Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Is it worth paying more for the most compact smart ring on the market?

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The market of wearables in format of smart ring It is in a moment of maturation and one of the undisputed kings of the sector, Oura, has made a move. With the recent launch of Oura Ring 5the company seeks to protect its throne against some increasingly aggressive rivals. However, the Oura Ring 4 It is still a very powerful option in stores and often has good offers. If you are thinking about making the leap to invisible technology, we analyze in depth what changes, what remains and which of the two models best adapts at your finger and your budget. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links OURA Ring 4 Smart Ring The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Technical sheet of both Oura smart ring models feature oura ring 5 oura ring 4 thickness 2.28 mm (40% more compact) 2.88mm broad 6.09mm 7.9mm weight Between 2 and 2.69 grams Between 3.3 and 5.2 grams materials Aerospace Titanium Titanium sizes available From 6 to 13 From 4 to 15 autonomy Between 6 and 9 days Between 5 and 8 days Water resistance 100 meters (IP68) 100 meters (IP68) price (from) 429 euros 379 euros subscription 5.99 euros per month (mandatory) 5.99 euros per month (mandatory) The key differences to note Design: the Oura Ring 5 no longer looks like a device tech Without a doubt, the greatest evolution of Oura 5 It’s your “slimming“. Although the Oura Ring 4 was already stylish at the time, it still felt like a slightly thick or technological ring compared to a traditional wedding band. On the other hand, the Oura Ring 5 has achieved reduce its total volume by 40%. At only 2.28 mm thick, it is very discreet and blends perfectly with conventional jewelry. The largest size of the Ring 5 (2.69 grams) weighs less than the smallest Ring 4 size (3.3 grams). If it could previously be annoying to sleep with the previous model, the new one solves this problem completely. Of course, you have to be careful with the sizes. To achieve this size, Oura has had to sacrifice options. The Oura Ring 5 It is only available in sizes 6 to 13while the Oura Ring 4 ranges from 4 to 15. If you have very thin or very large fingers, the previous model is still your only option. Sensors and precision Both devices use LED light combinations (red, green and infrared) along with temperature sensors and accelerometers to monitor your health 24/7. The difference lies in the physical layout. By downsizing on Ring 5, the sensors now protrude less but they make better contact with the skin. Oura says that although the Ring 5 traces 12 signal paths (compared to the Ring 4’s 18), its new algorithms and improved component power offer even more accurate and stable heart rate and blood oxygen readings during nighttime movements. The software does not discriminate (for now) One of the most honest points from Oura is that the big software news reaches both generations. The ecosystem releases powerful tools such as Health Radar (designed with Resmed to measure nocturnal blood pressure and breathing patterns), the AI medical advisor Counsel Health and metrics for users using GLP-1 weight loss medications. So you won’t miss out on any of these health benefits if you decide to save and opt for the fourth-generation model. Autonomy: being more compact does not make it impossible for the Oura 5 battery to last longer It can be thought that a ring 40% smaller would house a tiny battery, but Oura has redesigned the battery to improve autonomy. The Oura Ring 5 promises between 6 and 9 days of actual usescratching an extra day of average autonomy compared to the 5-8 days offered by the Oura Ring 4. Both models They are loaded using their own basealthough the Ring 5 now has an optional very convenient aluminum travel case, sold separately. So… which model to choose The initial outlay of the Oura Ring 5 starts in the 429 euros for its standard finishes (silver and black), scaling up to 529 euros if you are looking for the new premium finishes like Deep Rose. For its part, the Oura Ring 4 is part of the 379 eurosa difference that usually widens when we find specific sales. In both cases, remember add the 5.99 euros per month subscription to unlock your metrics, which is mandatory on both generations. If you still hesitate between the Oura Ring 4 and the Oura Ring 5, here is the key to choosing. Buy the Oura Ring 4 if: You are looking for the best quality-price ratio: The software, graph and health analysis that you will see on your smartphone are exactly the same. You have an extreme size: If your finger requires a size 4, 5, 14 or 15, Ring 5 does not directly manufacture your size. You take advantage of an offer: If you find it discounted by a margin of more than 70 or 80 euros compared to the new model, the smart purchase is to go for the previous generation. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links OURA Ring 4 Smart Ring – Rose Gold The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Buy the Oura Ring 5 if: You are looking for maximum comfort: If you are a light sleeper or are not used to wearing rings, the Ring 5’s smaller millimeters and grams justify paying for the novelty. You want it to pass for real jewelry: Its aesthetics are impeccable and the internal sensors are barely noticeable when touched with your finger. You want to stretch the battery to the maximum: Its small extra autonomy guarantees you forget about the charger for more than a week. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide … Read more

Behind the masked king in ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ was a superstar. And it didn’t even appear in the credits

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If you go to Google and search ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’the film released in 2005 by Rydley Scott, the first thing you will find is a list of its cast. In it there are some superstar accounts (actors and actresses) that you may remember from the film and one that will not be familiar to you at all. And it is logical. In fact, if it were up to her to participate in the movie would never have been revealed. His goal was to interpret, embody one of the main characters and then take a step back. It wasn’t difficult if we take into account that, although his character is key to the plot, he shot all the scenes in a couple of weeks and hidden behind a mask. 21 years are nothing. In Spain ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’ premiered in 2005a whopping 21 years ago, but that does not mean that the work in which Ridley Scott (‘Gladiator’ or ‘Blade Runner’) tried to capture the spirit of the crusades of the 12th century and the later siege of Jerusalem of 1187 continues to make people talk even today. The last example is left by the website filmstartswhich has published an article delving into one of the most unknown curiosities of the film: the identity of the actor who played the king Baldwin IVa fascinating historical figure who ascended to the throne while still a child, died when he was just over 20 years old and had to face two formidable rivals: the Sultan Saladin and leprosy, an ailment that deformed and accompanied him for much of his brief existence. What’s so curious about it? The figure of King Baudouin IV is fascinating. His character in ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’ too. If you have seen the film you will remember that in almost all of his appearances he appears with his face covered by a silver mask. The brief scene in which he is not wearing it, we are shown a face so deformed by leprosy that his features are completely blurred. It doesn’t matter which actor is behind it. The makeup makes him unrecognizable. Taking into account that the real Baudouin suffered from the same illness, the use of the mask and makeup is more than understandable. What is less common is that when the film was released, in 2005, the actor did not participate in the promotion and his name was left out of the main credits. If you check them you will see Orlando Bloom mentioned, Liam NeesonEva Green, Jeremy Irons…, all with the characters they embody; but no sign of King Baudouin. Yes, Edward Norton. The most curious thing is that the mysterious performer was a top-level star. Behind Baudouin’s mask was hidden Edward Nortonwho was 36 years old at the time. If in 2005 Scott could boast of hits like ‘Gladiator’ or ‘Black Hawk Down’, Norton was not far behind. In the late 90s he had starred in ‘American History X’ and ‘Fight Club’ and just a few years before he had participated in ‘Red Dragon or ‘The Italian Job’. If Norton did not appear in the main credits and his participation was relegated to the background for the gallery, it was not because the director or producers of the film decided so. It was the actor himself who wanted to take a step back. His goal was to get into the filming of a blockbuster, see how Scott worked… and then discreetly disappear. Furthermore, since his character wore a mask, by doing so he trusted increase your halo of mystery. Click on the image to go to the tweet. How do we know? Because it was Norton himself who told the intrastory of his participation in the film several years later. To be more precise, he did it in February 2007, during an interview with Guardian. By then his participation in ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’ was already more than known and a reader asked him a question that movie buffs had been asking for some time: “How did you manage to participate in the movie and why didn’t you appear in the credits?” His answer is very simple: at that time his schedule prevented him from getting involved in the filming, but he wanted to see first-hand how Scott directed a project of such magnitude, so he accepted a role. Of course, not just any one. “Ridley Scott and I had been talking about making a movie for years, but it never happened. He asked me if I would play another role in ‘Kingdom of Heaven,’ but I was about to shoot ‘Down in the Valley’ and simply didn’t have the time. But I read the script and asked him who would play the man in the mask. He told me he was going to find someone who could imitate Ridley’s voice. James Mason. I told him he could imitate James Mason pretty well.” A tempting offer. As if that offer wasn’t attractive enough, Scott he assured him that the king’s scenes could be filmed in “just two weeks”, which would hardly interfere with the preparation of ‘Down in the Valley’. It was the push that Norton needed, who, beyond the nuances of the leper king character, he was interested in something else: “I wanted to see how a film of that magnitude was shot.” “I could have just gone to visit him (Scott), but I was curious if the process was different when it’s so busy. He certainly knows how to shoot films of that scale and is comfortable with it.” “It was worth it”. These are not the only revelations Norton made during the interview. The American actor acknowledges that he fulfilled his goal of seeing up close how Scott performed behind the cameras and recognizes that the effort was “worth it.” However, he believed that his name should not appear in the credits. At least that’s how it appears the answer which he shared in 2007 with Guardian: “I didn’t … Read more

The European Commission responds to Apple’s criticism and distances itself with its story about Siri AI

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Maybe the Apple Intelligence news convince us more or less, and maybe Siri AI still have a lot to prove when it hits devices. But there is a quite concrete reality for European users: if they have an iPhone or an iPad, they will not be able to try out one of Apple’s big bets to iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. The Cupertino company has placed the delay in the field of European regulation, but the story does not end there. What we have seen next is a direct clash between Apple and Brussels over control of AI assistants and the rules that should open them to competition. Brussels’ response. The European Commission has not accepted that reading. According to Reuterss, his spokesman Thomas Regnier said that “the decision not to launch Siri AI in the EU is Apple’s and Apple’s alone,” adding that there is nothing in the Digital Markets Law that prevents the company from introducing new products in the European Union. The message was even more direct when explaining what Apple had asked for during the conversations: to be exempt from its interoperability obligations for at least 18 months. “That is not an option,” Regnier concluded. What is DMA? It is likely that in recent years we have read these acronyms many times, but the DMA is better understood when a specific case appears on the table. The Digital Markets Law is a European competition law that seeks to prevent large platforms from closing access to services, applications and users. In the case of Siri AI, the debate focuses on interoperability: if Apple deploys its own artificial intelligence assistant, it must also allow third-party developers to offer alternative assistants within its ecosystem. Apple as gatekeeper. That framing helps to understand why Brussels does not present the case as a simple calendar decision. Thomas Regnier, quoted by The New York Timesrecalled that Apple is a “gatekeeper” and that “it cannot close the market.” The company itself explains in its documentation on the DMA that the European Commission designated it as such in relation to iOS, App Store and Safari on September 5, 2023, and with iPadOS on April 29, 2024. The bottom line, therefore, is not only when Siri AI arrives, but how the ecosystem opens up to services that compete with Siri AI. What changes for you if you are in Europe. The most visible consequence is simple: if you use an iPhone or iPad in the European Union, Siri AI will not be there when iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 arrive. Apple also leaves out watchOS 27, because the watch needs to be paired with an iPhone that has Siri AI. On Mac and Vision Pro, however, the company does plan to offer the new version of the assistant. What is left behind on mobile and tablet includes the app to review conversations, expanded Visual Intelligence, integrated writing tools and Siri mode in Camera. The proposal that Brussels did not accept. In his statementApple says it designed Trusted System Agent, an intermediary so that other virtual assistants could securely access the same features and capabilities as Siri AI on European devices. The company assures that it also proposed a gradual deployment of that solution over 18 months while it brought Siri AI to the European Union. The bottom of the pulse. Apple presents the delay as a consequence of the DMA and privacy and security risks that, according to the company, have not been recognized by European regulators. Brussels responds from another place: it maintains that the rule does not prevent launching new products in the European Union and that Apple has not found a solution compatible with its obligations. Images | Apple | Pascal Bullan In Xataka | The biggest sign that a foldable iPhone is coming went unnoticed at WWDC

no women on the crew

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NASA today announced the crew that will travel aboard Artemis III and we have found one pleasant surprise and another quite unpleasant one. On the one hand, in Artemis II was criticized that there were no European astronauts, despite the very important role of the European Space Agency (ESA) in the development of the engines that propelled the Orion ship to the Moon. A Canadian astronaut was then chosen as the only non-American member of the crew. This time there is a European. However, the announcement is muddied by the fact that no woman’s name has been announced. The crew. As announced by Jared Isaacman, current NASA administrator, the Artemis III crew will be made up of four people: Luca Parmitano, from ESA, and Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas and Randy Bresnik, all of them from NASA. No woman. All the astronauts who have walked on the Moon so far have been white men. For this reason, since the Artemis missions began to be considered, NASA has shown a great willingness to compensate. There was talk that the next person to set foot on the Moon will be a woman and the second an African-American person. The program’s first manned mission, Artemis II, It had a representative from each group. On the one hand, Christina Koch and, on the other, Victor Glover. It was expected that with Artemis III there would be a similar representation. However, while there is one African-American (Andre Douglas), the crew does not have any female astronauts. This has generated a stir in the chats of the YouTube channels in which the announcement has been broadcast. There is no shortage of candidates. In 2020, NASA advertisement the names of the 18 astronauts who would train to be part of the Artemis program. Half of them were women: Kayla Barron, Christina Koch, Nicole Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, Jasmin Moghbeli, Kate Rubins, Jessica Watkins and Stephanie Wilson. Therefore, there are more than enough candidates to be able to include at least one in each crew. At the moment, the reasons why there are none among the ranks of Artemis III have not been made known. Yes there is a European. The Orion capsule, in which the astronauts of the Artemis missions travel, is directed, guided and propelled by a set of engines and instruments for power generation, thermal control and water and oxygen supply called the European Service Module. As its name indicates, this has been developed in Europe. For this reason, there was much criticism that no ESA astronauts flew on Artemis II. That has been solved by including Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano in the Artemis III crew, who was received with great applause at the NASA press conference. A whole mission ahead. Contrary to what was initially projected, Artemis III will not fly to the Moon. In fact, it will remain in Earth orbit. It will be there where the docking of the Orion capsule with the human landing system will be tested. SpaceX or Blue Origin (the first, if everything goes well). One or more of these astronauts may also try to move from one ship to another after they dock. It will be a step prior to the real moon landing. A moon landing in which, hopefully, there will be women as originally projected. Image | POT In Xataka | We have not yet colonized the Moon and we have already filled it with garbage: there are even abandoned golf balls

Against the extreme heat, the Civil Guard agents want to choose between the motorcycle or the car. And don’t let your bosses decide

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It has arrived and has placed itself at the center of the debate. The heat and what to do to remedy it is one of the hot topics every year. Whether or not to apply new measures against a summer that increasingly arrives earlier and leaves later is beginning to be a recurring part of the general conversation. From the classrooms and the children to the Civil Guard agents. The heat. Suffocating and sustained. The same one that gives very few breaks between May and September, if not October. We live in a country that is getting hot and what to do to cope with it in the best possible way is something that we repeat to ourselves starting in the month of May. The misfortunes, in fact, seem to have been the only reason that has made us reflect. One of the last major debates revolves around the how hot it is in schools. He’s not the only one. Weather alerts They have already modified the schedules of the most exposed workers, like sweepers or workers. And there is a group that already defends that it is in the same situation: the Civil Guard agents. What do they claim? The Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) is claiming to the higher commands to allow the agents who monitor traffic to decide whether or not to get on the motorcycle or, on the contrary, prefer to patrol by car. The reason is obvious: the heat. Furthermore, this association demands that they not be forced to wear the vest with an airbag when the temperature exceeds 32ºC, claiming that it is a garment that makes heat evacuation difficult. Why all this? These claims have once again gained strength because the AUGC has met with the Head of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard to send them their requests. And the latter is in charge of deciding the technical criteria to take into account to decide how to work. But the conflict, our colleagues explain Motorpassion Motorcycle comes from behind In July 2025, the PSI-08-25-OPCM report from the Civil Guard Prevention Service indicated that it was advisable not to wear the airbag vest above 32ºC. Later, in December, in the Plenary Session of the Civil Guard Council it was decided that the use of this vest and the decision to take the motorcycle or use the car would fall to the agent “according to his own professional criteria, without the need for authorization or any impediment,” according to the AUGC. And they emphasize that the Operations Command promised to put this in writing. Which have moved again from this association to the Headquarters of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard is that this commitment never materialized and that, on the contrary, a circular from May once again emphasized that the airbag vest was mandatory up to 35ºC and that It is the Operations Command that ultimately decides whether the agent gets on the motorcycle or not, instead of the latter’s criteria prevailing. The risks. The officers’ claims are based on the extreme heat to which they are subjected on the motorcycle when temperatures far exceed 30ºC. It must be taken into account that a motorcyclist faces environmental heat but is also exposed to the heat generated by the motorcycle itself and the use of safety equipment. The risks riding the motorcycle in extreme heat are evident: greater fatigue, proliferation of headaches or possible dizziness. Photo | In Xataka | “With our heads, we would all ride 20 HP motorcycles”: there is a debate brewing about how much power is too much power for a motorcycle

Xataka is Media Partner of VivaTech, the largest technology event in France with more than 14,000 startups

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VivaTech It is one of the largest technology events in Europe in general and France in particular. Its next installment, VivaTech 2026, will take place between June 17 and 20 in Paris, the French capital, and From Xataka we have the pleasure of being Media Partner of this edition. It is going to be an event full of technology, panels and interviews and, as it could not be otherwise, from Xataka we will be covering it and experiencing it in situ. If you want to join us, we invite you to pay attention to our Instagram profilewhere we will share live everything we find in this (huge) tech meeting. A big edition Image | VivaTech Since 2016, VivaTech has been bringing together an entire ecosystem of companies, startups, influencers, media and technology fans. It takes place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles and has not stopped growing. To give some figures, in the first edition there were 45,000 visitors and more than 5,000 companies and startups. In the previous edition there were 180,000 attendees, 450 speakers, 300 announcements and launches, 14,000 startups, 4,000 partners and 3,600 investors. It is a sensational opportunity to discover first-hand how the global and European technological landscape breathes. It is also an important year for the event, which turns ten years old. For this reason, on Sunday, June 14, they are going to turn the legendary Parisian Champs-Elysées into a huge free experience, so that anyone can enjoy technology in a spectacular environment. Image | VivaTech The event also has top level speakers. To mention a few, personalities such as Yann LeCun (AMI Labs), Peter Steinberg (founder of OpenClaw), Henna Virkkunen (European Commission), Joe Tsai (Alibaba), Elizabeth Stone (Netflix), Bernard Arnault (CEO of LVMH) or Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) will attend VivaTech. Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Elon Musk (Tesla), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) and Tim Cook (Apple), among many others, have also walked through its halls. The event, as we said, will take place in Paris between the days June 17 and 20. Tickets can be obtained now from the official website of the eventas well as the agenda with the presentations and the map with the stands. See you in Paris! Images | VivaTech

Oppo Find X9 Ultra vs Vivo X300 Ultra, two titans in photography with many differences in their cameras

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What do you base on when buying a mobile phone? Many people do it prioritizing the photographic section and currently there are proposals as attractive as the Oppo Find X9 Ultra or the Vivo X300 Ultra. But… which is better? In this article we are going to put them face to face to clarify some doubts. Oppo Find X9 Ultra (with photo kit) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Vivo X300 Ultra (with photo kit) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The differences between the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and the Vivo X300 Ultra Camera settings To be clear from the beginning, we are going to review the camera configuration on both phones. Although it is not the big claim, we will also mention the front camera in case it is important to you. Oppo Find X9 Ultra 50 MP front camera; f/2.4. Rear camera module: 200 MP main sensor, f/1.5. 200 MP 3x telephoto, f/2.2. 50 MP 10x telephoto, f/3.5. 50 MP wide angle, f/2.0, 123º FOV. Vivo X300 Ultra 50 MP front camera, f/2.45. Rear camera module: 200 MP main sensor, f/1.85. 200 MP telephoto, f/2.67. 50 MP wide angle, f/2.0, FOV 123.4º. main sensor Both the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and the Vivo X300 Ultra have a 200 megapixel (MP) sensor. Is it a good number? Of course, since it represents the information that the camera can capture in a photo. If it is larger, as is the case, the sharpness will be better and it will be less blurry when enlarged. In any case, the Vivo’s main sensor offers a 35mm equivalent focal length (instead of the typical 23-24mm wide angle), while the Oppo does use a more angular focal length. In both cases we also find a fairly large main sensor with a size of 1/1.12 inches. The size has a lot to do with the ambient light it is able to collect. In other words, imagine that the sensors are like windows, the larger they are, the more light they will let in. In practice, it improves image quality in difficult conditions, generating a more natural background blur, which is usually known as the bokeh. The opening is different in both cases. The Oppo Find X9 Ultra opts for an aperture of f/1.5 while the Vivo And this… what does it mean? The smaller the f/number, the larger the actual aperture of the lens: f/1.5 lets in more light than f/1.85. Oppo’s mobile is physically capable of capturing more light, making it ideal for taking photos in dark environments. Finally, optical stabilization (OIS) is present in both phones. OIS is a system that physically compensates for hand movements by moving the sensor or the optical elements of the lens. Zoom and Telephoto The Oppo Find X9 Ultra incorporates a system with two telephoto lenseswhich means that it has two lenses capable of capturing images at a great distance. And it does so without resorting to a digital system that usually achieves worse results. The first 200 MP telephoto lens includes three magnifications (3x) and f/2.2 aperture, thus offering good quality in, for example, objects or people that are not excessively far away. The second telephoto lens is 50 MP and includes 10x magnification (x10) with f/3.5 aperture, so its use is aimed at very distant distances. In addition, its aperture is smaller (less light enters), which can affect poorly lit scenes. Instead, the Vivo X300 Ultra comes with a single 200 MP telephoto lens with 3.7x magnification (3.7x) and f/2.67 aperture. This means that its sensor offers very good quality at medium distances, especially in less illuminated environments. In addition, it should be added that this mobile phone has ZEISS certification, a technology that corrects color and reduces flare to generate more realistic photographs. The ultra wide angle camera Both the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and the Vivo X300 Ultra use a sensor 50 MP ultra wide angle with f/2.0 aperture. The difference between the two is minimal: 123° versus 123.4°, which in practice is imperceptible. What might it be interesting for? For photos with landscapes in the background. Other sensors Although they may seem the least relevant, it is worth mentioning that both phones come with an additional sensor. 3.2 MP monochrome sensor with f/2.4 aperture for the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, a camera that helps better capture contrasts and shadows. Additional 5 MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture for the Vivo X300 Ultra, a camera that helps to have better focus. The accessories Both phones are compatible with their respective photographic accessories. Oppo Find Vivo Additionally, it includes a grip and a tripod adapter. In summary: In any case, we are faced with two very good mobile phones in their photographic section. We are going to comment on the key points of each mobile phone without taking into account its accessories, which are optional. 👉 Choose Oppo Find X9 Ultra if: You are looking for the best main sensor. It is one of the cameras with the smallest aperture (f/1.5) currently, which offers very good results in darker environments. You are looking to take daytime photographs with high lighting using the telephoto lens with higher magnifications, since it far exceeds (x10) the Vivo X300 Ultra (3.7x). 👉 Choose Vivo X300 Ultra if: You are looking for the clean result that the ZEISS lens offers. You are looking to take photographs at a great distance, capturing the lighting well at sunset. Technical sheet with the main differences between the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and the Vivo X300 Ultra oppo find x9 ultra vivo x300 ultra SCREEN 6.82-inch AMOLED panel QHD+ resolution 144Hz frequency HBM brightness of 1,800 nits 3,600 nits peak 6.82 inch AMOLED QHD+ resolution (3,168 x 1,440 pixels) Refresh rate: 144 Hz 510 DPI Format: 19.8:9 Screen/front ratio: 94.49% HBM brightness: 1,800 nits Local maximum brightness: 4,500 nits PROCESSOR Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 RAM 12GB 16GB LPDDR5x … Read more

This is how Sunday anxiety is destroying us

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It’s Sunday afternoon. The sun begins to set, the hours of free time slip through our fingers and, almost without realizing it, the Garfield that we all have inside begins to emerge. That visceral rejection of Mondays since the previous afternoon seems, at first glance, to be a harmless personality trait or a simple adult tantrum that is easy to joke about. However, behind that knot in the stomach that assails us at nightfall lies a complex epidemic of work stress, hyperconnectivity and excessive expectations. We usually dismiss this discomfort with a couple of memes on social networks or by baptizing it with viral terms. However, at a clinical level, the phenomenon requires nuances. The general health psychologist Alejandra de Pedro, specialist in emotional management, warns us in interview on the double side of labels such as Sunday scaries: “Putting labels is very useful: it helps us feel less alone and seek help more effectively. At the same time, over-labeling has the problem that we can trivialize things, as has happened with ‘I have OCD’ or ‘I’m depressed’.” De Pedro insists on the importance of discerning between simple laziness to go to work and a clinical problem of anticipatory anxiety. The prelude to burnout The data place Spain in a scenario of particular vulnerability. 40% of workers in our country link their stress, anxiety or depression directly to their job, far exceeding the European average (29%) and placing us among the countries with the greatest labor anguish on the continent. When that Sunday sadness transforms into a wall of anxiety, irritability and even physical symptoms, it stops being an anecdote. Brigida H. Madsen, expert cited by Vogue, points out that if “gastrointestinal discomfort” or acute feelings of rejection appear, we are crossing the line into depression syndrome. burnout. Medical institutions such as Mayo Clinic support this vision: he burnout It is not a simple individual failure to manage stress, but a shared responsibility derived from unaffordable burdens on the part of companies. Added to this structural pressure is global uncertainty. Morra Aarons-Mele, host of “The Anxious Achiever” podcast underlines in Washington Post that employment is our source of livelihood and status; Therefore, in the face of constant headlines about economic instability and possible layoffs, it is logical that the body reacts in a “visceral” way. The work model also works against us. Dr. Audrey Tang explains in Euronews that much of this anguish is born from fear of “the unknown” and the feeling of having to start Monday “at full speed”, wondering what new hell awaits us today. Furthermore, Professor André Spicer argues in his column in Guardian that the widespread use of teleworking (and the fact of working from home on Fridays) has drastically blurred the boundaries between leisure and employment, making the physical return to routine psychologically much harder. Physically, the impact is devastating. The body enters a state of “allostatic load”that is, tension raises cortisol —which rises 23% steadily on Mondays— and collapses the immune system, reducing T lymphocytes and cellular defenses, which facilitates neuroinflammation processes linked to depression. The anatomy of anxiety To draw the line between apathy and disorder, Alejandra de Pedro emphasizes that in psychology the criterion is not qualitative, but quantitative. “Two people can have the same symptoms, but the difference is in the degree to which those symptoms affect the person,” he clarifies. Feeling a little nervous 15 minutes before going to sleep is not comparable to waking up on Sunday with a cramped stomach. One of the great myths of Sunday scaries is that it is solved by “better organizing.” De Pedro refutes this idea: “Anxious people often tend to control and fall into the fallacy of ‘if I finish everything before going home, then I won’t have anxiety.’” The real root of the problem is hyperconnectivity. By carrying the office in your pocket, you create the false illusion that everything is urgent. The solution, the psychologist points out, is not to do more, but to set firm limits: not look at the company cell phone and be present in the here and now. But the origin of this anxiety is not always internal. Science reveals toxic dynamics in offices. A study from Cornell and Northeastern universities uncovered “motivational oversimplification”: Bosses tend to assign extra, routine workloads to employees they see as most motivated, mistakenly assuming that “their passion will protect them from burnout.” Curiously, this discomfort does not only punish those who hate their jobs. Ilke Inceoglu, from the University of Exeter Business School, shows that it affects people who love their profession but maintain unrealistic expectations of themselves. It is the result of a “toxic perfectionism” that subordinates personal worth to constant achievement. The survival decalogue Psychology offers concrete strategies to deactivate the weekend time bomb, divided into three key time phases that help us regain control of our free time. Starting with what we could call the Friday firewall, experts agree on the importance of brain dump or “mind dump.” Alejandra de Pedro explains that worry is nothing more than an attempt by the brain to solve a problem. So instead of passively ruminating over the weekend, sitting down to write down your pending tasks before leaving the office channels that anxious energy and gives our mind the feeling that it’s already working on it. To this cognitive download we must add the visual order. The psychologist Lara Ferreiro remember to order the desk is not just cleaning, but deciding. A clear environment drastically reduces the stimuli that overload the prefrontal cortex and, consequently, lowers cortisol levels. The second phase is to protect Sunday. To achieve this, the first step is to avoid self-sabotage. “The best thing you can do is treat Sunday as if it were Saturday,” advises De Pedro. Stopping making plans or avoiding meeting friends with the excuse of “getting psyched” for the work week only gives disproportionate power to anxiety. Instead, you could look for what is known as “slow dopamine”: Socialize with … Read more

Comparing Apple’s AI to ChatGPT or Claude is a mistake. Apple is not playing that game

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to whom They rule out Apple in the AI ​​raceeye. The company may have arrived late and it certainly may have little to show today, but its evolution over the last three years reveals three interesting things. The first, that Apple does have its own AI models. The second, that they are very far in performance from the best of OpenAI and Claude. Third, that may not matter at all. Three years of evolution. The trajectory of the technical documents shared by Apple in recent years reveals a series of more than relevant changes. In 2024 its initial proposal was limited to small models of about 3,000 million parameters (3B) specialized in solving basic tasks like generating Genmojis or text summaries. In 2025 the company launched its MLX framework to the developer community to facilitate the integration and use of local models. Now, in 2026, They propose a hybrid infrastructure based on a basic principle: Simple requests: they run in small local models on the device, you don’t even need an internet connection Complex requests: the system delegates the task to be processed in the cloud privately through Private Cloud Compute A (maybe) great idea: NAND can help. The most relevant milestone of Apple’s new approach lies in the design of its AFM 3 Core Advanced model. In today’s mobile phones we have a big bottleneck with the execution of capable (large) AI models because these devices have a very limited amount of memory (12 GB on some iPhones). To be able to fit a model with 20,000 million parameters (20B), Apple has decided to store that model in the internal SSD unit, not in memory. In the AFM 3 Core Advanced model the “experts” are in the mobile’s SSD. They are preselected and loaded into RAM to be used dynamically, optimizing model execution. Experts by prompt, not by token. It then activates a series of pruning techniques (Instruction-Following Pruning, or IFP) to activate only between 1,000 and 4,000 million parameters in a sparse manner (sparse), somewhat similar to what is done in models with Mixture-of-Experts architecture. But Apple selects these experts at the beginning of each prompt, not token by token, which allows it to avoid the slow bandwidth of the mobile’s NAND storage compared to its RAM memory. Privacy by flag. If for something Apple’s approach stood out from the beginning It was for his privacy.which is implicit when using local models. But if the request is complex, the system redirects it to the AI ​​models in Apple’s cloud, the Private Cloud Compute (PCC). Unlike other platforms and infrastructures such as those of OpenAI or Anthropic, conversations with Apple’s AI are encrypted and are totally private according to the company: this data is not shared with third parties (because not even Apple can see it) and it is not used to train its models. Five models with the help of Gemini. Although Apple is obsessed with total control of its products, this time had to give in and ally with Google so that their Gemini models could “show” Apple the way. The result is a third generation of models that are developed in collaboration with the Mountain View firm. We have five models in total: AFM 3 Core: 3B parameter dense model AFM 3 Core Advanced: sparse model of 20B parameters with activation of 1B to 4B parameters depending on the task AFM 3 Cloud: a powerful but also efficient and fast model that runs on the Apple cloud. ADM 3 Cloud (Image): for generating and editing images, the heart of both these options and the new Image Playground AFM 3 Cloud Pro– Apple’s most powerful cloud model is for autonomous agents. It has been trained with Google TPUs and runs on Nvidia GPUs within Google Cloud infrastructure Performance, an unknown. Unlike what other companies usually do when they present their models, Apple has not published metrics on known benchmarks. Instead, it shows “human preference” metrics in which it compares user satisfaction when using its models versus competing models. The comparisons are also with previous versions of these models, which does not clarify much what can be expected from them. But they are not in the race for the best model. In 2025 yes there was comparison with open weight models of that time (Qwen-3-4B locally, GPT-4o or Llama 4 Scout in the cloud) and then they seemed to be at a good level in reference to those options. Expect them to be behind the most recent models from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google itself, and it’s unclear how they compare to the new Chinese open weights models. One thing seems clear: Apple is not very interested in having its own Mythos, at least for now. Your objective is different. Apple models from 2026 are “preferred” more than those from 2025. Logical, but also useless when it comes to understanding how good these models are compared to the competition. But integration is important. Apple’s big ace to compensate for this difference in capacity is that its models have full access to the user’s OS, apps and hardware. AFM models are integrated with iPhone camera sensors, notification history or local app permissions. This allows useful tasks to be carried out that an LLM that is “disconnected” from the hardware will hardly be able to replicate. Here the integration of the models with the hardware and software of the device is (or wants to be) fundamental. Beware of mediocrity. This approach focused on integration and privacy is especially striking and differentiating from its competitors, but there are risks. Among others, the product is limited by its functional capabilities compared to the competition. If local models do not solve and cloud models also do not behave reliably, Apple runs the risk of having an AI that is secure and private but technically mediocre in its responses. Siri has already been criticized for being especially stupid: Siri AI must precisely eradicate that perception. In Xataka | Apple has designed Siri AI so … Read more

China had not updated its EREV standards for nine years. Now that they sell a million a year, they are going to catch up

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The EREV (extended range electric vehicles, for its acronym in English), are beginning to have a lot of prominence in China. So much so, that in the country they have changed the regulations, publishing a complete review of their technical standard. This new revision, QC/T1086-2026, replaces a 2017 regulatory framework and will come into force on November 1. And it is that with more than 1 million units sold Every year in the country, the Chinese market begins to assimilate this type of vehicle that, outside of this region, is still relatively unknown to us. Why does it matter? The previous standard, in force since 2017, described the requirements in a mostly qualitative way, since the manufacturer defined its own specifications and the regulatory framework barely provided specific figures. Nine years later, the market has changed a lot. And according to industry data collected by CarNewsChinasales of EREVs in China exceeded one million units in 2024 and reached 1.2 million in 2025. So with those figures, it is logical to think that the regulations had to be revised. What the change consists of. Until now, the rules were somewhat vague, so this regulation aims to take a closer look at some EREV specifications and standardize them. An example is how much energy the gasoline engine delivers in each millisecond. And to give us an idea, now in the smallest generators (up to 67 HP), the maximum margin of error that will be allowed when delivering energy will be just 1.5 kW. For the most powerful engines, the deviation may not exceed 3%. That is, the motor must deliver energy to the battery more precisely and efficiently. According to CarNewsChinathe thresholds have been set based on real production data from manufacturers and suppliers, with the aim that all major manufacturers on the market can meet them without difficulty, but that lower-performance designs are left out of the standard. EMC and noise. One of the most relevant new features of the standard is the introduction of specific electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and noise and vibration (NVH) tests. The first extended range cars were basically standby generators that started when the battery was depleted. Today’s systems now have integrated energy management components that work in constant coordination with the battery, electric motors and vehicle control systems. This greater integration requires more demanding standards in electromagnetic interference and acoustic comfort. In fact, more recent models like the Aito M9which HIMA launched last May with up to 890 HP, or the IM Motors LS8 EREV, with 430 km of electric range, already reflect these changes, and are examples that have served to develop this new regulation. Durability for long term use. The standard also introduces two durability tests: a test of 750 hours with alternating load and another of 100,000 start-stop cycles. Both were developed with real-world usage data and damage equivalence models, and are designed to simulate approximately 300,000 kilometers of real-world driving, including urban conditions with frequent starts. Who is driving the market. The ecosystem of manufacturers that has driven this revision in the regulations includes both established brands and newer manufacturers. Li Auto, Seres, Deepal and Leapmotor have expanded their EREV offerings, while premium models such as the Aito M9 have helped position the technology in high-priced segments. Zeekr, Geely’s electric brandhas gone even further with the Zeekr 9X and 8X, since the former exceeded 50,000 accumulated deliveries in a few months after its launch and is scheduled to be exported to the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe during 2026. Cover image | HIMA In Xataka | This Aston Martin DB9 was sold for $57,000, but the craziest thing is not its price: it is the two flamethrowers it hides

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