Mobile Tech & Gadgets

We ask for more chargers but they are (almost) always empty

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Europe is experiencing a vicious circle with its charging points. The continent is filling up with plugs. Plugs that are necessary to guarantee the jump to the electric car. Plugs that, however, slow down private companies’ own investments in plugs because they are almost always empty. The data. Charging points for electric cars in Europe are only occupied for between 30 and 120 minutes on average each day. The data is collected by colleagues Motorpassion and it is in tune with what I pointed out Five Days a few months ago for our country. According to the economic newspaper, each plug is used on average in Spain only 1.5 times a day. The paradox. The network of charging points in Spain and Europe lives in an important paradox. To make the leap to electric cars, private customers need a safety net with charging points that is up to par. That is, it allows you to recharge wherever you go and with the assurance that there will be enough so that the waits do not drag on forever. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? That means having thousands and thousands of plugs available… and unused. Right now, Spain has 52,107 charging points available according to the Electromobility Barometer published by Anfac. The problem is that, on average, They are busy for less than an hour and a half a day and that has an immediate effect: companies stop investing. And without investments in charging points, the doubtful customer is less likely to make the jump to the electric car. And without electric cars that take advantage of the network, the operator does not invest and the wheel never stops. This is, in fact, what Philipp Senoner, CEO of Alpitronic (charging operator with more than 100,000 plugs spread across Europe), complains about. in an interview in Electrive in which he points out that the volume of plugs is oversized for the number of electric cars in circulation. What you ask for. In his interview, Senoner demands clearer regulatory frameworks from the European Union. He points out that the extensions (more theoretical than practical) that are being given to combustion cars They slow down the progress of operators who consider that the electric car is advancing in the market more slowly than expected. The manager explains that charging points for electric trucks are focusing on charging power and not so much on the volume of chargers. He points out that, in his case, the sockets dedicated to commercial vehicles are 70% occupied but also makes it clear that “one of the concerns is that the take-off in the market for electric commercial vehicles may be slowed down due to insufficient connections to the network.” That is to say, from Alpitronic they fall back into the same wheel, in the vicious circle that does not stop. They claim that car plugs are underused but recognize that if truck plugs, which are their most profitable business right now, do not increase, neither will the number of electric trucks. A paradigm shift. The market situation for operators is complex since with such low occupancy rates, amortizations are expected in the very long term. To begin with, it must be taken into account that the use of an electric car is a paradigm shift in itself. The great savings with this technology occur when can we plug in the car at home. Thus, the public socket becomes a mere auxiliary object to be used very few times a year. Gas stations, on the other hand, are the only way if we want to use a car with a combustion engine. For example, another fact: 89% of recharges are carried out at home, according to Motorpassion. The changes are more profound if we take into account that new housing constructions In many cases they arrive with charging plugs, the same happens with large work centers or hotels. Private spaces that take away business from the public outlet. And other uses in which it is passed from the electric station to the shopping center. But we need them. But in the same way, we need the availability of those plugs, slower in the city and more powerful on the highway. We need them to be available for the long trips we take throughout the year. And those projections indicated that in Spain we needed to reach 91,000 charging points by the end of 2025 if we want to guarantee a good pace of sales of electric cars in the coming years. And the time will come when, if the plans that the European Union has projected for the coming years are fulfilled, not everyone who buys an electric car will be able to charge at home. At those times it will be necessary to have sufficient network to provide service to those who park their car on the street. The big question is: who is willing to make those investments? Photo | In Xataka | I have experienced first-hand all the evils of electric car charging. These are my tips

MediaMarkt knocks down the price of the top mobile phone for taking photos. A much cheaper Google Pixel on VAT-free Day

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Once again, MediaMarkt has launched a Day without VAT in which we can find juicy discounts on almost all types of devices, even those that do not usually drop in price frequently. In the field of mobile phones we have the best offer – at least without coupons – that the store has launched to date in the Google Pixel 10 Prowhose discount leaves it for 751.24 euros. Google Pixel 10 Pro (128GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A perfect mobile for taking photos Whether you want it to take photos, for its design or for the software, the Google Pixel 10 Pro It is a high-end mobile phone that is quite interesting for everything it offers. Right now you have the best (or at least one of the best) prices the store has had to dateso it’s a good time to get it if you’ve been looking for a good discount for a while. Especially after Black Friday and the Christmas season. It is an ideal phone if what you are looking for is a fairly compact size, since its screen is 6.3 inches. The panel offers a refresh rate of 1 to 120 Hz and the processor is the Google Tensor G5. On the other hand, it includes 16 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage, so it is the basic configuration of the mobile. If you prefer, the 256 GB version reaches 850.41 euros during the MediaMarkt campaign, another minimum price of the store. Among other things, it is worth mentioning that the software will receive updates for six more years, the mobile is resistant to both water and dust (IP68) and at the camera level the Pixel 10 Pro offers very good results thanks to its 50 MP main sensorto its 48 MP wide angle, to the 48 MP 5x telephoto and, of course, to your camera app. You may also be interested Google Pixel Watch 4 (41 mm) – Android Smartwatch with Fitness Tracking and Gemini Help – Polished Silver Aluminum Case – Porcelain Sports Band – Wi-Fi The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel Buds A-Series – Truly Wireless Earbuds – Bluetooth Audio Headphones – White 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 | Alejandro AlcoleaGoogle In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | The best quality-price mobiles. Their analyzes and videos are here

no one wants to buy what’s left of it

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Telefónica has started the year by closing his withdrawal from Colombia and ends a latin american exodus which includes the departure of Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador or Chile. There are only three markets left: Venezuela (in an uncomfortable chronic limbo), Chile (already in the final phase) and Mexico, which has resisted for six years. Brazil also remains, but it is a special case: it is the only country in the region in which Telefónica wants to maintain its presence. There it continues to grow and in fact attracts greater investment than Spain itself. Why is it important. Mexico represents the last obstacle to completing the plan’Transform & Grow‘, which concentrates the teleco’s strategy in Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil. But the Mexican asset has mutated to become something that no one wants to buy. The context. In 2001, Telefónica arrived in Mexico with imperial ambition: “it could be the group’s second market in the world,” their managers said. It once had 26 million customers and today has 23.5 million, but its value has evaporated. Between the lines. The Mexican operation is no longer that of a traditional telecom: Telefónica sold its towers in 2019. He returned the radio spectrum. And it migrated all its traffic to the AT&T network. Today it is something much more similar to a virtual mobile operator (MVNO) that only manages a user base. Without its own infrastructure, without frequencies and without physical assets. Yes, but. That customer base, even with operating costs reduced, is not attractive either. The average income per user (ARPU) is around 70 pesos per month (3.9 dollars), with a high volume of prepaid customers and low consumption. “People more likely to receive calls than to generate them,” summarizes Ernesto Piedras, from The Competitive Intelligence Unit, in statements to The Country. AT&T doubles that ARPU. And Carlos Slim’s Telcel concentrates 66% of the market’s income. The AT&T Mexico put up for sale It further complicates the picture because any potential buyer will prefer to evaluate the US operation first rather than stay with an MVNO that depends on its networks. Telefónica is relegated to the background. The alarm signal. The Tax Administration Service (SAT) claims 4,442 million pesos (about 212 million dollars) for improper deductions after a merger in 2014. The case is in the Mexican Supreme Courtwith a full inclination to toughen fiscal positions. This liability conditions any sale. In detail. Beyond ONE, a Dubai fund that owns Virgin Mobile Mexico, seemed like the natural buyer six months ago. Telefónica valued the business at 609 million dollars. Beyond ONE offered just over half. Talks stalled over the wholesale contract with AT&T and pending tax litigation. Today that operation is frozen. Given the impossibility of selling en bloc, Telefónica has begun to cut up: Go deeper. Marc Murtra, president of Telefónica, confirmed the strategy in November, when he ratified the decision to leave Latin America. But Mexico shows that leaving a market can be more difficult than entering it. Especially when you’ve sold everything valuable and only low-power users, tax debts, and a technological dependency on your competitor remain. In Xataka | 100 years after its birth, Telefónica faces the greatest existential dilemma in its history: what does it want to be when it grows up Featured image | Telefónica, Jimmy Woo

Being over 55 years old does not only mean having work experience. Now it is also synonymous with being unemployed

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Labor market and demographics are two closely linked factors in which changes in one affect the other. Demographic aging is not only affecting the generational changebut is also generating an unprecedented change: for the first time in historical series, unemployment among those over 55 years of age exceeds that of the population between 25 and 54 years of age. Furthermore, the main difference is that reintegration into labor market for those over 55 years of age It does not occur in the same terms as in the younger segment of the population. This reversal of the historical pattern comes at the height of demographic aging, just when people are asking to work longer to support the pension system. A historic “sorpasso” in the senior unemployment. Historically, people aged 55 years or older registered less unemployment than the rest of younger workers, to the point that in 1994 their unemployment rate for this segment of the population was 9.2 points (11.7%) below that of the group of 25 to 54 years old (20.9%). This favorable gap has been progressively reduced until it disappears in 2023, at which point the differential became negative for senior workers. As stated in the study prepared by the BBVA and IVIE Foundation, in 2025, the “sorpasso” no longer leaves room for doubt and the average unemployment rate for those over 55 years of age reaches 9.8%, compared to the 9.4% unemployment rate registered for people between 25 and 54 years of age. This change occurs in a context of general improvement in employment in Spainwhich indicates a very notable relative worsening of the position of seniors within the labor market. That is, more is hired, but People over 55 years of age are not hired.. More time unemployed. As the BBVA Foundation report reveals, the problem is not only how many people over 55 years of age are unemployed, but also their duration of unemployment. it has been lengthening to the same extent that the gap with those under 55 years of age was reduced. “Their labor insertion is complicated, with longer periods of unemployment, fewer job opportunities and lower quality jobs,” the report points out. The data indicates that 57.9% of unemployed people aged 55 or over are long-term unemployed, having been unemployed for more than a year. looking for a job without finding it. This percentage contrasts with 36.1% among unemployed people aged 25 to 54 and 17.8% among young people aged 16 to 24. When they return they do so with worse conditions.. When these employees manage to re-engage in the labor market, they do so in much more fragile conditions than those they had. Among employees aged 55 or over with less than a year of seniority, that is, they have just joined a company, 52.6% have a temporary contract, 10% are in precarious employment with contracts of up to three months and 4.5% are permanently discontinued. On the other hand, among those employees over 55 years of age who have been in the same company for more than 25 years, temporary employment falls to 2%, there is hardly any precarious employment and discontinuous permanent employment is reduced to 2.4%. They return, but to worse jobs. According to the authors of the report, the differences are also noticeable in the type of occupations they enter after the period of unemployment. Among senior workers with more than 25 years of seniority who maintain their jobs, management, management or highly qualified occupations represent 45.6% of the total, while basic jobs only represent 7%. However, among older people who have just gotten a new job, only 15.6% occupy highly qualified positions and 29.4% end up in elementary occupations. This pattern is even worse than that of younger workers in the same situation: among those aged 25 to 54 who have just started a job, high-skilled occupations reach 29.1%, while basic occupations account for 20%. For the 16 to 24 year old group, these percentages are 27% and 15.5%, respectively. More dissatisfaction. Changing to a job with worse conditions also leads to an increase in job satisfaction for this segment of the active population, which, according to encrypts the studyrecords that 21.5% of newly employed seniors want to change their schedule and 16.4% continue looking for another job despite having found one, compared to 0.8% of their peers who have kept their job. In terms of salaries, the data paint a similar reality. The study by the BBVA and IVIE Foundation shows that the average annual salary of those over 55 years of age is 30,038 euros, above the 26,855 euros of the group between 25 and 54 years of age. But when the focus is placed on newly hired people over 55 years of age, their salary drops to 19,558 euros, slightly below the 19,837 euros earned by those aged 25 to 54 in the same situation and far from the 40,520 euros of senior workers who have not had their careers interrupted. In Xataka | 47% of the unemployed in Spain are over 50 years old. The problem is that many will not return to work until they retire. Image | Unsplash (guven karakoc)

now they don’t even move

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For decades, the tank was the indisputable symbol of modern land warfare, a centerpiece in doctrines designed to break fronts and decide campaigns in a matter of hours. However, the massive drone outbreak cheap sensors and precision ammunition has gone eroding that role to turning today’s battlefield into an environment where moving or even shooting involves unprecedented risks, forcing major military powers to rethink how (and if) heavy armor can remain relevant. Russia is clear. Drones and stagnation. Despite the diplomatic contacts and rhetoric about a possible negotiated solution, Russia has maintained an offensive sustained to seize key territory from Ukraine, although yes, from a position of clear operational friction. Over the past year, Russian attacks have come in waves dismounted infantrysupported irregularly by motorcycleslight vehicles and even horsesan image that reflects the extent to which heavy armor has been sidelined by the constant threat of FPV drones and Ukrainian bombers. we have been counting: the attempts to return the tanks to the front using nets, improvised cages and other protections have produced limited results. Without effective armored support, assaults progress more slowly, become more exposed to defensive fire, and rack up high casualties with modest territorial gains, pushing Moscow to seek a tactical solution that allows the reintroduction of the armored weapon without repeating recent failures. The last tactic. And here appears the latest russian responsewhich involves a more fragmented and dynamic use of armor, articulated in pairs of tanks continuously supported by drones. In this scheme, the tanks act from a more rearward position, completely stopped and providing fire, while the drones execute a move towards the line of contactresponsible for detecting targets, correcting shots and offering a situational idea in real time. The roles are then alternated to prevent any tank from remaining static long enough to become a predictable target. The objective: to desynchronize enemy sensors and attack systems, generate brief windows of local superiority and force rapid penetrations before the Ukrainian defense can fully react, partly replacing traditional paper of the artillery for a binomial direct fire and persistent aerial surveillance. The breakdown of Soviet doctrine. This approach contrasts sharply with the doctrine inherited from the Soviet era, based on large concentrations of tanks and artillery advancing after massive bombardments to crush weakened defenses. On the current battlefield, dominated by reconnaissance dronesthese types of movements are detected quickly and punished with precision. Furthermore, in urban or semi-urban environments, bottlenecks abound, where the destruction of a single vehicle can block an entire column and turn the rest of the tanks into easy targets, as observed in failed attacks near Pokrovsk at the beginning of 2025. The new tactic recognizes that reality and tries to adapt, but it also highlights the extent to which the drone has gone from being a prop to becoming in the central axis of modern combat. Sensors, communications and logistics. Despite its innovative nature, the new method does not solve structural problems that continue to burden Russian forces. Even dispersed and moving, the tanks remain vulnerable to drones operated from outside their direct fire range, and each shot reveals their position by increasingly easy-to-detect acoustic and visual signals with advanced sensors. The tactic also depends on reliable communication links between tanks, drones and infantry, a weak point compared to Ukrainian capabilities. electronic warfarecapable of degrading or interrupting those connections and increasing the risk of isolation. Added to this is the already fragile logistics, since tanks consume large amounts of fuel and resupply vehicles are priority objectives for Ukrainian drones, making it difficult to sustain armored operations under constant surveillance. Immediate impact and adaptation. In the short term, this controlled reintroduction The armor can provide Russia with the necessary firepower to support limited advances in critical sectors of the almost thousand kilometer front, where it tries to pressure strategic nodes such as Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, Chasiv Yar or Toretsk. The infantry assaults have achieved punctual penetrationsbut they usually lack the muscle necessary to consolidate them, and tanks could partially cover that deficit. However, conflict experience suggests that Ukraine will react quicklyfitting their drones with better sensors and prioritizing not only the destruction of tanks, but also their supply lines, in addition to reinforcing obstacles, mines and barriers on foreseeable routes of advance. Thus the probable result is a ephemeral tactical advantage which is unlikely to translate into a lasting change in balance. A scenario that redraws a duality that has been repeated before: that of the Russian capacity for adaptation in a battlefield dominated by drones, and the limits of that adaptation in the face of vulnerabilities that remain unresolved. Image | Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, RawPixel In Xataka | “Robots don’t bleed”: the Ukrainian drone that stopped Russia for six weeks with a machine gun and not a single human soldier In Xataka | Russia has reminded the planet that the war in Ukraine is a ticking bomb. And for this he has pressed a nuclear button: Oreshnik

Ouigo has left 15,000 passengers stranded in Andalusia. Immediately afterwards, Renfe has put more trains at 7 euros

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From one day to the next and without giving too many explanations, Ouigo has canceled its services in Andalusia until next January 22. The French company leaves some 15,000 travelers on the ground who have to make ends meet to cover the Madrid-Seville or Madrid-Málaga that they already had planned. And Renfe is taking advantage of it. What has happened? About 15,000 passengers affected for the cancellation of eight daily services from Friday to Monday and six daily services from Tuesday to Thursday on those same routes until January 22 “for operational reasons.” These are all the explanations that Ouigo has given for paralyzing its services in the south of Spain. The French company has given these reasons to newspapers such as The Country either The World because it has not even published a statement with a press release or made public any type of text on social networks that communicates the massive cancellations for two weeks. The last tweet mentions the current offers. Since then, silence. And now? The customer has two options, as the company has communicated to passengers who have already purchased a ticket for the next ten days: Change travel date Cancel the trip at no cost Refund of the ticket price in a voucher that can reach 200% of the original ticket price On the rebound. The new situation has been taken advantage of by Renfe. The company has announced that it is activating two new daily services between Madrid and Seville with AVLO trains. The first of them leaves Madrid at 12:00 and returns from Seville at 5:17 p.m. The company has also indicated that the new trains are also available within the active offers of trains at seven euros. Renfe has also taken the opportunity to remind users that train companies have the obligation to propose an alternative means of transport. in less than 100 minutes since the cancellation occurs. If not, the customer has the right to a refund of the ticket price free of charge. The refund, they remember in the OCUmust be delivered in the same payment method and the acceptance of a voucher to travel on another occasion must always be voluntary. a stick. Although Renfe has arranged two special services on the Madrid-Seville, it seems clear that the new schedules cannot take on the volume of cancellations produced with the Ouigo trains, but it does serve Renfe for two things. The first is to receive unexpected income on the line. The second is that it allows them to send a message. And remembering the railway regulations is enough for Renfe to send a stick to Ouigo just when the controversy over compensation in case of delay is flying over the national panorama. It must be remembered that Renfe is obliged to refund, from January 1, 2026, 100% of the ticket if trains are delayed more than 30 minutes. A measure that the Government wants to avoid understanding that it is discriminatory for the public company compared to the competition. And Ouigo and Iryo benefit since what was approved by the Congress of Deputies only affects Renfe. Both the French and the Italian companies only return 100% of the ticket when delays exceed 90 minutes, a decision that Renfe continues to apply into 2026 since the State’s attorney has concluded with a report that the obligation is not such as of January 1 despite the change in regulations and that it is necessary to change the Railway Sector Regulation. as reported by the Ministry of Transport. The case has already occurred. Renfe also knows what it is talking about. And last summer, the fires in Zamora and León cut off the train service between Galicia and Madrid. Then Renfe was committed to returning the price total of the ticket, just as happens with Ouigo, but FACUA defended that the company was obliged to provide an alternative land service and that this was not being complied with. The railway company defended itself by saying that it was unthinkable to transfer the volume of passengers from the train to a bus service. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | Renfe has had a more dangerous rival than Ouigo: comply with its own schedules

the Horizontal Property Law

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Unknowns may loom on Spain’s horizon, but one thing is certain: the country is aging. Yeah the latest projections of the INE are spot on. By mid-century, almost a third of the population (30.5%) will have blown out all 65 candles. The problem is that many of our buildings are not prepared to accommodate older people due to their architectural barriers or accessibility deficiencies. Thus, an interesting question remains: What happens if at a given moment a neighbor in a block demands a ramp or an elevator to get to their home? The Horizontal Property Law is clear about it. What has happened? That on Spain’s horizon there is a ticking time bomb that will affect thousands of buildings in the country. The reason: although Spanish society it’s getting older (something that happens in many other nations, inside and outside Europe) a good part of its residential park is not prepared to accommodate people with mobility problems. The challenge is best understood when reviewing two recent studies: the demographic forecasts of the INE and the report on “accessible mobility” launched in 2024 by Ilunion and Otis. And what do they say? The first (INE) reveals that in a matter of a few decades the percentage of septuagenarians, octogenarians and nonagenarians will grow considerably. Yes right now 20.4% of Spaniards are 65 or older, in 2055 that footprint will have expanded to around 30.5%. The second (the report of Ilunion) warns that 34.3% of the main homes (6.45 million) are located in buildings without easy access, in the opinion of their residents. In fact, only 20.8% are prepared for the aging of their tenants. It is not surprising if we take into account that in our country there are five million people who live in buildings of three or more heights that lack an elevator, so they have no choice but to go up and down stairs every time they want to go outside. That’s what I suggested at least. an analysis published two years ago by elDiario.es and which is based on microdata from the Survey of Essential Population and Housing Characteristics, a poll of the INE. What if someone asks for an elevator? That is the question that hovers over many communities of neighbors in Spain and They responded recently our colleagues from Decoesfera. What happens if suddenly an owner proposes installing a ramp or an elevator in the building, a structure that guarantees accessibility to all homes? Do you need board approval? And if the work is carried out, are all residents obliged to bear its cost, including those who live on the ground floor and will not use the elevator? Are there any circumstances in which an owner can require infrastructure that guarantees accessibility? As is usual in building issues, the answer is in the legal “bible” of neighborhood coexistence: the Horizontal Property Law (LPH). More specifically in article 10. What does the law say? That if the request comes from owners with reduced mobility or of advanced age (those who a priori have more difficulties getting around) the works must be carried out no matter what. Without the need for prior agreement from the Board of Owners, although there is advice that advise that the issue be addressed in meetings to seek agreements. Especially due to the cost that usually involves installing ramps, elevators or stair lifts. In your article 10.1 The LPH clarifies that “the “works necessary to guarantee reasonable adjustments in terms of universal accessibility and, in any case, those required at the request of the owners in whose home or premises in whose home or premises people with disabilities or people over 70 live, work or provide voluntary services” will be mandatory and will not require prior agreement from the board. And in case there are any doubts, the law emphasizes that the objective is to ensure their mobility, which may involve the installation of ramps or elevators. Does it say anything about costs? Yes. Although the LPH makes it clear The right of elderly and disabled owners to demand ramps and elevators also establishes certain limits as far as costs are concerned: neighbors must contribute “provided that the amount passed on annually from them, once subsidies or public aid has been deducted, does not exceed 12 ordinary monthly payments of common expenses.” From Alapont clarify that the rule refers to the fixed contributions that each neighbor contributes to help with ordinary expenses. What if there are subsidies? If the cost of the work exceeds these 12 ordinary monthly payments, the difference must be paid by the owners interested in having the elevator or ramp installed. The LPH adds that in any case the rest of the neighbors will have to assume their part of the spill. “It will also be mandatory to carry out these works when the public aid to which the community can have access reaches 75% of the amount thereof,” precise. The key is that the law does not talk about works related to the aesthetics of the property, but about something much more basic: universal accessibility, that all its residents can enter and exit, free of barriers. When the elevator is claimed by a neighbor who does not meet the requirements set out in the LPH (under 70 years of age and without functional diversity), the proposal must receive the endorsement of a simple majority in the board. If the measure goes ahead and receives the green light, all neighbors must participate, Alapont clarifiesincluding those who reside on the ground floor. Images | Diego Marín (Unsplash) and Elio E. López Vega (Unsplash) Via | Decosphere In Xataka | Spain is filling up with buildings with pets. The Horizontal Property Law clarifies what to do when they cause nuisance

AEMET says ‘goodbye’ to the polar cold during the remainder of January

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After the cold and the passing of the Goretti stormSpain changes screen. And he does it for the rest of the month and who knows if for the rest of the year. The polar cold is over, although we are not very clear what is coming next. What is going to happen? As we explained a few days agothey spoke of a deep trough that was coming in the direction of the Peninsula. This south-southwest advection is bringing “tropical maritime air”: that is, air that is warmer and more humid than normal. For this reason, the morning frost has receded this morning throughout the country and, therefore, there are thermal anomalies approaching 8ºC above average in areas of the interior and the northeastern half. Bottom line, the cold is melting and a time is coming”more pleasant“. Although it’s not ‘spring’ all that glitters. At least, when it comes to risks. Let’s think about it for a moment: Galicia can receive up to 150 liters per square meter these days and, indeed, it is not something disproportionate. But the soil is already saturated with water and that amount can very easily produce floods, landslides or local flooding. To that, furthermore, you have to add the thaw. What has changed? Last week we said that the specific consequences of this atmospheric movement were still not clear; but the uncertainties are already dissipating: as Sergio Escama explainedwhat the models indicate is that the polar jet that had been very wavy in recent days is straightening and that, right now, facilitates the entry of air masses from the Atlantic (and limits strong thermal inversions that collapse night temperatures). For this reason, the map of Spain is little by little recovering its color. What does all this translate into? What will it do? less cold than usual for this time of year and, above all, less than what we have spent in recent weeks. However, we should not overreact: we are not talking about spring. There is still a lot of winter left. After all, although this year it may be surprising, this type of “Atlantic mode” is a classic of the peninsular winter. AND it’s not bad news: These settings are synonymous with water. For the rest: the classics return in 2026, which is still unknown. Image | Tropical Tidbits n Xataka | While the snow devours half of Europe, there is a place where it is 27ºC and on the beach in the middle of January: Greece

Nvidia is the ball in the AI ​​game. The US wants to share it with China, but it is not clear that China wants to play

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The CES held in Las Vegas is the great showcase of technology, and if there has been a protagonist (apart from the chinese humanoid robots), that has been Jensen Huang. The CEO of Nvidia has become a key figure in the technology landscape. artificial intelligence because it is their chips that are shaping the data centersand the H200 It is the great proper name. It is the favorite for ‘assembling’ data centers and has become a throwing weapon in the commercial and technological warwith the United States vetoing the sale of the chip to China. But the situation seems to have relaxed and there are already those who point out that Nvidia will soon have access to a critical market. In short. We already mentioned it in December: Nvidia planned to increase production of the H200 chip for 2026. It was not something that responded only to the rise of artificial intelligence this year (which so many problems it is going to give us consumers), but to something much more important for the company: the reopening of the Chinese market. It all came after the announcement that the United States would allow exports, specifically, of the H200 to certain Chinese customers. They had to have a series of characteristics, such as being validated by the Department of Commerce, in addition to having a 25% rate on each sale. It’s outrageous, but while it was being debated whether China would now want to buy the H200s for its data centers (the country is developing its own solutions), from Reuters point to one piece of information: two million orders. Two million H200. After opening the door, it was reported that two Chinese giants such as Alibaba (e-commerce, cloud services and the model qwen) or ByteDance (TikTok, Douyin and AI chatbots) would be asking the Chinese Government to They will let them buy Nvidia chips to boost business. More recently, since Reuters A specific figure is pointed out: two million H200 chips (with ByteDance and Alibaba asking for 200,000 H200 each). It is the order that the Chinese companies would have already made, at the expense of receiving the green light to be able to formalize the purchase. Strict payment plan. The H200 is not the most cutting-edge chip that Nvidia has to offer, but it is one of the most used in data centers and the one that is allowed to export to China. Other more powerful ones remain restricted for national security reasons. And, although there is nothing official yet, Nvidia has set certain purchase conditions. Basically, transfer financial risk to customers: if imports are approved, they will have to make full payment in advance. Deposits were previously allowed to some companies, but this lack of regulatory clarity, market instability and a stock of H200 that may be insufficient if the market reopens require these measures. 50 billion dollars. With this operation, Nvidia must be crazy about music. In the middle of last year, Huang himself pointed out that the Chinese AI market had headed toward $50 billion, stating that “it would be a tremendous loss not to be able to address it as an American company.” That someone else says it may not have as much weight, but Nvidia is now in the focus of all the big technology companies. You don’t have to be naive. Messages like “the world is hungry for AI, let’s put American AI at the forefront” surely contributed to the relaxation of trade conditions approved by the Trump Administration a few weeks ago. In fact, if we say that Huang has been one of the great protagonists of the CES, it is not so much because of the technology presentation, but because of continuing to push that commercial narrative. The CEO pointed out in the ‘No Priors’ podcast that “the idea of ​​decoupling from China for philosophical or national security reasons is not based on common sense”, also stating that he was optimistic about the relaunched relationship with China thanks to the new measures imposed by the United States. Because “China is an adversary, but also a partner. And the idea of ​​decoupling is naive,” he said. What if I don’t want to now? But although Nvidia has increased production of its H200s in Taiwan in anticipation of an avalanche of orders from China, the ball is not in its court: it is in that of its potentially large new customer. Although everything boils down to “business,” in this case there is something else at stake: technological sovereignty. Huang believes that there will be no official announcement from China about the “openness” of its hand when it comes to letting its companies buy American technology and assumes that if orders are being placed it is because they can. Now, with the intensification of trade bans by the United States, China responded. Banned Apple devices in official centers, also purchasing from companies like Micron (which have also focused on AI, abandoning the RAM segment for users) and restricted the purchase of Nvidia chips Manufactured expressly for the Chinese market. At that time, Local companies such as Huawei or Cambricon have advanced with their solutionsachieving very high yields that are allowing China’s robotics and AI industry flourishes. Friction. However, the H200 remains the “standard” for many data centers, and there may be a desire to buy as much as possible in advance of possible future bans while they continue to develop their own chips. We will see if the wish of the American giant and some Chinese companies that see CUDA as the optimal system for AI. China is very clear that its “dragons” are enough to stand up to Western technology, the ‘Delete America’ plan is still going and accepting the H200 could perpetuate a situation of dependence on foreign technologysomething that the Government wants to avoid at all costs. In whatever way, depending on BloombergNvidia will start shipping H200 en masse in the short term. Images | Nvidia, Karola G, Pexels In Xataka | … Read more

Make the “most mysterious book in the world” with dice and cards. How we are understanding the Voynich manuscript without deciphering a single line

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Voynich is an old acquaintance of this house: for years, we have been tracking (and gutting) each of the attempts to decipher the “most mysterious manuscript in the world.” They have all been unsuccessful and that includes, of course, the attempts to some of the sharpest minds of history. Now, however, we have a new idea. And, despite not solving absolutely anything, it sounds very good. What is the Voynich manuscript? Let’s start at the beginning: Between 1404 and 1438someone somewhere started writing a book in a language or code that no one has been able to decipher. A book that, since its rediscovery in 1912, has baffled everyone and especially cryptographers. Overall, this is an extraordinarily strange piece (full of illustrations of rare or non-existent plants, astrological symbols, strange creatures and naked women) about which we know only a handful of things. We know, for example, that it is a natural language (or a code related to a natural language) because complies with Zipf’s Lawan empirical regularity that only occurs in natural languages ​​and that describes the frequency of appearance of words. Invented languages ​​(especially languages ​​invented in the 15th century) do not comply. We have known this since the 60s, but little else. And people are still trying to figure it out? Yes, absolutely yes. The Voynichians are a group of people who are extremely passionate (and ‘insistent’) about their manuscript and, in fact, have members in almost every social strata in the wide world. An example is today’s protagonist. A few weeks ago, the magazine Cryptology public a job of Michael A. Greshko in which a new and very interesting idea was proposed. Greshko is a renowned science journalist, he is an editor at Science and has worked for media such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Nature, Scientific American and National Geographic. He is someone who is risking part of his prestige on this, come on. And what does he propose? Greshko has exposed something called “Naibbe cipher”. Basically, it is an encryption system that allows languages ​​such as Italian or Latin to be transformed into a pseudo-writing that preserves properties of ‘voynichés’ (the ‘language’ of the manuscript). Respect, for example, things like glyph frequencies or word lengths. All this, with plausible cryptographic tools for the 15th century. And that’s precisely what’s interesting: Greshko doesn’t try to “read” the book; It attempts to demonstrate that, at that time and starting from a common language, a text similar to that of the manuscript could be constructed. How to make your own Voynich at home. According to the work of Cryptologiathe Naibbe method does things like break words into blocks (splits ‘gatto’ into ‘g’, ‘at’ and ‘to’), uses random systems (like dice or card rolls), and generates a homophonic cipher (ciphers specially designed to “counter the main deciphering tool for monoalphabetic substitutions, frequency analysis”). So, have we solved the problem? Not even close. As I said, Greshko has not deciphered the manuscript. He has simply looked for ways in which that manuscript could have been produced. For years, artificial intelligence algorithms have failed in the translation of the Voynich and, as the author explains, this may be because they do not know very well what to look for. Systems like Naibbe draw constructive possibilities that expand the options among which we can search. And in that sense, yes: Voynich is still much smarter than us. Although we don’t know for how long. Image | Gunnar Klack In Xataka | No, no “artificial intelligence” has deciphered the Voynich manuscript

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