Mobile Tech & Gadgets

A beach bar in Malaga had the happy idea of ​​taking its ‘Sardinator’ robot for a walk. Until the police found out

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An establishment in La Malagueta decided to innovate when it came to attracting new customers with an advertising robot that wandered along the seafront, advertising mojitos, caipirinhas and espetos for four euros. Although the idea was striking and made heads turn among the local residents, the Malaga City Council has stopped the initiative. ‘Sardinator’ does not comply with municipal regulations and the Local Police have already reported the beach bar. The beach bar play. The robot, named Sardinator, walked along the La Malagueta promenade inviting people around to follow its voice to the beach bar. It wasn’t a waiter robot of those that serve inside the premises, but an autonomous device designed to advertise in the middle of a public street. It advertised drinks and food as it moved, although according to MálagaHoyhis ability to avoid obstacles left a lot to be desired: “he avoids trash cans, but he is not so skilled with people”, even tripping over a pedestrian. Why did the police intervene? Just like has shared The medium, Elisa Pérez de Siles, Councilor for Public Roads of the Malaga City Council, assured that this type of robots “are not authorizable” in the city. The use of the device on the promenade violates the municipal ordinance, which is why the Local Police were ordered to draw up a report and report the establishment. Although in other cities they are quite popular devices, in Malaga “there is an ordinance that must be complied with,” said the councilor. The political reaction. The municipal group Con Málaga has also focused on the issue. Its councilor, Toni Morillas, submitted a letter to the mayor asking about the robot after receiving complaints from neighbors who observed the advertising device “with astonishment.” Morillas even described the situation as “Málaga, the lawless city” on his social networks, according to inform MálagaHoy, highlighting the concern over the lack of control over this type of initiatives on public roads. The legal loophole of advertising robots. The case of Sardinator is something very specific and Spanish legislation does not yet specifically contemplate autonomous advertising robots on a public road. Municipal ordinances regulate outdoor advertising through urban planning licenses, but these regulations are designed for static elements such as fences, signs or posters. Many ordinances expressly prohibit the distribution or delivery of brochures and advertising on public roads, and even advertising in circulating or parked vehicles except for very specific exceptions. The boom of robots in hospitality. Sardinator does not seem to have had the same luck as other robots that have had growing popularity, such as those who work inside serving at the tables. In Spain, waiter robots are being introduced mainly in fast food restaurants, chains and some fine dining restaurants. Cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia or Seville have already seen the introduction of these robots in several establishments. The fundamental difference here is that these robots move in controlled private spaces, not on public roads, which avoids conflicts of this type. Without going any further, in Malaga, there are several establishments that have incorporated this type of robots, although never outside the premises, as is the case of Sardinator. How they work. Waiter robots are designed to take orders from the kitchen to the customer’s table, following already marked routes and avoiding obstacles. The manufacturers are mostly of Chinese origin, including PUDU Robotics with its Bellabot and Kettybot models, Orion Star with Lucky, and Keenon, although there are also Spanish companies such as DAX Robotics with its Delibot and Slimbot model. The prices of waiter robots range between 6,000 and 15,000 euros, and they can support up to 60 kilos of load. They are equipped with LIDAR laser sensors and 3D cameras to move autonomously and safely. Robots as an alternative to labor shortages. The labor shortage in the Spanish hospitality industry, which affects more than 60% of businessesaccording to the Bank of Spain, means that this type of device could end up being an effective alternative. This is not about replacing staff, but about easing the burden due to the difficulty in finding waiters and qualified staff, which is why many establishments are turning to service robots as support. Although they are not yet a complete substitute for human interaction nor are they profitable for all establishments, these robots may end up representing a pragmatic response to a structural problem. And now what. The La Malagueta beach bar will have to return to traditional advertising methods or look for alternatives that respect the regulations. Meanwhile, ‘Sardinator’ has stopped touring the promenade and his catchy “mojito, caipirinha, daikiri” promotion is no longer heard in the area. Let’s give a minute of silence for our friendly friend. Cover image | Javier Albiñana In Xataka | The crazy story of the Galician woman who registered El Sol before a notary, sold plots online and then took eBay to court

OpenAI has released GPT-5.1 with two personalities because 800 million users do not want the same AI

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OpenAI has launched GPT-5.1an update of its flagship model that comes in two variants: Instant (conversational and “warmer”), Thinking (deep reasoning). The real novelty is not in the technical metrics, but in something more prosaic: you can now choose between eight conversation tones, from “professional” to “cynical.” It is recognizing that AI as a mass product needs segmentation. It is no longer enough to have just one assistant for everyone. The new model selector for Plus users. Image: Xataka. Why is it important. OpenAI has 800 million users with radically different expectations. Some want a neutral and efficient assistant. Others seek warmth and empathy. Some have even developed problematic emotional ties to the chatbot. The company tries to solve this with personality adjustments, but the underlying problem remains: ChatGPT keeps pretending to be a person, a consistent entity that knows you. This generates the same risks of emotional dependence that have motivated mental health demands and alerts. The facts: GPT-5.1 Instant improves in math and programming, and for the first time uses “adaptive reasoning”: decide when to think harder before answering. GPT-5.1 Thinking, for its part, dynamically adjusts its processing time according to the complexity of the question, being twice as fast in simple tasks and twice as slow in complex ones. The eight available tones (Default, Professional, Friendly, Sincere, Quirky, Efficient, Geek, Cynical) work by injecting different instructions into each prompt. The capabilities of the model do not change, only the presentation changes. Yes, but. The speed of the launch has come at a cost. OpenAI itself admits in its technical documentation that GPT-5.1 presents “known security regressions” compared to the October version. They prioritized time-to-market over exhaustive testing, something striking in a company under intense regulatory scrutiny due to cases of vulnerable users. Furthermore, personalization has limits that OpenAI has had to explicitly acknowledge: “taken to the extreme, personalization would be useless if it only reinforced your worldview.” It is admitting that you are walking a tightrope between engagement commercial and social responsibility. Between the lines. The launch of GPT-5.1 is a symptom of a deeper strategic shift. OpenAI is fragmenting its product because the “one AI fits all” model has failed. GPT-5 was so disappointing that the company had to enable it again GPT-4o as an option the next day. In Xataka | OpenAI has never been more ambitious. And he’s never been so close to not being able to pay his debts. Featured image | Xataka with Mockuuups Studio

Those who boast of using AI have an advantage over those who do not

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In the workplace, today more than ever, using artificial intelligence can make a big difference. What was once a secret or a taboo among employees Now it is a clear advantage and some workers even take advantage of it to stand out. The change in mentality in recent years that has made those who use AI in their work processes “come out of the closet.” Now knowing how to use AI makes your bosses see you as a qualified employee that they want to keep. The change in perception. Until recently, admitting that AI was used at work was almost a synonym of cheatersomething that generated distrust among colleagues and bosses and, therefore, had to be hidden. However, as as detailed The Wall Street Journalnow the situation has been reversed. These AI users have become references, and influencers of AI for the rest of their colleagues, which earns them the respect of their superiors. According to the ‘2024 Labor Trends Index Annual Report‘ Elaborated by Microsoft, 79% of business leaders agree that AI adoption is essential to remain competitive, while 66% acknowledge that they would not hire someone without AI skills. On the other hand, 71% would prefer to hire a candidate with AI skills even if they have less experience in the position. It is no longer a taboo, it is a “must have“. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, summarizes well this reality: “AI will not take your job, someone who knows how to use it will.” Although in practice it seems that, at least in certain sectors, yes he is doing it. As and how they assure more and more managers at major technology companies developing AI models, employees who have integrated AI into their daily workflow are already They don’t need to be programming experts. nor engineers. They have simply learned to use it themselves through trial and error to get just the result they need. “It takes practice to know how to write instructions. AI can do anything you want it to do, but it only knows as much as you tell it,” he told The Wall Street Journal Kevin Wei, software product manager and AI popularizer since your YouTube channel LiftoffPM. AI’s gifted students. More advanced AI users don’t just use these tools occasionally. The Microsoft studio revealed that 75% of so-called “white collar” employees use some type of AI in their daily tasks, and 90% say that this technology helps them save time. However, for these results to be really useful and not become a black hole junk contentit is necessary to have experienced much more than the rest with different uses of AI and seeks to constantly improve its methods so that AI becomes a central part of your workflow. “You have to train the AI ​​and create a context for it to really reach the desired level. Once you dedicate the necessary time to it, the feeling is incredibly magical,” he confirmed to the WSJ Michael Rueckert, a Claude power user who uses it in his work as a marketing and SEO optimization manager. If you don’t use AI there is no job. It is increasingly common for job offers to require fluency in the use of AI toolsin the same way that a few years ago it was required to have knowledge of office automation. The impact of mastering AI does not go unnoticed. According to data collected by the study ‘Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025‘ prepared by the consulting firm PWC, employees with AI skills tend to receive better salaries, with an average 56% higher than their colleagues, which reflects greater professional valuation. In fact, large technology companies, which have been the first to implement AI there where they couldhave started a kind of template renewalfiring those employees who do not master AI tools by others who do. Your partner becomes your teacher. The gap between those who use AI and those who do not can also be reduced through training within the companies themselves. However, unlike other areas of knowledge, for the training of employees in AI, companies are betting on promoting collaboration between employees so that they learn from each other, as how he published Bloomberg. Collaborative learning experiences between employees, such as the one explained Tim Foley, head of AI adoption at Internacional Motors, demonstrates that these learning strategies in the use of AI are more accessible to more workers, enhancing not only individual but also collective performance. That is, employees always have a trusted teacher sitting at the next table. In Xataka | “The winners of the AI ​​race will be the electricians or plumbers”: Jensen Huang is clear about where we are headed Image | Unsplash (Vitaly Gariev)

Aragón has just activated its second major data center project. The bet goes through a challenge that is difficult to ignore

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Aragón is going through a unique moment: in just a few years it has gone from competing to attract data centers to announce three mega facilities new ones promoted by Forestalia that aim to strengthen their position on the European cloud map. The announcement by the regional government comes in the midst of a race to attract technological investment, but also in a territory where the electrical network works to the limit and every great project depends on decisions that have not yet been made. The result is a scenario as ambitious as it is full of unknowns, which will determine the real impact of this expansion. How these digital complexes work. A data center is, in essence, a technological heart that stores and processes information for millions of users and companies. Every series that is streamed or every operation carried out in the cloud passes through servers that require stable power and constant cooling. That is why the choice of location is so relevant: electrical capacity and operational security are needed. Aragón has been gaining ground on that map and today is seen as a strategic option for new facilities. The project. The Government of Aragon has detailed that the Búfalo Project includes three data centers in Magallón, Botorrita and Alfamén, backed by an investment of 12,048 million euros. The deployment includes DCM Data, DCM Dédalo and DCM Blue, whose works would begin between 2028 and 2029 and will extend for approximately eight years. According to official estimates, the construction will generate about 30,000 temporary jobs. In the operational phase, each facility will add hundreds of workers, with a total that clearly exceeds a thousand stable positions. Aragón on the international board. The accumulated investments in data centers exceed 70,000 million euros and place the community in the same conversation as consolidated European hubs. According to the President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, the computing capacity that is being configured rivals that of Dublin and Paris and aspires to approach that of Frankfurt. The regional Executive also states that the data that will be managed will have a European scope, from Germany or France to Italy and the United Kingdom, reinforcing the international dimension of the project. Distributed renewable self-consumption. The Government of Aragon presents self-consumption as a distinctive element of the Búfalo Project, since approximately half of the energy consumption will be associated with wind and photovoltaic parks powered by Forestalia. This volume of generation allows for a renewable supply, although it does not eliminate dependence on the general network, which will provide the rest of the energy. The underlying idea is to combine own generation with existing infrastructure to sustain large-scale facilities. Press to see the message in X The word “self-consumption” may lead one to think that data centers and renewable plants share the same physical space, but this is not the case. Forestalia is setting up parks in various regions of Zaragoza and Teruel, located where the natural resource is most favorable. The data centers, as we say, will be in Magallón, Botorrita and Alfamén, and the connection between both worlds is made entirely through the Red Eléctrica network. It is a distributed scheme that coordinates generation and consumption without a single energy campus. A network to the limit. Aragon produces more electricity than it consumes and exports about 54% of its generation, but that abundance contrasts with a distribution network that functions practically at maximum. A report published in September 2025 sets its occupancy level at 94.3%, well above the national average of 84.3%. This saturation leaves little room to incorporate large consumers such as data centers. The result is a paradox: available energy, but an infrastructure incapable of delivering it to all projects. Projects that have already reached their peak. The bottleneck is not a future hypothesis, but a reality that already affects several operators. According to Heraldothe data centers in the pipeline have requested more than 6,000 MW and only a part has firm access, with cases such as Vantage, which has 90 MW authorized despite aiming for 300. Microsoft also depends on tenders in saturated nodes. The Government itself recognizes that everything will be linked to Red Eléctrica’s planning and the decisions of the central Executive. Water, a debate that is still open? The cooling of data centers has generated concern in Aragon since Amazon asked for late 2024 48% more water for the complexes that already operate in the region. Ecologistas en Acción and the Tu Nube Seca Mi Río platform then warned of the water impact of these facilities in the midst of a structural drought. Azcón maintains that future Forestalia centers will use a closed circuit with “practically imperceptible” consumption and affirms that the debate “is over.” In any case, everything indicates that this matter remains under public scrutiny. To facilitate the path of the Buffalo Project, The Government of Aragon has declared the initiative as of Autonomous General Interest, a figure that allows procedures to be simplified and the different administrations involved better coordinated. This declaration speeds up procedures, but does not resolve the main point of friction: the available electrical capacity. Hence, the regional Executive insists on its willingness to work with the central Government and Red Eléctrica, the only actors that can modify the network planning. Real progress will depend on those decisions. The announcement of the three new data centers, together with the rest of the initiatives in the pipeline, places Aragón at a decisive moment to consolidate its presence on the European cloud map. The investment is notable and so is the promised employment, but much of the result will depend on decisions that are not entirely in the hands of the community. The region has shown intention and movement, although it remains to be seen what the real scope of this bet will be. Images | İsmail Enes Ayhan | Jorge Azcón (X) In Xataka | The European Commission’s pendulum with AI is real: it will sacrifice privacy to … Read more

The largest telescope in the northern hemisphere is looking for a home. And the Canary Islands have just taken the lead

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Spain is getting closer to having in its territory the most powerful telescope on the entire planet, the Teinta Meter Telescope (TMT). Its location may finally be the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, which for many years has been the emergency ‘plan B’, in case the original idea of ​​having it in the United States failed. And in the end, due to a large set of triggers, La Palma is gaining a lot of strength. A change of direction. He original use of the TMT was intended Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii. But it is a plan that was paralyzed due to the rejection of the native communities, who consider this a sacred place. Although it is not only the ‘fault’ of the natives, but also of the cuts that the Trump administration has made intended for research and science in general. Given this situation, Spain has offered to host the project in La Palma as announced by the TMT International Observatory LLC on your website. In this case, he thanks the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for the offer made of commit to invest 400 million euros to install this telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. The next steps are focused on developing together with the Ministry a “detailed roadmap towards the possible realization of the TMT at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory”, with the aim of this project moving forward at this location. The importance of La Palma. The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory already houses world-renowned facilities such as the Canary Islands Great Telescope (GTC), which is the largest optical and near-infrared telescope on the planet. In addition, it participates in new generation projects such as the Cherenkov telescopes, dedicated to observing high-energy gamma rays. And this is something that the Minister of Science herself, Diana Morant, wanted to remember, who through from your X account has celebrated this advance as the necessary step to turn “the Canarian sky into the main observatory in the northern hemisphere.” Why it is important. The TMT is not just any project: its construction involves some of the most influential scientific organizations on the planet, such as the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) or the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), which represents more than 40 academic entities from around the world. Beyond this, we are also talking about the TMT being one of the three reference telescopes globally along with the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile or the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) being developed in the Atacama Desert. Its 30-meter diameter mirror, made up of 492 hexagonal segments, will make it a key tool for exploring exoplanets, black holes, dark matter and the formation of the first galaxies, with a resolution ten times higher than that of Hubble. Political impact. Beyond the astronomical potential, hosting the TMT would mean a leap in scale for Spain in its presence in international research, reinforcing the role of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) as a strategic partner in global scientific projects and attracting talent and technological investment. Images | Alin Corneliu In Xataka | Which telescope to buy to enjoy the nights and stars: 20 telescopes, binoculars, gadgets, accessories and more

is the DGT’s response to the challenge of the new Bus-VAO lane

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First quarter of 2026. That is the date on which the new Bus-HOV lane on the A-2 highway should come into operation at its entrance and exit to Madrid. An alternative to prioritize the use of public transport and promote the use of shared vehicles that comes with an important novelty: the road is not segregated. And that represents a challenge for the DGT and new ways for drivers to behave. A band-aid for bleeding. The entrance to Madrid on the A-2 highway is clogged every morning. And, therefore, its output is just as congested in the afternoons. After years of searching for solutions and promising a Bus-HOV lane that seemed to never arrive, the DGT has confirmed that we will see it in the first quarter of 2026. According to their calculations, the new lane will allow around 15,000 people to access or leave the capital in a more staggered manner, saving an average of 25% of time on their journey and adding a total of 500,000 fewer hours of traffic jams. Users of public transport, passenger cars with more than one person inside and motorcyclists will benefit. When its implementation is completely completed, it will have a route of 19.2 kilometers between Madrid and Alcalá de Henares. Until then, the first phase will be between Madrid and Torrejón de Ardoz. A new HOV Bus. The great novelty of this new Bus-VAO is that It is a lane without physical separation and will be activated punctually, both daily during the busiest hours of entry and exit from the capital and during special operations or during the weekend. That is, the driver will find the three usual lanes but when he starts moving, the left one becomes Bus-HOV. To signal whether the lane is active or not, beacons on the ground and gantries have been installed along the road. When the beacons are off, the Bus-HOV lane is inactive and it is when they turn green or yellow that the system becomes active and only allows access to motorcycles, buses, cars with more than one person inside or emergency vehicles. And I come in whenever I want? This lane, however, will have to be accessed through delimited areas. This is what the DGT calls “embarkation and disembarkation” zones. If we skip the light line created by the beacons we will be breaking the regulations and the driver may be penalized as if they skipped a continuous line. To monitor it, the DGT will have cameras to do this work. Therefore, we will not be able to leave and enter the lane as desired and it is important where these areas are located. The DGT has confirmed that they will be at the following points when the Bus-VAO starts operating: In the direction of entering Madrid, the first boarding will be located at Torrejón de Ardoz (pk 18+600), the second in Rejas (pk 13+600) and the last in Canillejas (pk 7+700) to disembark all at Avenida de América. In the outbound direction, boardings are at Arturo Soria/Josefa Valcárcel (pk 5+850) and the Eisenhower junction (pk 11+400) and disembarkations at Canillejas (pk 9+100) and Rejas (pk 15+200) where this lane ends. Occupancy radars? In its communications, the DGT says that “the lane will be monitored with license plate reading and occupancy detection equipment, so there will be sanctions for all those who travel along it alone or enter and exit through places that are not permitted.” That definition has popularized the term “occupancy radars.” We have contacted the DGT and they have confirmed that the system on this lane of the A-2 uses infrared and heat cameras to detect the passengers of a vehicle and that the system cannot be deceived with a dummy, as has sometimes happened on the A-6 highway where the other Bus-HOV lane in the capital is located. However, at the moment it is not active and they will provide more details later, when the HOV lane opens to traffic. This type of systems have been put into operation in Francewhere Bus-HOV lanes with these same characteristics are implemented. And the fine? The fine for using the Bus-HOV lane improperly is 200 euros. It is the same one that applies in case of skipping a continuous line, so if a driver enters the lane improperly (outside the boarding places) and without complying with the requirements, he or she is exposed to a penalty of up to 400 euros, adding both violations. Anyone who does not comply with the boarding areas will be fined 200 euros. a challenge. The new Bus-HOV lane is a litmus test for mobility in our country. The solution is relatively cheap since in this case 13.9 million euros have been spent, which have been assumed equally by the General Directorate of Traffic (Ministry of the Interior), the General Directorate of Roads (Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility), the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium (Community of Madrid) and the Madrid City Council. The system avoids having to carry out works to create a new infrastructure but it also represents a challenge when it comes to managing traffic since a breakdown during rush hour will force the Bus-HOV lane to be deactivated so that this lane also absorbs the vehicles stuck on its right. Likewise, constant monitoring of the dividing line must be guaranteed for almost 20 kilometers to avoid false access. Photo | DGT In Xataka | The “made in China” business of the DGT’s V-16 beacons: homologating the same product 24 times and selling it under different brands

New Steam Machine, features, price and technical sheet

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If you were thinking about buying a home console and were hesitating between PlayStation 5 or one Xbox Series X|Sa new player has just entered the game. Valve has presented the Steam Machinea proposal that aims high and comes with enough arguments to shake up the market. The company led by Gabe Newell has also announced a new virtual reality headset, the Steam Frameand an updated version of the Steam Controller. All of this reinforces the feeling that Valve wants to once again bet heavily on hardware and regain the prominence it had with the Steam Deck. Stam Machine technical sheet Stam Machine CPU AMD Zen 4 6 cores 12 threads Up to 4.8 GHz TDP: 30W GPU AMD RDNA3, 28 graphics cores Up to 2.45 GHz sustained TDP: 110W Support for 4K, 60 FPS gaming with FSR Ray tracing RAM memory 16GB DDR5 VRAM memory 8GB GDDR6 Storage 512GB (SSD) 2TB (SSD) Expandable via microSD Connectivity Ethernet 1Gbps WiFi 6E (2×2) USB-C 10Gbps (3.2 Gen 2) 4× USB-A ports (2× USB 3 front, 2× USB 2 rear) Operating system Steam OS Others Compatibility with third-party controllers Decorative LED light Price Unannounced Steam Machine: Valve’s great re-entry into the field of consoles Although Valve has not yet revealed the price and has only announced that its launch will take place “early 2026”, yes he has shared a good part of the specifications. The Steam Machine will come in two versions: one with 512 GB of storage and another with 2 TB, both expandable using cards microSD. It can be purchased separately or in a package with the new Steam Controller. This controller has a curious design, with the joysticks in an unusual position that invites you to try it to check its ergonomics. In any case, compatibility with other controllers – such as those for Xbox or PlayStation – is guaranteed. Inside, the console mounts a AMD Zen 4 processor with six cores and twelve threads, capable of reaching 4.8 GHz and with a TDP of 30 W. The graphics part is provided by an AMD RDNA3 GPU with 28 computing units, maximum sustained frequency of 2.45 GHz and a TDP of 110 W. On paper, the promise is clear: games in 4K and 60 FPS with FSR technology. Valve claims that the Steam Machine is “six times more powerful than the Steam Deck.” An ambitious statement, but one that makes sense if we think about the limits that the portable console already shows in some recent titles. This new machine seeks to offer a more fluid, more stable gaming experience and, above all, closer to that of a traditional desktop console. If we talk about memory, it will have 16 GB of DDR5 RAM and 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. For now there is no data on bandwidth, but there is data on connectivity: one port HDMI 2.0one USB-C and four USB-A (two front and two rear). The operating system chosen is SteamOS, as expected. Valve has maintained its active development since the times of the first Steam Machines, that project that didn’t take offbut which served as the basis for the subsequent success of the Steam Deck. Users will be able to access thousands of games from the SteamOS catalog (a new compatibility badge will be enabled) and even to cloud gaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming. However, some titles will remain absent, such as ‘GTA 6’, which will not be available at launch and whose future arrival is still uncertain. In any case, the Steam Machine is, in essence, a PC. So we can, for example, install another operating system like Windows to expand its possibilities. For now, there is only wait for Valve to confirm prices and specific dates launch to see if the Steam Machine manages to make its way among giants like Sony and Microsoft. Images | Valve In Xataka | ‘GTA 6’ seems invincible, but perhaps so much delay will end up taking its toll

greet. He has fallen on his face

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There are companies that are committed to we all end up having a humanoid robot at home, as if it were that movie based on Asimov’s novel. The most leading companies are concentrated in the United States and China, with figure and Unitree as a spearhead. Now there is a new country that wants to enter the humanoid robotics race, it is Russia and its first attempt has been, shall we say, striking. What has happened? The first Russian humanoid robot was presented yesterday in Moscow. In the video shared on networks You can see how the robot appears from the side of the stage, accompanied by two men who watch it very closely, with the soundtrack of ‘Rocky’. All very epic, or that was the intention. The robot takes a few steps, stops and salutes, then immediately loses its balance and falls face down on the ground. What follows is the robot “kicking”, the employees dragging it and trying, without much success, to cover the scene with the stage curtain. A disaster. Reactions. The first thing that catches your attention is that the robot walks very clumsily, very far from what we are used to. robot shows in china. The reactions on the networks were immediate and many pointed out that the robot seemed somewhat “harmed.” “I can’t stop laughing. I think he learned to walk from alcoholics,” said one user on X. “Powered by vodka,” this other guy joked. There has also been some positive comments which point out the difficulty of creating a humanoid robot that walks, even if it is that bad. AIdol. This is how they have named the first Russian humanoid robot manufactured by the Idol company. According to the russian news agencyAIdol is capable of “walking, manipulating objects, and communicating.” It also has the ability to reproduce facial expressions thanks to 19 servomotors and has seven microphones, speakers and cameras to interact and move around the environment. Supposedly, AIdol can move at a speed of 6km/h and maintains balance on uneven surfaces, although judging by its appearance on the scene, we have quite a few doubts. And finally, AI could not be missing, we do not know what models it uses, but AIdol has the capacity to generate contextual voice using AI. Plus, everything works offline. The excuse. Idol, the company behind the creation of the robot, said that the crash occurred due to a calibration problem and that the robot they presented was in the testing phase. There has also been talk that it could be due to poor lighting or voltage problem. What we do know is that the Russian news agency does not mention the incident in its extensive article on AIdol. What’s more, the video that includes the news is cut just before the fall. It could be worse. This is not the first time that Russia has ventured into robotics. In 2018, on Russian television A robot appeared that walked, danced and could even talk. They called him Boris and promoted him as a way to encourage young people to become interested in robotics. The problem is that it later became known that Boris was actually a man in disguise and not a real robot as they wanted us to believe in the broadcast. Image | x In Xataka | Robots are taking over factories and warehouses. Now they target the fruit seasonal workers

We have discounts of up to 75% on all your plans

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When it comes to Internet security, no precaution is too little. The most efficient and simple way to protect ourselves while browsing is, without a doubt, to use a VPN. This tool is one of those essentials that is always good to have installedwhether on your mobile or PC. Thanks to it, we can protect our internet traffic and keep sensitive information such as our IP address safe. In practice, we have free options. These work and can save us at a certain moment, but they are not a good option in the long run. The reason is that they all share a problem: They are not as safe as they promise. If we want to get one of the best on the market, then we have a great option right now with NordVPN: it’s on Black Friday and their plans start from 2.99 euros per month. All without having to apply any coupons or do anything strange, since the discounts are all applied automatically. NordVPN Monthly Basic Plan (2-year plan) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links NordVPN’s Black Friday comes with discounts for all its plans As we say, among all the payment options available, NordVPN stands out for being one of the best and most reliable. Your service, in addition to being easy and intuitive to useallows us to connect to more than 8,400 servers that are distributed in more than 165 different locations. Thanks to this, we will always find a location to connect to that offers fast speed, since we will never find any type of congestion in the system. Additionally, with a subscription, we can use this tool on up to 10 devices simultaneously. We cannot ignore your safety, one of the best we can find today. It uses military-grade encryption to protect our traffic and even includes a ‘kill switch’ function, which, simply explained, will automatically disconnect us from the Internet if the VPN stops working. Black Friday has also arrived for this VPN, which leaves us with all its plans at the best prices of the year. We have discounts that go up to 75%so we only have to look at what each one offers and choose the one that best suits us. The cheapest of all, called the Basic plan, costs only 2.99 euros per month if we choose the two-year modality. In simpler terms: we will pay a total of 80.73 euros and we will receive three extra months (so there will be 27 months in total). Stopping there is just scratching the surface, as the other plans also offer very good value for money right now. These would be the prices at which each of them comes out: Basic Plan: 27 months for 80.73 euros in total (2.99 euros per month). Plus Plan: 27 months for 105.03 euros in total (3.89 euros per month). Complete Plan: 27 months for 132.03 euros in total (4.89 euros per month). Ultra Plan: 27 months for 175.23 euros in total (6.49 euros per month). As we say, it will depend on our needs or what we are looking for. If we only want to have the VPN, then the Basic plan will be enough. If we want an ad blocker and a password manager, we can opt for the Plus plan. It should be noted that both the Full plan and the Ultra plan include 1 TB of cloud storage. Finally, we cannot forget that all NordVPN plans include a 30-day period in which we can request a refund at any time if we are not satisfied. We have to take advantage of all these discounts until next December 1so it is advisable that we do not fall asleep if we are looking for a VPN. NordPass is also on Black Friday with discounts The security of our Internet traffic is very important, but What about our passwords? Keeping these safe is essential to protect all types of information, services or platforms, so any help we can have for this is always welcome. That’s where NordPass comes in, which also belongs to NordVPN and, as you can imagine, is also on Black Friday. NordPass is a very easy-to-use tool that serves to give our passwords a greater degree of security thanks to its strong encryption. Furthermore, by storing them, it allows us to use this tool to auto-complete and auto-save while browsing different web pages. And not only that, since we can synchronize NordPass on all our devices to have our passwords at hand anywhere. The NordPass offer for this Black Friday leaves us with its Premium plan with a 56% discount, so we will only pay 1.29 euros per month in your two-year plan. In other words: it will cost us 34.83 euros in total and we will also receive three extra months. If we want more, we have the Family plan, which has 6 user accountsby 2.79 euros per month. NordPass Monthly Premium Plan (2-year plan) 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 | Luke Southern on Unsplash (with editing), NordVPN In Xataka | Public WiFis: why they are dangerous and tips to connect safely In Xataka | The best solutions to protect your data and your company’s IT equipment

China is quietly winning the AI ​​race thanks to something very simple: cheap energy

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“China is going to win the artificial intelligence race,” warned Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Many thought he was exaggerating, interested in fueling demand for his chips. But, as analyst June Yoon explained in her column for the Financial TimesHuang’s argument contains an uncomfortable truth: the availability of electricity—not chips—is becoming the critical factor for the development of AI. A model like GPT-4 can consume more than 460,000 megawatt-hours per year, the equivalent of the energy consumption of 35,000 American homes, according to a study. The world’s data centers—already colossal—could double their electricity consumption before 2030. And that changes the rules of the game. When there are plenty of chips, but there are no plugs. The race for AI It started with a GPU fever. Big tech companies rushed to buy every Nvidia chip available, but they soon discovered something more worrying: there weren’t enough sockets to connect them. Satya Nadella himself, CEO of Microsoft, he said it bluntly: “The biggest problem we have now is not excess chips, but energy.” Electricity demand has skyrocketed so much that Google, Microsoft and Amazon are already contemplating build nuclear reactors to keep your servers on. The paradox sums up the moment well: the digital leadership of the West encounters a physical limit, that of cheap energy. Energy as a new geopolitics. Analyst June Yoon throw a question that reorders the technological map: what if the AI ​​race had nothing to do with chips, but with electricity? If the last century was defined by oil, this one will be defined by the current China no longer lives off oil: generates it. It has gone from being a petrostate dependent on crude oil to becoming the first electrostate on the planet. More than one quarter of your electricity It comes from renewable sources and its network is growing at a speed that no other country can match. Now that energy sovereignty fuels a new front: artificial intelligence. How did you find the formula? Since September, the Chinese Government Subsidizes up to 50% of energy costs of data centers that use national chips. The inland provinces—Guizhou, Gansu, Inner Mongolia—have become “electric hearts” of Chinese AI: there energy is abundant and cheapand local governments offer historically low rates of just 0.4 yuan per kilowatt-hour. The measure has a dual purpose: Compensate for the lower efficiency of domestic chips compared to Nvidia’s. Promote technological independence in the midst of a trade war. As Bloomberg has detailedthese regions are connected by ultra-high voltage (UHV) lines that transport renewable energy from the interior to the coastal areas where big technology companies, such as Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, are concentrated. The goal is clear: ensure abundant, low-cost energy for AI training clusters. According to Rystad Energythe electricity consumption of data centers could more than double before 2030, reaching 1,800 terawatt-hours in 2040. Beijing is preparing to absorb it. The result is a planned, centralized energy ecosystem designed to scale AI. An example is the Talatan Solar Parkwhich extends like a sea of ​​metal mirrors: more than 600 square kilometers of panels that are combined with wind and hydroelectric parks. From there, the power travels along high-voltage lines to data centers on the coast. It is a postcard of the new Chinese power: sun, wind and silicon. China’s electrical advantage. The strategy is also working in the markets. According to Bloombergshares of Chinese power companies have risen up to 40% in a week, driven by demand for AI data centers. UBS forecasts that electricity demand in China will grow 8% annually until 2028. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Trump administration has launched an AI Action Plan to accelerate the construction of data centers and remove obstacles to energy projects. But, as FT analysts point outchip improvements are stuck in single digits, while Chinese renewable energy grows by double digits every year. The power is in the socket. In the race for artificial intelligence, chips are the brain. But the heart beats with electricity. The United States retains leadership and has the best semiconductors (for now); China, the network that keeps them on. As June Yoon wroteall the technological superpowers in history—from coal England to oil America—were built on a source of cheap energy. Today, artificial intelligence needs electricity as it once needed steam. And on that new board, China seems to have found the key: plug in the future before anyone else. Image | Pixabay and Hanwha Xataka | SoftBank abandons the king of chips in its prime. And he bets everything on OpenAI

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