Mobile Tech & Gadgets

stand up to Google’s Nano Banana Pro phenomenon

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You may remember when, a few months ago, half the internet started creating Studio Ghibli-style images with ChatGPT to upload them to social networks. The “magic” behind that fever was OpenAI’s new image generation model. But everything moves so fast that the conversation lasted just long enough. Some time later, our attention was already elsewhere: on how difficult it was to distinguish some images created with Nano Banana Pro. In a very short time, half the world began to talk about the benefits of Google’s new generative model, and there were many who placed it ahead of that of OpenAI. But this is an open race, with technology giants fighting for AI leadership. And, as expected, the company led by Sam Altman has responded. This Tuesday it launched ChatGPT Images, which comes boasting several improvements for users. Editing as a key element. One of the great historical challenges of image generation tools has been the specific editing of specific elements. ChatGPT Images directly aims to solve this limitation, allowing us to modify only what interests us, from a specific object to lighting, composition or even the appearance of people. This opens the door to combining elements or introducing very specific changes without having to remake the entire image, something that until now used to be a weak point in this type of model. See yourself in an ad or “travel” to your favorite place. Another section where ChatGPT Images makes a leap is in creative transformations. Simply upload your own photo and accompany it with a simple prompt to obtain, in a matter of seconds, surprisingly convincing results. It is worth clarifying that this idea is not completely new. In fact, it is one of the most outstanding virtues of Nano Banana Pro, a model that our colleague Javier Lacort was able to test thoroughly and was already pointing in this direction. Let’s look at some examples with ChatGPT Images. Original image: “Create an image of this man, but in Time Square, New York, with clothes, looks, surroundings, etc., that are believable for winter 2025” “It places this person in full body in a Japanese city during a rainy night, with neon, reflections on the ground and cyberpunk aesthetics” Precision as a flag and improvements in the text. OpenAI also places emphasis on improving accuracy. How many of us have had to ask for something specific and receive just the opposite, or find that the model has not understood the instruction correctly? Part of that problem, according to the company, should be left behind. If we provide detailed instructions, the system should be able to honor them more faithfully. In addition, the generation of text within images is reinforced, a key aspect for creating posters, promotional ads and other content where typography and the message are as important as the image itself. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | We believed that Microsoft had already put Copilot everywhere. LG shows us that we were very wrong

we will have combustion engines in 2035

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It had been rumored for a long time. In recent weeks it had gained strength. And since Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party, spoke, it was already an open secret. The European Commission proposes to reverse and opens the door to combustion engines from 2035. It’s a really small door. What did we have? A prohibition that had been qualified. The European Union planned ban the sale of all cars with combustion enginesregardless of whether they were plug-in hybrids, extended range electric or electric hybrids. There was barely a crack left open for manufacturers who make ridiculously short runs. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? Later, Europe opened the door somewhat. A small slit. With permission to make cars that run on andfuelthe European Union allowed combustion cars to be produced as long as they did not emit carbon emissions. This point was already emphasized since the combustion of all fuel produces emissions of NOx or fine particles, highly harmful to humans. In the first draft it only talked about being “emission neutral”. With the efuel There was already talk of “carbon neutral” because, supposedly, during the production of synthetic fuel the same or greater amount of CO2 is captured than that produced by cars. What do we have now? Some recalculated objectives. And if in 2035 the aim was to reduce carbon emissions by 100%, the goal now is to do so by 90%. That is, all types of cars with combustion engines can be sold, even if the emissions expelled exceed the maximum 10% that will be allowed, taking the year 2021 as a reference. Because? Because what is measured is the average emissions of the fleet, not of a specific car. That is, when presented to regulators, all cars sold by a manufacturer are taken into account. From there, its emissions volume is added and the average per vehicle is taken. This average has to be just 10% of the 2021 reference. That leaves the limit to be met in 2035. about 11 gr km/of CO2. Therefore, if a car sold emits 100 gr/km of CO2, it will need nine other electric cars to be sold (0 gr/km of CO2) to offset that car and avoid fines. Everything indicates, therefore, that electric cars will continue to be essential and the best-selling type of vehicle. Aces up your sleeve. The European Commission has also confirmed that it opens the door to a new category of vehicles. It is known as eCar, a small electric car made in Europe for which fiscal facilities are expected and which would add additional emissions credits, according to The Automotive Tribune. In addition, the emissions limit proposed for 2030 that required emissions to be reduced by 50% compared to 93.6 gr/km of CO2 will be left until 2032. The procedure is the same as what happened in 2025. Instead of applying the fines this year, a temporary period was opened until 2027 so that the manufacturer could comply. At this point, the average emissions of the fleet sold between 2025 and 2027 is calculated. The objectives not met in 2025 have to be compensated in the coming two years. A pressure cooker. In recent months, the European Commission had become a pressure cooker where manufacturers and countries pressured to recalculate the 2035 objectives. From ACEA and on your own, manufacturers have been around for a long time pushing for emissions standards to be relaxed. The industry is in a complicated situation, with some of its large automobile groups, like Volkswagen, applying severe adjustments. Especially the German manufacturers are the ones that have put the most pressure to achieve these changes. On the other hand, the countries of the European Union have been divided in two. Six countries led by Italy They had created a common front to the point of sending a letter begging Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, to reverse the proposed objectives. Germany has also been one of the countries that has put the most pressure but did not sign this letter. Spain, however, It has been together with France one of the countries that has put more pressure to maintain the reduction of 100% CO2 emissions in 2035. Yes, but. It must be taken into account that all this is still a proposal from the European Commission. Of course, and looking at the latest movements, everything indicates that the changes will end up being applied in their entirety or a large part of them. However, this proposal must be negotiated by the European Parliament and the Member States (the Council of the EU) to be finally approved. Photo | European Commission and Wassim Choak In Xataka | While Europe is thinking about what to do with the electric car, China already knows how to remain a leader in 2040. This is its plan

This console that no one knows about and is full of strange games with motion control has sold more than Xbox

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The toy that no one saw coming ended up becoming the unexpected phenomenon of Black Friday 2025. At the end of November and facing the Christmas campaign, a practically unknown console surpassed Xbox in sales and was positioned as the third best-selling hardware in the country, only behind PlayStation 5 and nintendo switch 2. What is it. Is called Nex Playgrounda motion-controlled gaming console made by a Silicon Valley startup that, until recently, was developing artificial intelligence applications to extract basketball scoring statistics. The product didn’t even appear on the industry’s radars until the data analysis firm Circana revealedafter studying console sales figures in recent weeks, which had accumulated 14% of total hardware sales during the most competitive period of the American commercial year. How it works. Its interior houses an 8-core ARM processor, 64 GB of storage and a wide-angle camera that constitutes the heart of the system. The tracking technology detects 18 points on the human body in real time using artificial intelligence algorithms that They process everything locallywithout sending data to the cloud. Some critics they have praised its design and motion tracking capabilities, but questioned the limited library of games and the subscription pricing scheme under which it operates. How much does it cost. Its entry price is $249, and includes five pre-installed games, such as ‘Fruit Ninja’. He full access to the catalog requires purchasing the Play Pass, at $89 annually or $49 quarterly. Still, the total cost of $338 would still be significantly below traditional consoles. The console deliberately aims at an audience other than the gamer traditional: families with young children looking for physical activity disguised as digital entertainment. The sales curve. PlayStation 5 led the market last Black Friday and surrounding dates, with a 47% market share. Switch 2 scored 24%, relegating Xbox to fourth position with less than 14% remaining, according to official data from Circana Retail Tracking Service. Nex’s sales trajectory draws a curve that defies any algorithmic prediction: in 2022, the company barely shipped 5,000 units of its console. The following year, that figure multiplied by thirty to reach 150,000 units. By 2024, the projection points to 600,000 systems sold. The evolution of Nex. The most radical transformation of Nex, the company behind Nex Playground, was not only technological, but also identity-based. The company was born in 2017, founded by a group of former Apple, Google and Facebook engineers led by David Lee. Its first app, ‘HomeCourt’, from July 2018, featured cutting-edge technology applied to a very specific market: basketball players, amateur or not, who wanted to analyze performance metrics. In July 2019 they signed a shareholding with NBA and they started to grow receive recognition. The pandemic and the closure of gyms revealed a fact that had gone unnoticed: people I downloaded the app to access minigames They were practically hidden. In 2021, Nex launched ‘Active Arcade’, a free app with 13 body movement mini-games, and they got more downloads in their first month than ‘HomeCourt’ in its entire history. In December 2023, they launched this Nex Playground, which physically materialized everything they had learned up to that point, seeking a family audience more than expert athletes. Agreements have been signed with brands such as Bluey, Peppa Pig, Barbie and the Ninja Turtles, and project more than $150 million in sales this year. In Xataka | Microsoft is killing Xbox for Excel

the questions you have sent us (and their answers) about this cordless vacuum cleaner and mop

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Although cordless vacuum cleaners are already common today, mops are not so common, and that makes products like this more interesting. X-Clean 7 from Rowenta, a 2-in-1 vacuum cleaner and mop. We have been testing it for several days, and now we bring you a video with all the answers to the questions that you have been sending us about it to our Instagram profile. Rowenta X-Clean 7 Q&A We start by answering the most basic things. This product is classified as an electric mop, although it is actually a hybrid. Everything is done at onceno vacuuming first and then scrubbing like other products. When you pass it, the vacuum module is on the front, but although the brush is the same, the dirt does not mix with the water you use to scrub. The key is the clean water and cold water system. The clean water tank moistens the roller throughout the cleaning process, and the dirty water tank collects the water that the roller recovers after scrubbing. In addition to this, when you finish you put it on its base, press the self-cleaning button and the device cleans itself, and you only have to worry about the dirty water tank. You ask us about the surfaces for which it is valid. It is designed for hard floors such as tiles, parquet, wood, marble or laminate. You will not have problems because it detects the type of surface and always applies the necessary humidity to avoid damaging it. Yes indeed, It is not intended for rugs or carpets.there this scrubber is not worth it. The same is not true for sofas and other surfaces. As for which cleaning product to use, Rowenta recommends using a specific cleaning solution for hard floors or non-foaming soaps. It has three cleaning modesan automatic one that detects the type of floors, an ECO mode for routine passes that consume less and has to collect less dirt, and a MAX mode to give you maximum power. We also talked about the dimensions, in addition to a hand weight of just one kilo thanks to a kind of system that pulls the head. It is very quiet, and its autonomy can be 50 minutes in ECO mode, an automatic mode that is usually enough to clean everything. But the best thing is that you watch the full video to see all the answers we give to the questions you have sent us. This content is a collaboration and sponsorship between Xataka and the brand, but there is no agreement on the script or the selection of the topics. The editorial content is created entirely by Xataka.

The US electrical grid depends on Chinese devices. And that worries their national security

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United States national security has always been measured on aircraft carriers, missiles and satellites. Today, however, a growing part of that security depends on something much more everyday: electricity. The grid that powers homes, hospitals, data centers and military bases is going through —despite political resistance from the Trump administration— an accelerated transformation towards renewable sources. But that transition, key to the country’s energy future, has introduced a silent vulnerability. The back door open. The expansion of solar energy has made the US electrical grid depend massively of inverters made in China, essential devices for converting solar energy into electricity usable by the grid. They are not simple pieces of hardware: they are digital systems, connected, with software, remote communication capabilities and, in many cases, manufactured by companies with direct or indirect links to Beijing. For years, this dependency was seen as an industrial or commercial problem. Today, for those responsible for national security, it has become something very different. The agency notice. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the FBI published a joint notice in which they alleged that cyber actors sponsored by the People’s Republic of China had compromised and maintained persistent access to critical US infrastructure. The identified group, known as Volt Typhoonhad managed to infiltrate organizations in key sectors such as energy, water, transportation and communications. The objective was not to steal data or obtain financial benefits. According to the security agencies documentthe behavior detected “is not consistent with traditional espionage” and points, with “high confidence”, to a different strategy: enter critical systems, remain hidden for long periods and wait. Wait for a crisis or conflict scenario in which those same infrastructures may be interrupted or degraded. It’s exactly the scenario that FBI Director Christopher Wray has described before Congress warning that China is positioning itself to attack American civilian infrastructure as part of its strategic planning. From stealing secrets to preparing chaos. For years, cyber activities attributed to China focused on the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets. Today, according to security officialsthe objective is different: to create the ability to cause internal chaos in the United States and limit its room for maneuver in a conflict, especially in the Indo-Pacific. The systems attacked by Volt Typhoon—such as ports, regional power grids, or water utilities—have no immediate economic or political value. Precisely for this reason, experts conclude that the only reason to infiltrate them is to be able to sabotage them later. It is not necessarily about causing a national blackout. As government sources explainselective interruptions, cascading failures or highly visible incidents would be enough to generate social panic, put pressure on policy makers and condition decision-making. Towards the transition. The U.S. power grid is increasingly reliant on solar inverters and storage systems—so-called investor-based resources— which are not simple pieces of hardware. They are digital, connected systems that regulate the flow of energy, stabilize the frequency and constantly communicate with other elements of the network. According to the In Broad Daylight reportprepared by Strider Technologies, since 2015 China has exported nearly 2.68 billion kilograms of inverters to the United States, dominating two-thirds of the world market. To understand the scale of the phenomenon: 86% of electricity companies analyzed by Striderwhich represent about 12% of the installed capacity in the United States, use at least one Chinese supplier considered risky. Together, these devices are present in 5,400 megawatts of solar capacity spread across 22 states, enough electricity to keep more than a million homes powered for a year. The concern is not trivial. A Chinese manufacturer remotely disabled inverters installed in the United States and other countries amid a contract dispute, demonstrating that manufacturers retain operational control on already deployed equipment. Furthermore, research cited by The Washington Post reveal the existence of undocumented communication components in some inverters, capable of connecting to external networks without the operators’ knowledge. According to Striderthe problem is compounded because Chinese academic and military institutions have produced thousands of studies on foreign power grid vulnerabilities, many of them focused on deliberate disruption scenarios. China has come forward against the accusations. A spokesman for its embassy in Washington responded to Reuters and Washington Post rejecting that there is a security problem and denouncing what he described as a “generalization” of the concept of national security to discredit Chinese advances in energy infrastructure. Beijing has not announced technical reviews, external audits or changes to the control mechanisms of these devices. A dilemma without a simple solution. In the short term, US authorities have ordered electric companies to limit or monitor external communications from these devices. However, as officials recognizethe fragmentation of the electricity sector—with thousands of operators and unequal standards—makes a uniform response difficult. In the medium term, the dilemma is more complex. A massive recall of Chinese hardware could put energy supplies at risk at a time of strong demand growth. Maintaining it implies accepting a strategic vulnerability. In the long term, the consensus among analysts is clear: energy is no longer just an economic or climate issue, but a matter of national security. As Strider’s report concludesensuring the transition to clean energy without creating new strategic dependencies has become a defensive priority. The new dimension of national security. The US power grid does not need to be attacked tomorrow to become a pressure tool today. The vulnerability already exists, integrated in the form of everyday devices, invisible to the end user but critical to the functioning of the country. The question raised by the official documents themselves is not whether that capacity will be used, but in what context and for what purpose. Because, in the strategic competition of the 21st century, the control of energy can be as decisive as the control of territory. Image | Unsplash and freepik Xataka | The US and China are involved in a controversy over renewable devices: what we know (and, above all, what we do not know) so far

Torrejón de Ardoz has a plan to control his geese, parrots, rabbits and pigeons. One of 150,000 euros

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With bird flu and the african swine fever grabbing headlines, the Torrejón de Ardoz City Council wants to protect itself against “possible health risks”. The City Council is looking for a company to help it “control” the populations of certain wild species that live in the municipality. Specifically, it has focused on four: parrots, Nile geesepigeons and rabbits, although the list can be expanded. It offers interested firms a three-year contract (extendable) with a budget of up to 150,000 euros. Its mission: quantify, control and capture. What has happened? That Torrejón de Ardoz (Community of Madrid) wants to control the wildlife that populates its fields and parks, especially parrots, Nile geese, rabbits and pigeons. “It is necessary to maintain the population and avoid possible risks to health, public safety, maintain environmental health and the ecosystem,” the Consistory states in your ad to attract companies interested in providing the service for three years. The deadline for submitting offers ended in November. Now the Contracting Platform reports that it is in the “evaluation” phase. The budget: a maximum of 150,000 eurosVAT included. But what exactly do you want to do? “Control and manage” the populations of certain species and anticipate possible “unhealth risks” or damage to ecosystems. Hence the focus is on three types of animals that stand out precisely for their ability to expand: “invasive exotic birds” (a category in which the City Council includes the Argentine parrot, Kramer parrot and Nile goose), pigeons and turtledoves and the European rabbit. “This includes any other wild animal that could cause a risk to health, safety and/or ecosystem,” they require from the Consistorywhich leaves pest control, disinfestation and deratization tasks outside the contract. The objective is for the company to carry out an annual “diagnosis” on the situation of these species and carry out health controls. If necessary, it will undertake sampling, analysis and veterinary tests to detect diseases. Just that? No. The documentation of the contest clarifies that, if circumstances demand it, the company will have to carry out work to control wildlife populations, which includes removing nests, controlling eggs, work with compressed air rifles and cages or capturing specimens. In the case of rabbits, the contract states that the company may control them with the help of ferrets and capillos, as long as it meets certain conditions. Captured healthy rabbits will be moved to preserves. When this is not possible, the contract contemplates euthanasia (in compliance with the animal welfare law), just as occurs with geese. One of the conditions placed on companies is that they have agreements with captive breeding and recovery centers. But… Is it so urgent? This is considered by the Madrid City Council, which recalls, for example, that parrots and Nile geese are “exotic species that can become invasive if control is not carried out” on the population. “Therefore, it is necessary to develop this service to reduce its distribution area, reduce the number of specimens or stop its spread,” prevents. About the rabbits, technicians remember that it is a wild species “capable of colonizing urban ecosystems” and that is already causing “damage” in green areas of the city, especially in groves, bushes, meadows and even in irrigation systems and land. “That is why it is necessary to control the population to prevent the increase and severity of damage. In addition, they can pose a risk to public safety and health,” duck. As for pigeons, the City Council recognizes that they are “adapted” to urban life, but their proliferation can cause annoyance and health problems. Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 In Xataka | Torrejón de Ardoz thought it had found a golden opportunity by hosting the Madrid macro festivals. Now he’s canceling them.

there are Nintendo Switch 2, shavers and more

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The year is ending and we have Christmas less than 10 days away. Does that mean that the offers are over until 2026? Nothing could be further from reality and we have the proof with the Three Wise Men of AliExpressa new promo that, as usual, It has very interesting offers in technology of all kinds. In addition, we also have some discount coupons to save a little more on our purchases. Discount minimum purchase coupon 1 1 euro 10 euros ESTT01 (or SFAE01) 3 euros 20 euros ESID03 3 euros 25 euros ESTT03 7 euros 69 euros ESTT07 (or SFAE07) 13 euros 119 euros ESTT13 (or SFAE13) If you are looking for a last minute tech gift, we have very interesting items on AliExpress that, in addition to a good price, They will arrive before December 25 if we place the order right away. Below we make a selection of some of them: Braun Series 9 Pro+ by 265.50 euros with the coupon ESTT13, a great electric shaver. nintendo switch 2 by 482.59 euros with the coupon ESTT13, the new console from the Japanese company along with ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ and ‘Mario Kart World’. Braun light epilator pressed by 286 euros with the coupon ESTT13, ideal for both men and women. Oral-B iO 6S by 111.50 euros with the coupon ESTT13, a top dental hygiene option with 5 different cleaning modes. Braun Series 7 by 55.25 euros with the coupon ESTT03, a quality alternative for tighter budgets. Braun Series 9 Pro+ As a first option, we bring you this Braun Series 9 Pro+. It is a top option for us or to give a gift this Christmas, especially considering that it can cost us 265.50 euros if we use the coupon ESTT13 (it is sold by the official Braun store). It stands out for offering great results on beards of all types, even those that are several days old. It is waterproof, so we can use it under the shower without problems. In addition, it has autonomy for up to 60 minutes of shaving per charge. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 If we are looking for a new console, we can find few better options right now than nintendo switch 2. We were able to see it a little cheaper last Black Friday, but this AliExpress offer leaves it at a great price (482.59 euros with the coupon ESTT13) and comes with two great games such as ‘Mario Kart World’ and ‘Cyberpunk 2077’. Ideal if we are looking for something hybrid that allows us to play both at home connected to a television and anywhere thanks to its portable mode. Nintendo Switch 2 + ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ + ‘Mario Kart World’ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Braun pulsed light epilator Another option is this Silk-expert Pro 5 PL5152 pulsed light epilator. It is available for 286 euros with the coupon ESTT13 and is suitable for both men and women, as we said above. It is capable of emitting up to 125 pulses per minute, making it suitable even for large areas. It includes 10 different intensity levels and has different heads in case we need more precision. In addition, it also includes a case to take it with us everywhere. Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 Pulsed Light Epilator The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Oral-B iO 6S We also have several very interesting electric toothbrushes in this AliExpress promo such as the Oral-B iO 6S, available right now for 111.50 euros with the coupon ESTT13. It is a model with five different brushing modes, ideal if we are always looking to obtain a better result in areas such as the gums. It has an intelligent pressure sensor that informs us if we are brushing correctly, as well as an AI guide that helps us not leave anything unbrushed. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Braun Series 7 If we are looking for a trimmer and we want something economical, we have this Braun Series 7 (model BT7520) available for 55.25 euros with the coupon ESTT03. It has technology that allows it to pick up even those complicated hairs and make a uniform cut. It comes with several different accessories and has a lithium battery that gives it up to 120 minutes of wireless autonomy per charge. Of course, it’s also 100% waterproof, so it’s suitable for the shower. 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 | Xataka, Braun, Oral-B, Nintendo In Xataka | There is a LEGO Star Wars set that I would buy again without thinking twice. It’s wonderful and it’s not expensive. In Xataka | Your favorite series, comics and movies also in LEGO: 15 construction kits ideal to assemble yourself or give as a gift

We already know which country had the highest internet speed in the world in 2025: Spain

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How has the internet changed in 2025? It’s too broad a question, but if there’s anyone trying to answer it, it’s Cloudflare. The company has published an extensive summary of the most important thing this year and among the numerous conclusions there is one that has surprised us: Spain is the country with the fastest internet connection in the world. Spain at full speed. in the studio stands out that Europe was the clear leader in terms of the best internet connection speeds. Here Spain was also the protagonist, because it was the country with the highest download speed in 2025, with 318 Mbps on average (25 Mbps more than in 2024). It was also the best in terms of upload speed, with 206 Mbps (13 more than in 2024). A possible person responsible. Cloudflare indicates that the reason why Spain leads this unique ranking is probably in the program UNICO-Broadband (Universalization of Digital Infrastructures for Cohesion). This initiative has been going for years and the current goal was to achieve an infrastructure capable of providing services at symmetrical speeds of at least 300 Gbps, scalable to 1 Gbps, and achieving 100% coverage in 2025. Achieving everything is almost impossible —Hello, rural Spain— but that effort certainly seems to be paying off. Spain also more than meets the metric of latency under load: even on intense connections, response times are very good. We also enjoy excellent latency. Data download and upload speeds are important, but so is the latency of the connections: the lower it is, the more fluid the communication is, especially in video conferencing, gaming and streaming applications. Here Iceland takes the cake with only 13 ms, but Spain is still among the best with 19 ms. Things are even better in the so-called latency under load, which measures how long it takes a signal to go and return (the ping) when the internet connection is under intense load (playing online, watching 4K videos). In that metric, much more realistic than “resting” latency, Spain is in third place with 89 ms, a truly remarkable figure. Years as leaders. These results may surprise, but in reality Spain already led these rankings in past editions of Cloudflare’s annual summary. It happened in 2024and also in 2023which is undoubtedly great data that shows that despite the problems that may arise, most users have access to an enviable infrastructure. More traffic than ever. Global internet traffic grew by 19% in 2025, and the person most responsible for that traffic was the Googlebot that searches the internet to index it and make it easier for us to find all types of data in the Google search engine. Although crawlers from AI companies are gaining ground, they are still a long way from Google’s activity, and with good reason: all types of websites want to be “crawlable” in order to be “findable.” The same does not happen with AI. The higher the ratio, the less traffic these chatbots send to content websites. Anthropic is the worst here, and Google, of course, the best by far. What happens to AI in 2025. There are many metrics related to AI this year. For example, Anthropic is the platform that sends the least traffic to content websites (ahead are OpenAI and especially Perplexity). This also causes platform crawling bots (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) to be “blocked” in the robots.txt files of many websites to prevent them from collecting data without permission to train their models. Google continues to reign. The list of most popular internet services Not much has changed around the world: Google leads that ranking, and is followed by Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Instagram. It’s probably more interesting to see what data Cloudflare is reporting on the most popular generative AI services. There the winner is not a surprise (ChatGPT), but the order of the rest of the contenders is striking, because they are then followed by Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Character.ai. Grok is in ninth place and DeepSeek in tenth, for example. That list will surely be very different in 2026. Image | Sasha Pleshco | Stephen Phillips In Xataka |

At Honor they are convinced that they are going to lead the market for folding devices. This is your plan to get it

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“Spain is an open and very good country for foreign brands, but also very challenging due to competition and focus on low prices.” With those words he responds Laurence Li, new Honorary Country Manager for Spain and Portugalto the answer of how he sees the new market ahead. Until about four months ago, Laurence oversaw Honor’s operations in the Gulf regions from Dubai and previously led Huawei’s Consumer Business Group in Latin America. Today you have a huge challenge ahead of you. Honor has been operating for four years in our borders as an independent brand and the executive is clear about how far he wants to take it. Because Laurence Li is firm in his position: “Honor should be one of the top three consumer brands in Spain, not just a mobile brand.” Competing at the top starting with Spain Honor Magic V5 | Image: Xataka At the beginning of the year We had the opportunity to speak with Tony RanCEO of Honor in Europe, who already told us two things. The first, that Europe is going to be the second most important market for the company. The second, that it is not going to descend into the mud of the entry range and low prices, where there are hardly any margins. The company knows that the juicy segment is the high-endthe premium product, and that is where they are going to focus. All this starts in Spain, “a really good market for all Chinese and foreign brands” due to its openness. All Chinese brands have had a very good acceptance in our countryand if not, tell Xiaomi, Huawei, Omoda, Jaecoo, MG or BYD. These companies destroyed their respective markets by offering low prices and competent products, only to later make the leap to premium products once they had established themselves. The case of Xiaomi is the most obvious. Honor is going to save that step by being fully aware of it. “If you are looking for an entry-level phone with the lowest price, other brands would be a better option, to be honest. Now, if you want to buy something of quality, with innovation, that is, a good product, a product with AI, Honor will be the best alternative,” says Laurence. The firm is aware that right now its market share is what it is. The latest data They claim that Apple (27%), Samsung (26.5%) and Xiaomi (23.7%) lead the Spanish market. The fourth brand is Oppo with 5.7% and the fifth position is occupied by Motorola with 2.2%. Honor, for its part, reaches 1.3%. It would help to achieve a better position by launching cheaper products, attacking the already saturated entry range, but the firm’s strategy does not go there. Honor does not want to be a brand linked to low price, but to quality. Honor Magic V5 | Image: Xataka “Right now, people don’t change their cell phones that often. They do it every three or four years, maybe even every five. If you are going to use your cell phone for five years, you would prefer a better product and you would even pay more,” explains Li, who believes that the financing options offered by companies and retailers can help cover the expense. While the low-end market is being pushed by operators with the aim of increasing the number of 5G devices, Li says, the market for “high-end and premium” products is increasing because more and more people want good quality phones and are willing to pay more because it will last three or four years. The logic is clear. Honor’s logic is evident: the customer will be willing to pay more if they know that the product will last longer One might wonder if Laurence Li, coming from the Dubai offices and managing Honor’s operations in the Gulf; and having previously worked in Latin America, he has noticed some difference in consumer behavior. “I don’t think there’s a big difference,” he explains. Quite the contrary, he believes that there is an important similarity between the three cultures. The executive makes the comparison with cars. “In Dubai, and even here, more and more people are buying Chinese electric cars made in China.” In his own words, “more and more people want to buy innovative products and accept Chinese products (…) People want to try Chinese products, and that is a good trend.” What Laurence Li is telling us between the lines is that The perception of ‘made in China’ is changing. What was once synonymous with a cheap and regular product, today is pivoting to a premium, solvent and capable of standing up to the most established brands from South Korea, Japan or the United States. We are seeing it in all segments: white goods, televisions, sound, automotive, mobile phones and, soon, we will see it in household appliances. Lead the market based on folding and artificial intelligence This is Honor’s humanoid robot, developed entirely by them and visible in their store | Image: Xataka If competing in the low range is getting down in the mud and getting dirty, doing so in the premium range means playing in the same league as devices from Samsung and Apple, two names that are not easy to overshadow. One of Honor’s plans to achieve this is to conquer foldables. “We will be leaders in foldable devices, we will be there, we will be the strongest,” says Laurence while pointing out the Honor Magic V5 which I use as a personal phone. In just four years, Honor has gone from being born to launching the thinnest folding terminal on the market. It is a device that breaks with all the conventions that a novice user of a terminal like this could have: the battery lasts, it feels resistant, it is light, thin, it is comfortable to use, it has a good camera and, when folded, it is attached to a conventional mobile phone. Looking at it with perspective, improving a product like this seems complicated. Folding and … Read more

It is much more. And that terrifies Wall Street

by

The first sentence of this headline is not of its own origin, but of Axios in his wonderful portrait of technological dependence on OpenAI. Altman is receiving pressure from several fronts: Google eating ground since Gemini 3. The demands that accumulate. AND more than $1 trillion in investment commitments that depend on the success of the company. Why is it importantand. ChatGPT was born as the product of a startupbut now it is the axis that supports an entire industry. If it fails to balance the accounts, it would not only drag down OpenAI, but also dozens of companies, investors and projects with many zeros that have opted for the permanence of the current AI paradigm. Between the lines. The situation is, in itself, a paradox: OpenAI introduced generative AI into the collective imagination and convinced Wall Street that this revolution was real and imminent. Now that same dominant position makes it a single point of systemic failure. As Paul Kedrosky explainsMIT researcher, underestimating their individual role would be “a serious misunderstanding of what is happening in the market.” The context. The company faces rising costs, a brutal war for talent and so many doubts about your consumption strategy that porn is starting to be an option. Altman has refocused priorities on improving ChatGPT and the models that power it, he said The Wall Street Journal after the arrival of Gemini 3. But the problem goes beyond the technical: it is a network of intertwined agreements between a few giant companies, where the weakness of one threatens to paralyze the rest. Yes, but. A technical failure seems very unlikely. OpenAI continues to progress with ChatGPT despite the competition. The real risk is financial and psychological: Microsoft and Meta buy chips wildly for fear of being left behind. If OpenAI falters, that chip-buying FOMO evaporates. NVIDIA chips serve as collateral for billions in loans. If demand falls, the value of the collateral falls. And if those loans go bad, lenders are left with depreciated assets. Trust is everything. OpenAI and ChatGPT popularized AI among users and investors. This sentimental position amplifies any perception of weakness. The threat. The debate over whether OpenAI is “too big to fail” is gaining momentum. Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Friar, last month he somewhat awkwardly suggested the possibility of federal backingfueling the debate. Being “too big to fail” (the famous too big to fail) implies that the government would intervene because the economic and political consequences would be unaffordable. On the other side. Altman took it upon himself to categorically reject any government support. “If we screw up and can’t fix it, we should go bankrupt. Other companies will continue to do good work and serve customers. That’s how capitalism works,” said in X a few weeks ago. behind the scenes. OpenAI’s leadership is part narrative and part technical. They were the ones who introduced the idea of ​​generative AI to the masses, they have a role in AI similar to that of Google in searches or email, and that cultural penetration means that any slippage can be magnified. What’s at stake isn’t just the future of a company valued at half a billion and counting. It is the credibility of the entire narrative about AI. If OpenAI stumbles, investors could conclude that they overestimated the speed of adoption and profitability of the sector. This readjustment of expectations would have immediate consequences on valuations, capital flows and projects in development. Featured image | Dima SolominXataka In Xataka | We have been enjoying AI without ads for three years. That is about to end for obvious reasons.

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