026, Google will implement, without your consent, an update to its operating system that will permanently block this right and leave you at the mercy of Google’s discretion about which software you are allowed to trust. In Xataka | “The biggest mistake of all time”: Bill Gates let slip 400 billion when Microsoft didn’t … Read more

The first sub-1nm chip is here. It was manufactured by IBM and it is spectacular

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

It has been a long time since we witnessed a milestone like this. Innovations in the field of semiconductor manufacturing they happen constantlybut what IBM has just announced is a monumental achievement: it has managed to produce the world’s first chip with subnanometer technology. This simply means that it has been manufactured on a 0.7 nm (or 7 angstroms) node, which has allowed this company’s engineers to pack almost 100 billion transistors into a surface the size of a fingernail. Crossing the nanometer barrier is not just a matter of numbers. For decades, the integrated circuit industry has evolved under the logic of Moore’s Law. The problem is that this principle has been losing force as transistors approach the dimensions of the atoms themselves. Quantum physics is relentless: each further reduction is an almost unsolvable problem. Reaching 0.7 nm means that IBM has found a way out of that alley. And it has done so not by further miniaturizing transistors according to conventional designs, but by completely reinventing how they are built. This new chip offers up to 50% more performance. Or 70% more energy efficiency if we compare it with 2nm integrated circuits from IBM itself. These two metrics represent the extremes of a spectrum that designers can adjust depending on the application these semiconductors are intended for. For workloads of artificial intelligence (generative AI), cloud infrastructure or next-generation devices, this flexibility is not a minor detail: it is exactly what differentiates a viable chip from a disruptive one. Stack to scale The most important innovation of IBM’s 0.7nm integrated circuit is the technology nanostackwhich we can translate into Spanish as ‘nanostacking’. This is the industry’s first three-dimensional architecture based on stacked nanosheets, and has been developed entirely by IBM. To understand what it means, we are interested in remembering that the previous generation of frontier technology, nanosheets, represented a very important conceptual leap compared to FinFET transistors: instead of a transistor with a vertical fin, nanosheets have several horizontal sheets of silicon stacked and wrapped around the control gate, which improves electrical performance in a smaller space. Nanostack goes one step further: it stacks and staggers entire transistors in three dimensions, thus taking advantage of 3D sequential integration to insert more logic in less surface. What differentiates this architecture from a mere exercise in miniaturization is that each stacked layer can incorporate combinations of different materials, allowing the performance and energy efficiency of each transistor to be optimized independently. Not all transistors on a chip need to behave the same. Some prioritize speed, and others prioritize energy savings Or put another way: not all transistors on a chip need to behave the same. Some prioritize speed, and others prioritize energy savings. Nanostack makes it possible to fine-tune that balance layer by layer, something that planar architectures (or even conventional nanosheets) do not allow with the same granularity. IBM also presented results at the VLSI 2026 conference that demonstrate a 40% improvement in SRAM scaling thanks to this architecture, enabling the manufacturing of semiconductors capable of handling the bandwidth demands of the most demanding AI workloads. Experimental validation of the architecture nanostack It is based on three essential pillars: the ultra-thin dielectric link in CMOS integration, the demonstration of dual-channel engineering capability and the functional operation of a CMOS inverter with expected switching performance. This last point is especially important: a functional CMOS inverter is, in practice, the most basic logic unit of any digital circuit. That nanostack Running it with the expected metrics confirms that this architecture is not just a promising lab result; It is a technology that can be physically built and translated into real computing. IBM and its partners (Lam Research, Tokyo Electron and SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions) have long been working on manufacturing tools and processes with High NA extreme ultraviolet lithography of ASML at its facilities in Albany (New York). Anderon is a quantum chip manufacturing company independent of IBM However, traveling the path that separates the laboratory from the factories requires a lot of time. IBM estimates a production horizon of between three and five years for the first commercial adoption of the technology nanostack in the sub-nanometer node, with a schedule that projects at least a decade of additional scaling. On the other hand, this company has just announced Anderon, a quantum chip manufacturing company independent of IBM that will combine its experience in quantum computing and semiconductors to manufacture quantum wafers on an industrial scale. Be that as it may, with the 7 angstrom node IBM not only demonstrates that the era of subnanometer scaling is physically possible: It also claims its role as a reference laboratory in an industry that has been searching for a way out of the limits of silicon for years. Image | IBM In Xataka | An unexpected salvation for the end user emerges from the memory market debacle: Chinese chips In Xataka | China needs to develop a new type of chips immune to US sanctions. And your scientists have just achieved it

Last hours to participate in the draw for a Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro! Only for Xataka Xtra members

June 25, 2026 by usatoday24

Tick, tock, tick, tock! Time is running out, xatakeros. Today is the last day to participate in the giveaway for a Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro, one of our favorite smartwatches of 2026. It is an exclusive giveaway for members of Xataka Xtracommunity to which You can join for only 30 euros per year and that includes not only access to exclusive giveaways like this one, but to a good (and growing) catalog of advantages in digital services. The winner of the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro will be announced tomorrow, June 26, at 11:00 Spanish peninsular time. It will be communicated, as on all previous occasions, via email, via Discord and in an update to the original article that you can find linked right here. How to participate in the giveaway for a Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro This giveaway is reserved for Xataka Xtra subscribers. If you are already part of the Community, you just have to go to your subscriber area and make sure you have the raffle entry box checked. If you have already activated it to participate in a previous draw, you don’t have to do anything else. Make sure you check that box to automatically participate in the exclusive Xataka Xtra draws | Image: Xataka If you still don’t know Xataka Xtra, you can join for only 30 euros a year (or from two euros per month) and access many more exclusive giveaways like thisEl Consultorio, the private Discord server, discounts on an ever-growing catalog of digital services and monthly meetings with editors. The next one is next week, in fact. The winner will be chosen at random from all participating subscribers, along with two alternates. If the winner does not respond within the period indicated in the legal bases, the first substitute will be contacted, and if he/she does not respond either, the second will be contacted. Winning a giveaway does not exclude you from participating in the following ones. You can consult the complete legal bases here.

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