Mobile Tech & Gadgets

How to do it and what time limit do you have?

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Let’s tell you how you can check the operation of your new V16 beacon without alerting the DGT. As you know, these beacons have an internal SIM card that connects with the DGT, so that when you activate them because you have an accident or breakdown, they can geolocate you. But what happens when you just want to check that everything works well on a beacon you just bought? Well, we are going to tell you the amount of time you have before this connection is established. Because in the end, when you have spent money on one, what you want is to see that it works to see if you should return it or keep it. 100 seconds margin As specified by the DGT in one of his postsV16 beacons and their SIM cards They have a margin of 100 seconds during which no information is sent. This is the time the device has to establish the connection with the mobile network, check its GPS and prepare to send data. This serves to provide a secure testing window, as well as to prevent false alerts or messages from being sent in error. This means that you can turn on the beacon and test that it works, since will not alert the DGT until 100 seconds have passed. This way, you can see that your light is working and everything is fine. Remember that you must activate these beacons on the roof of the car if you have an incident. And when they send your position to the DGT after those 100 seconds, it will be able to use the road information panels to warn other drivers, send notices to compatible navigation applications such as Google Maps, and make it easier to locate you. They are mandatory from January 1, 2026. In Xataka Basics | What to look for in a V16 beacon: requirements and how to check if the one you have or want to buy works for you

The new mayor of New York is a rare bird in the US, but he has an even more unexpected facet: a shareholder of Real Oviedo

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Among the many congratulations that Zohran Mamdani has received over the last few days, after conquering the seat of mayor of New York, there is one that stands out as unexpected: that of Real Oviedo. Yesterday the club carbayón conveyed his congratulations via It may sound strange, but it is better understood when you know a key fact: Mamdani has been a shareholder of Real Oviedo for years. To understand it you have to go back to 2012. Who is Zohran Mamdani? That question might have made sense a few years ago, when Mamdani was one of a long list of members of the Albany Assembly. Today his name is one of the most popular in the United States, even outside the political sphere. The reason: on Tuesday he beat Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa in the race for New York City Council, becoming the elected successor of Eric L. Adams and crowning a dazzling rise. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Why is it so popular? Taking into account that New York is the main city in the United States (and one of the most media-rich on the planet), becoming its mayor should be enough to gain global projection, but Mamdani stands out for something else: an unorthodox profile. So much so, in fact, that it is a rare bird in the long history of the municipality. To start with his age: he has just turned 34, making him the youngest politician to hold office in the last century. As if that weren’t enough, Mamdani is an immigrant (born in Kampala, Uganda), Muslim, made his debut in the world of rap under the name Mr. Cardamomo and defines himself as a “democratic socialist.” He is also a skilled communicator, handles himself with ease in networks and has not hesitated to run as one of the strongest voices in the opposition to Donald Trump, whom he sent a public message after proclaiming himself the winner of the municipal elections: “I know you’re watching. I only have three words for you: turn up the volume! New York will continue to be a city of immigrants, built by immigrants and driven by immigrants. And starting tonight led by an immigrant.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. And what does it have to do with Oviedo? To answer that question we have to go back to 2012, when Real Oviedo passed through low hours. In Spain the winds of recession were blowing and the club carbayón He was seen with battered accounts and confined to the Second Division Bfrom which it would still take time to come out. The club itself refers to that period, which began in 2001, as a “fight for survival”. With that backdrop, the Asturian team decided to desperately search for a capital increase to save it from the hole, an effort in which the city devoted itself and which had the support of well-known figures, such as the popular British journalist Sid Lowewho gave visibility to the campaign on social networks. The call from Lowe, a native of Archway (London), but a fan of Real Oviedo since his student years in the Asturian capital, came among others to a young man from Kampala, a football fan and with musical whims: Zohran Mamdani. At the time he was only 21 years old, but he decided to join the wave of support. On November 9, 2012, at 5:47 p.m., he responded to Sid Lowe’s request with a message posted on Twitter: “I just bought a share, am I possibly the first shareholder of the eral Oviedo based in Maine? #SOSRealOviedo.” His tweet passed without pain or glory. The message from one more fan. One more among hundreds. Things changed on Tuesday, when Mamdani became mayor of NY. Is it your only relationship with football? Mamdani is more than just a politician, former rapper and (now) elected mayor of the largest city in the United States. He is also a self-confessed soccer fan. He himself has said that he made his first steps during his student years and his Arsenal fandom. “My uncle is a fan. I had magnets of the Invincibles (the team that won the 2003-2004 First League without losing a game) on my fridge. I loved David Seaman, Sylvain Wiltord, all of them… I have gone to many Arsenal games, many with my uncle. It has been a very important part of my life,” explained recently to The New York Times. Beyond the stands or the fields, Mamdani has known how to combine his football hobby with his political side, which has led him to launch a campaign to demand that FIFA not marginalize New Yorkers in the World that will host North America in 2026 and that includes the MetLife Stadium between its stages. Their proposal is that the organizers reserve part of the tickets for residents and also offer them a discount. The objective: that enjoying the championship is not an unattainable luxury for New York families. Images | Real Oviedo and Wikipedia In Xataka | In 2017 Liverpool signed a star footballer. Without knowing it, he had found the solution to racism in sports

Nexperia had the entire European automotive industry in check. We have good news

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The Dutch Government is prepared to suspend the control it exercises over the semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia if China again allows the export of its most critical chips. According to sources Bloomberg, the Chinese government has already lifted the veto, so the move would end a conflict that threatened to paralyze automobile production world. The agreement on the table. According to Bloomberg, Dutch authorities were “prepared to revoke the ministerial order that gave them veto power over key Nexperia corporate decisions” as soon as next week. The condition: that the resumption of shipments of components from China be verified in the coming days and that the financial disputes between Nexperia and its Chinese operations be also resolved. China lifts veto. Just like assures In the middle, China has once again allowed Nexperia to export its semiconductors, paving the way for the Netherlands to suspend its powers over the Chinese-owned company. Chips have already started shipping again from Nexperia’s Chinese operations, officials from several auto companies confirmed to Bloomberg. The first shipments are already underway. Aumovio SE, a components maker that supplies Volkswagen, Stellantis and BMW, has shipped Nexperia semiconductors and components containing them after receiving an export license from China this week, according to declared its CEO Philipp Von Hirschheydt to Bloomberg. The manager added who informed him that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce lifted the export ban on Nexperia this Friday. “It will take some time before all procedures and processes return to normal,” the CEO warned. There is still the possibility of disruption in the next four to six weeks, but “if everything I know today is correct, we are not going to be affected,” he said. How it all started. The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Vincent Karremans, activated a law dating back to the Cold War in September to take temporary control over Nexperiaowned by the Chinese technology group Wingtech. The reason was concern that Wingtech was weakening the company and putting the supply of vital components at risk. The Dutch government flagged some of Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng’s decisions as representing “misuse of financial resources for the personal enrichment of the CEO,” according to account Bloomberg. Wingtech denied these allegations. In response, Beijing imposed restrictions on exports of Nexperia products from China, which accounted for about half of the company’s pre-crisis volumes. Why does it matter? Nexperia makes power control chips used by large manufacturers such as Volkswagen. Until the conflict is resolved, European car manufacturers face production stoppages imminent as their reserves are depleted. Just like account Bloomberg, Honda Motor has already been informed of the resumption of chip shipments by Nexperia in China, so the Japanese carmaker plans to normalize its affected production during the week of November 21, according to its executive vice president, Noriya Kaihara. On the other hand, Bosch, one of the largest component suppliers in the world, also is receiving chips from Nexperia from China, according to sources close to the media. However, the media reports that until this Friday morning there were still production interruptions in several Bosch plants that manufacture automotive electronics. The situation remains tense. Despite positive signs, German supplier ZF Friedrichshafen is preparing for production interruptions, including temporary layoffs, as a precautionary measure. “It is unclear to what extent and at what speed deliveries from China could resume,” declared a company spokesperson told Bloomberg. “The situation remains very tense throughout the industry.” Signs of distension. The Dutch Government declared this Thursday that it expects Nexperia’s Chinese unit to resume chip supplies in the coming days. “Given the constructive nature of our discussions with the Chinese authorities, the Netherlands is confident that chip supplies from China to Europe and the rest of the world will reach Nexperia customers in the coming days,” Karremans said in a statement picked up by Bloomberg. Wingtech shares rose almost 10% in Shanghai after the news. European automakers and their suppliers also gained on the news, as Volkswagen shares rose as much as 2.7% in Frankfurt, while BMW rose as much as 2.5%. Shares of Mercedes-Benz Group and Stellantis also rose, according to the middle. What’s coming now. Resolution of the dispute will depend on effective verification that shipments resume and resolving outstanding financial issues between Nexperia and its operations in China. If these conditions are met, the Dutch Government could revoke his powers of intervention next week, putting an end to a crisis that has put the entire supply chain of the European automotive sector in check. On the other hand, the future of Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng remains uncertain following his suspension as CEO of Nexperia by an Amsterdam court on October 7. Cover image | Arthur Wang and Nexperia In Xataka | The EU wants to connect Madrid with Paris by AVE in 2035. Or in 2042 if you ask France

‘GTA 6’ is the most anticipated game, but it is not clear if it is so untouchable as to emerge unscathed from the continuous delays

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Rockstar has dropped a new bomb that, like before in the pastmakes the video game industry shake: GTA VI will not arrive in spring 2026 as planned. The most anticipated game of the decade is delayed until November 19, 2026, adding six more months to the wait. That is, one year from this moment. Reactions of discontent from fans have not been long in coming, but beyond the digital noise, an uncomfortable question arises: can Rockstar afford these continuous delays without its reputation, its finances or its dominant position being affected? Are they really that untouchable? Keep winning. Rockstar continues to have a privileged position. Take-Two Interactive, its parent company, reported in November 2024 about net profits of $1.96 billionits best fiscal second quarter in history. The reason? A video game released in 2013 that continues to sell as if it were a novelty: ‘GTA V’ has exceeded 220 million copies soldconsolidating itself as the second best-selling video game of all time, only behind Minecraft. The entire saga has sold more than 425 million units. They are not simple numbers. These monstrous sales are the only excuse Rockstar needs to operate under its own rules. While other studios live game by game, Rockstar swims in a pool of money generated by a game that is more than a decade old. And it goes further: ‘GTA Online’, the multiplayer component of GTA V, does not stop giving benefits with constant updates and microtransactions. This economic reality confirms that Rockstar does not need to rush: there are no investors or producers demanding immediate results, and they can take all the time in the world. Some financial cracks. However, if we closely examine this invulnerability we can find some flaws. The stock market has sent alarm signals with each delay: Take-Two shares have fallen up to 18% after the announcement of the last delay to November 2026, before stabilizing. In the first delay to May 2026, shares fell 10%going from $235.17 to approximately $211 – billions of dollars in market value evaporating in minutes. Problems in the offices. And to this is added that last week we learned that the studio had laid off between 30 and 40 employees in its offices in the United Kingdom and Canada. The IWGB union accused the company of union bustingdescribing an increasingly tense work environment. The team, after so much delay, is working under monumental pressure. The news of these layoffs comes at a critical time in development. Are they a symptom of a management that, despite its financial muscle, is beginning to show cracks in its work model? Delays have a human cost in the form of tyrannical days and burned out professionals, not very pleasant details that have already appeared in the past in Rockstar’s history. The earthquake. Each new delay is like a very heavy stone falling into a peaceful lake and generating shock waves that affect very distant launches. For example, games like ‘The Elder Scrolls VI’, ‘Fable’, the next ‘Assassin’s Creed’ or the new ‘Mass Effect’ still do not have a release date, all waiting for Rockstar to make a move, and now they find themselves with a dilemma: the first half of the year was better for them, which until today was a forbidden zone. Now what: bring the launch forward a few months or go to 2027? (Remember that we are not talking here about calendar whims, but rather possible losses of millions of dollars). This is the total absorption power of the Rockstar game market. Untouchable, but not invulnerable. This new delay leaves Rockstar in a peculiar position: no one doubts that ‘GTA VI’ is going to be a successbut date cancellation after date cancellation, the image of the game and the company itself are eroding. If we add to that that we are experiencing turbulent times in the industry, where the exorbitant budgets and the pace of hardware releases are absolutely broken, we can come to a conclusion: Rockstar and its ‘GTA’ are untouchable, but to what extent can they allow themselves to continue going indefinitely free of the industry and the public? In Xataka | The ghost of video games at 100 euros is closer than ever. And the owners of ‘GTA VI’ know it

How do I check that it works without alerting the DGT

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The DGT is clear about the two greatest strengths of the new V-16 beacon. The first is that it can be installed on the roof of the car without getting out of the vehicle. By putting our hand out the window we can place it on the roof to alert us that there is an obstacle on the road. The second is your connectivity. In fact, it is the main reason why you have to be careful if you still have to buy a beacon of this type. Until 2021, the intention was simply for the driver to carry the beacon on him but from that year onwards It was decided that this should be connected so that when we activate it we give notice to DGT 3.0. This platform is what Traffic uses to be aware of everything that is happening and alert other drivers through warning signs that there is an obstacle on the road. Additionally, the promise is that all connected cars will receive an alert in the instrument cluster called signal V-27. This is all very well but… how do we know that the beacon works and that it does not have any errors without alerting the DGT? 100 seconds test As we have already told you, the V-16 beacons can operate with batteries. Therefore, it is important to carry a spare pack if you use the first and regularly check if the battery is charged if you choose this second option. Doubts arise when turn on the beacon for the first time. And in addition to carrying it charged or having batteries, we will have to make sure that the beacon works correctly. In that case, there is no choice but turn it on at home. But don’t be afraid if you think you are going to open an incident on the DGT platform, they are going to find out where you live and they are going to send emergency services to you. For a start, the DGT assures that the information sent by the V-16 beacon is completely private. It only indicates its geopositioning but there is no private data such as the person who activated it, the broken down car or any other detail that Traffic knows at that moment. You will also not launch a rescue plan when you activate the V-16 beacon. The DGT remembers It is the responsibility of the driver or passengers to notify the emergency services, their only responsibility is to monitor the incident so that it is reflected in DGT 3.0. Finally, from the moment the beacon is activated until the first warning is given to the platform 100 seconds will pass. This time window acts as a safety net to avoid false positives, but it is also one of the reasons that guarantee that the emergency light can have a battery for the minimum required 30 minutes. The beacon connects to DGT 3.0 through IoT networksknown as the Internet of Things. This network is not part of the typical bandwidth of 4G or 5G networks and allows the sending of very small data packets in a single direction, which maximizes the use time of a device. Every 100 seconds, the beacon sends its positioning to the DGT again. The system is similar to that of a sports Smartwatch in which you can choose how often the GPS position is recalculated, with the aim of extending the battery. That is to say, there is no problem turning on the V-16 beacon when you receive it at home. If you want to check that it works and that everything is correct, it is best to start it to make sure. Of course, you must turn it off before 100 seconds have passed so that a false positive does not occur. Photo | DGT In Xataka | Disassembling a V16 beacon and keeping its “free” SIM for 12 years sounds great. has a little problem

Stephen Hawking left a hidden treasure that has just been discovered. The problem is that it is in the form of floppy disks

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The Cambridge University Library houses several historical treasures including letters from Isaac Newton and notebooks from Charles Darwin. Now they will take care also of manage 113 boxes with documents and memories of the physical Stephen Hawkingbut in those boxes they also found a surprise turned into a challenge: floppy disks. Lots of them. Computer pioneer. The famous physicist was an early user of those first computers in which data was stored on floppy disks. When he suffered from ALS this was a very important resource to be able to communicate and work, and now those disks that have just been discovered could contain all kinds of revealing data about Hawking’s life and work. Future Nostalgia. That’s what it’s called the project of the University of Cambridge and its library that precisely tries to safeguard all that information that in the past ended up being stored on floppy disks. Recovering such data is not easy when so much time has passed, and this project tries to educate about the best ways to preserve said information and transfer or recover it from those floppy disks. A format with an expiration date. Although one would think that floppy disks are a more secure way to store data than paper and ink, this physical medium also has clear disadvantages. The iron oxide covering the thin layer of plastic can degrade and lose its magnetic capabilities, meaning data could be lost forever. Each floppy disk is a world. With old books there are not too many problems when it comes to retrieving the information: you open them and read them (if you understand the language, of course). With floppy disks you need the hardware to be able to read them—a compatible disk drive—and also figure out how they are formatted. Leontien Talboom, responsible for this project, explained How to also clean those floppy disks was complex and there were various methods that they were exploring. These included the use of hand soap or isopropyl alcohol. Hawking used both a PC and a Mac. The disks arrived at the project in two batches. The first, with five and a quarter (5.25 inch) disks formatted on an MS-DOS based PC. The second, with three and a half disks, somewhat more recent and that were still used on an old Mac. According to Talboom, they are mainly talks that Hawking gave: “from a technical point of view they are really interesting because his talks were so big that he had to divide them into several floppy disks.” I wrote to speak. Hawking’s illness left him unable to speak for himself, so for years he used various voice synthesizers to express his ideas. Precisely for this reason he wrote so much on the computer and saved those documents on disk: this allowed him to use them later so that his synthesized voice could read said documents. Different discs, different readers. Although 5.25″ and especially 3.5″ discs were the most widespread, other formats were also seen such as eight inch discs which for example were used in the Churchill Archives Centre. Chris Knowles, one of the Future Nostalgia participants, explained how he bought a player for these discs on eBay. “It was a miracle that it worked,” but that allowed him to recover the information from those disks. Forgotten formats. They have also received some three-inch floppy disks, a much less widespread and peculiar format that had some success in the United Kingdom before the 3.5″ format was clearly imposed. To recover them, they ended up using an old reader manufactured by Amstrad that they had to modify to bring it back to life. And then there’s the software problem.. The information recovered from these disks can also pose another challenge: that it was created with software that was abandoned and even ended up disappearing. Some disks, for example, had documents written with a missing word processor called Diamond Word. That’s where a kind of “translation” comes into play to convert those files into something readable in the current era. Safeguarding our past. This work demonstrates how critical it is to try to protect and recover information from these old formats. Many of those floppy disks are 40 or 50 years old, and as Knowles says, “old emails and work calendars may not look like historical documents. They might seem banal. But they’re what Newton’s or Darwin’s letters would have looked like 200 years ago. Now they are fascinating documents that open a window to the past.” In Xataka | The 20 most important personal computers in the history of technology

Using free WiFi on airplanes almost never ends well. Iberia wants to change that with the help of Starlink

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IAG, the group to which Iberia belongs, has closed an agreement with Starlink to equip their planes with satellite connectivity. The Spanish airline promises that all its passengers They will be able to sail for free from 2026 with speeds comparable to those at home. Best free WiFi from the plane. Until now, wifi on airplanes It used to be slow, expensive or non-existent. With this agreement, Iberia ensures that it will offer free high-speed connection on all its flights, both short and long distance, regardless of the class in which the passenger travels. According to the company, Starlink technology It will allow download speeds of up to 450 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 70 Mbps, enough to watch streaming series, work in the cloud or play online while flying. How Starlink works. The SpaceX network is based on thousands of satellites located in low Earth orbit, which reduces latency and allows coverage even in remote areas or areas with poor accessibility. This infrastructure is what gives Starlink an advantage over other air connectivity providers, which rely on slower geostationary satellites or limited ground connections. Beyond Iberia. The agreement is not limited to the Spanish airline. IAG will implement the service on more than 500 aircraft of its companies: Aer Lingus, British Airways, Vueling and Level. According to the matrix, this will make the group the European operator with the most aircraft equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi. The first plane with Starlink will begin flying in early 2026, according to the airline in your press release. Part of a broader bet. This movement is part of the Iberia Flight Plan 2030which includes 6,000 million euros in investments. Part of that budget is allocated to digitalization, artificial intelligence and the creation of the so-called ‘Iberia City’, an aeronautical innovation center. Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG, pointed out that “staying connected in flight is increasingly important for customers” and that this agreement demonstrates how the group works “together to drive innovation.” The Elon Musk factor. Starlink is owned by SpaceX, the aerospace company founded and run by Elon Musk. Although the technology has proven its effectiveness In other sectors, from rural areas without coverage to military operations in Ukraine, its integration into commercial aviation is still in the initial phase. IAG thus joins other airlines such as Qatar Airways or Hawaiian Airlines, which have already announced similar agreements with Starlink. Cover image | Alexander Schimmeck In Xataka | The inevitable increase in air travel is leading us to a reality: there are no places, no planes, no planet for so many tourists.

Neobanks break 25% market share in Spain. Traditional banking is losing young customers

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They are no longer an anecdote, they are a main actor. For the first time, neobanks have exceeded 25% of the market share among individuals in Spain. A new report echoed by some media, places the penetration of these entities in 27.2%. It is a significant jump from the 21.8% they registered in 2024. The data confirms a clear trend: traditional banking is losing the battle for the young customer, although it continues to retain the main business. Image: Revolut What is a neobank. Unlike traditional bankingneobanks operate 100% digitally, without physical branches. Their model is based on a very light cost structure that allows them to offer commission-free services all managed from a mobile app. The Bank of Spain itself defines them as entities that offer banking intermediation services in a completely digital way. The assault on the young public. Neobanks entered the Spanish market attacking a very specific niche: young people and travelers. a study from Adyen and OpinionWay reveals that practically all Spaniards (93%) reject paying banking fees abroad. This has caused 59% of millennials and 55% of Gen Z to trust them more than traditional banks when traveling. Part of the “win” in innovation and reputation It’s not just in the product, but in the marketing. They understood that an app was not enough to attract the new generations; You had to be where they are: social networks and platforms like Twitch and YouTube. Revolut has been the most aggressive, renewing for a third year its alliance with Ibai Llanos and sponsoring its “Evening of the Year.” It seems that traditional banking has reacted to this trend, and has used the same weapons: now, Banco Santander has signed the YouTuber Plex. With almost 15 million followers on their networks, He is the protagonist of the last campaign. The Revolut surprise. This growth is not uniform; It is led by the well-known Revolut. A report from the CNMC was devastating: in 2024, Revolut led the acquisition of new accounts in Spain with 19.8% of the total, surpassing giants such as BBVA and Santander. The CNMC was blunt and recognized that “neobanks and fintechs pose a real competitive threat.” Figures. That leadership in recruitment now translates into real money. According to data from Expansion and El Mundo, the total neobank customer base in Spain exceeded five million in 2024. Revolut quadrupled its deposits in a single yeargoing from 739 million euros to 3,127 million. Meanwhile, its competitor N26 (with one million clients) suffered a 9% decline in deposits since December. Image: BBVA Fintech in traditional banks. The reactionary stance of some entities has led them to a strategy: launch their own neobanks to compete in the same field. Imagin stands out, promoted by CaixaBank. Your numbers They do not leave many doubts: they can boast 3.5 million clients and a 48% market share in the 18 to 34 year old segment among the main neobanks. But very few trust them with their payroll.. Despite the good penetration figures, traditional banking continues to dominate the main relationship with the customer. According to a report by Inmark, banks such as CaixaBank, Santander and BBVA account for almost 84% of the business market. Among individuals, only 4.2% use a neobank as their main entity. However, the goal of neobanks is stop being a complement. They are ripening to attack the core business of banking: Revolut has already announced its plans to offer mortgages in Spain and yes it has materialized installment payment services. The official view: necessary competence. The rise of fintech is a trend validated by official organizations. The Bank of Spain, in its 2025 Observatoryconfirms a 50% growth in the number of entities since 2020 and a 249% increase in their total assets since 2018. At the European level, the president of the Single Resolution Board recently warned that the Revolut model reinforces the need for a deposit guarantee fund mutualized in the EU. For its part, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) and your report It is important to understand why they succeed: The traditional banking sector is highly concentrated. Spain (HHI of 1,331) has a higher index than Germany (323) or France (567). This lack of competition is one of the reasons why traditional banks do not remunerate deposits. It is the neobanks who break this dynamic. The Spanish banking sector is four times more concentrated than the German one, according to the CNMC. Neobanks have not grown by chance: they have taken advantage of the void that traditional banking left by not competing Now, there are always stones on the road. The CNMC points out that Spaniards have a “relatively high level of distrust” in online banking – only 23% feel “very comfortable” compared to the 41% average in the eurozone – and “below” average financial education. This paints a battlefield for the coming years. The growth of neobanks shows that they have won the usability war: they are easier to use and have masterfully conquered the young public. However, CNMC data reveal that traditional banking still has the most important defensive moat: customer trust and inertia. Cover image | Composition with images of CardMapr.nl and Revolut In Xataka | There are more and more millionaires in the world and that is a problem: luxury products are no longer exclusive

Restoring vision is one of the great challenges of contemporary technology. These Spaniards have had an idea and it seems to work

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In January 2018, the car Tonya Illman was riding in got stuck in the sand. They were on Wedge Island, 180 kilometers north of the Australian city of Perth; so while they waited for roadside assistance to arrive, Tonya took a walk on the beach. And it was there, among the dunes, where saw something sticking out of the sand. It looked like an old bottle and he picked it up thinking it would look good on his shelf. Then, as they emptied it of sand, they found a note: a form on the back, a small handwritten note on the back. Tonya had just found a message that had been thrown into the sea from the German ship Paula on June 12, 1886. A message that had taken 132 years to reach its destination. Well, this, just like this, is how we tried to restore sight to blind people: throwing electric bottles into the sea of ​​neurons in our brain. Now a Spanish team wants to change that. What has happened? That a team from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche and the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) just published data from a new “round-trip” cortical machine vision system; that is, capable of adjusting stimulation according to the neuronal response. The results (despite being in a preclinical phase) they are excellent. How does it work? It is a device of about four millimeters with 100 microelectrodes that is implanted through a small hole of about 10 millimeters. The interesting thing is that it is a system that records and stimulates at the same time. This is what allows you to adapt the stimulus patterns in real time and fine-tune the stimulation to adjust it. And that has been the complicated part. In the end, sending stimuli to the brain is trivial; But during all these years it was a lot like throwing a bottle into the sea: I knew what you were sending, but not what was being received. With these new ones closed, everything changes. Are they the first to get it? Reviewing clinical trials databasesit seems that there are a couple of other companies developing the same type of devices: the trend seems clear and we can see how the market is changing from the They seem to be a little more advanced, but not too much. Which is good news for the UMH and for Spain. It is clear that the only way we have right now to move forward on this problem is ‘personalizing’ the way systems stimulate the brain. And the only way to do it is through these closed circuits. It is still curious that the field of research has survived such notorious failures as those of retinal prostheses (which left many people in the lurch). But here we are, one step closer to being able to look back. Image | Ruiqi Kong In Xataka | Hundreds of blind people received bionic implants to restore their sight. Now they are out of support

That Instagram and Facebook are plagued by fraudulent ads is bad. That Meta is making money with them is even worse

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Congratulations! You have won an iPhone. the king Felipe VI announcing investments. Work at Primor and get paid up to 160 euros per hour. These are just three examples of fraudulent ads that have appeared on Facebook and Instagram, but there are many more. So many, that Meta is making money with them. What has happened? An investigation of Reuters has revealed that Meta estimated that 10% of all revenue volume would come from fraudulent ads, which would total $16 billion. In an internal document from December 2024, Meta estimated that its platform serves about 15 billion “high-risk” scam ads every day. By “high risk” they mean those that are clearly frauds, like those we mentioned in the introduction, so the real number would be even higher. It seems like fraud, because we charge you more. Meta has automated systems to detect these types of ads, the problem is that the policy to block them is quite lax. The documents reveal that ads are only blocked if the system identifies it as a scam with 95% certainty. If the percentage is lower, what they do is raise the advertiser’s fee to supposedly discourage them. That is, if they continue to advertise, Meta makes even more money from frauds. The favorite site of scammers. There is more. In another document, Meta admits that “It is easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than on Google.” The information comes from channels in which scammers discuss their methods, although they do not specify the reasons for their choice. They also estimate that a third of all successful scams in the United States occur through their platforms. Regulation. Meta is in the crosshairs of regulators around the world. The European Commission initiated action against the company for the use of data to serve advertising to users. In United Kingdom took them to trial for the same reason and more recently the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating them for the financial frauds advertised on their platform. In documents published by Reuters, Meta shows its intention to reduce illegal ads, but is concerned that a sudden reduction would negatively affect its revenue. Don’t touch my publi. Meta is in a delicate moment for the huge increase in spending on AI which, despite having achieved positive results in the last quarter, has caused its shares to fall 8%. Considering that targeted advertising is Meta’s main revenue stream, a reduction on this front could shake the entire house of cards. Meta responds. Speaking to Reuters, a Meta spokesperson criticized the news, saying the documents “present a selective view that distorts Meta’s approach to fraud and scams.” He says the estimate of 10% profit from scam ads was excessive and the actual figure was much lower, although he declined to give an updated figure. According to Meta, in the last year and a half, fraudulent ad notices have been reduced by 58% and in 2025 they will have eliminated more than 134 million scams from their platform. Image | Generated with AI. background Pixabay In Xataka | The majority of medical discharges that are investigated are fraud. The nuance is that they are only investigated if there are signs of fraud

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