Mobile Tech & Gadgets

A Google Pixel for less than 400 euros, an 85-inch Sony TV, offers on eReaders and more. Hunting Bargains

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Once again we return with a new Bargain Hunting shortly before the arrival of the next Black Friday. The stores have started their respective campaigns with many offers on all types of devices and in this article we are going to review the five best we have found all week. Google Pixel 9a by 399 eurosa very reasonable price for a mid-range mobile that takes very good photos. Kindle Scribe by 360.48 eurosan eReader with a 10-inch screen that also serves to take notes. Mac mini M4 by 829.99 eurosa very small computer but so powerful that it is ideal for studying or working. Roborock Saros Z70 by 1,099 eurosa robot vacuum cleaner with an arm that can remove the socks it finds in the way. Sony Bravia 3 by 1,499 eurosa huge television with Dolby Vision and Atmos that we have rarely seen so cheap. Google Pixel 9a One of the best offers we have seen this week is the one Amazon has in the Google Pixel 9awhich has dropped to 399 eurosthe same price that we saw in its previous generation not many months ago. This Google mobile stands out in its mid-range for many reasons, the photography section being the most outstanding of them. It is also worth mentioning that it is quite compact (6.3 inches)its screen offers a 120 Hz refresh rate and its software will be updated for many years. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kindle Scribe Amazon is already dropping some offers prior to Black Friday and again we can find the Kindle Scribe (2024) of offer. By 360.48 euroswe talk about a Larger eReader than conventional (10.2 inches) which also serves to take notes thanks to its pencil. It includes 16 GB of internal storage that can store a huge assortment of digital books and its theoretical autonomy is up to 12 weeks of use. Kindle Scribe (2024 version) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Mac mini M4 He Mac mini M4 He hasn’t received too many offers (at least not that juicy) in a while, but that’s over. By 829.99 eurosPowerplanet has one of the best prices we have seen on their configuration of 16 GB of unified memory and 512 GB internal storage. It is a powerful computer thanks to the M4 chip, it is very quiet and so small that it practically fits in the palm of your hand. It is aimed at study and work use and is the international version. Mac mini M4 (16GB, 512GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Roborock Saros Z70 It will be an expensive robot vacuum cleaner, but Amazon right now has the Roborock Saros Z70 with a huge discount. By 1,099 euros (instead of 1,799 euros as other stores have), it is a model that undoubtedly stands out for his armwhich allows you to remove socks or other objects for efficient cleaning. In addition, it offers a power of 22,000 Pa, it is also capable of scrubbing, it includes a self-emptying base, its theoretical autonomy is up to 4 hours and it works with AlexaGoogle Home and Siri. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sony Bravia 3 If you have the possibility to make room for it and you are looking for a huge television to watch movies and series or play video games, the TV Sony Bravia 3 of 85 inches It has rarely been so cheap. By 1,499 euros at El Corte Inglés (on Amazon it is more expensive, but allows you to finance it in four interest-free payments), it is a model compatible with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos which comes with Google TV OS and HDMI 2.1. Sony Bravia 3 (85 inches) 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 | Google, Amazon, Apple, Roborock, Sony In Xataka | The best mobile phones (2025), we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs

Congress will force Renfe to return the money for delays of 15 minutes. Renfe’s response: we’ll see

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Last year, Renfe expanded the strict criteria for returning money to its customers in case of delay. The measure came with controversy since these criteria had been applied since 1992 when the first AVE was launched. Almost 25 years later, the company relaxed these criteria to the point that two million passengers lost their money last year. Now, Congress forces Renfe to return to its previous criteria. But Renfe is not up to the task. When and how much money does Renfe return? Right now, to receive a partial payment for our ticket, the delay on the Spanish high-speed Renfe has to exceed 60 minutes. From 2024the company does not give half the money if the delay does not exceed one hour. In the event that we aspire to receive a full refund of the ticket, it will not arrive until we exceed 90 minutes. What has changed? Yesterday, November 13, The Congress of Deputies approved the Sustainable Mobility Law. It included an amendment from the Popular Party that returned the compensation that Renfe has to apply to those prior to the 2024 change. That is: Delays of more than 15 minutes: payment of 50% of the ticket Delays of more than 30 minutes: 100% payment of the ticket The change is substantial because this summer, four out of every 10 Renfe high-speed trains have arrived late. However, with the changes applied from 2024 they have been left without a refund around two million passengers. We’ll see. This is what the Ministry of Transport seems to say. And in statements to EFEsources from said ministry have described the amendment (which has been supported by Vox, Junts, ERC, Podemos and BNG) as “a demagogic operation and a toast to the populist sun.” Not only that, since The World They already state that Transport assures that they will look for “the legal formula to maintain the current system.” That is, the customer does not receive any refund for their ticket until after 60 minutes of delay. And that the total amount is not delivered until after 90 minutes. In the media they also report that Transport sources have indicated that the decision “only wants to penalize Renfe, a Spanish and public company, and not competing companies.” such as Ouigo and Iryo”, while highlighting that Renfe is a “public company that is fundamental to the structure of Spain”. In addition, Óscar Puente himself, Minister of Transport, has questioned the amendment. “Let’s see how it goes,” they say in The World who has responded about the new obligation. At a disadvantage? What Transport maintains is that the amendment promoted by the Popular Party puts Renfe at a clear disadvantage compared to Ouigo and Iryo. What the Government alludes to is that the reimbursement conditions by these companies are less favorable for the client, allowing them a competitive advantage. Ouigo compensates in the following cases: Delay of more than 30 minutes and less than 60 minutes: 50% refund of the ticket in a non-refundable purchase voucher. Delay of more than 60 minutes and less than 90 minutes: 50% refund of the ticket in a refundable purchase voucher. Delay of more than 90 minutes: 100% refund of the ticket in a refundable purchase voucher. Iryo partially or totally refunds the money in the following situations: Delay of more than 30 minutes and less than 60 minutes: refund of 50% of the ticket in purchase voucher or cash. Delay of more than 90 minutes: 100% refund of the ticket in purchase voucher or cash. Competence. What the Ministry of Transport points out is that this puts them at a disadvantage compared to the competition because Renfe adapted its compensation criteria to formulas similar or equal to those offered by its competition. However, the amendment introduced in the Sustainable Mobility Law only toughens the criteria for Renfe. It must be taken into account that the company has been around for more than a year experiencing a punctuality crisis. Although the Government points out that its punctuality is among the best in Europe, criticism has surfaced because trains that do not arrive on time have multiplied. Of course, when sharing roads with Ouigo and Iryo, it may be the case that a road blockade due to a breakdown of the latter ends up causing a delay in times when Renfe does have to return 100% of the ticket and its rivals will only deliver half of it. Photo | Carlos Teixador Cadenas in Wikimedia and Congress of Deputies In Xataka | If the summer has taught us anything, it is that Spain does not need more trains. You just need them to work.

Spain has lost 142,000 businesses in 10 years

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Spain has lost 142,024 businesses in the last ten years, going from 767,317 establishments to 625,293, according to data reported by The World. There are 39 net daily closures. One in every five businesses that disappear in the country is a store. The business has a mortality rate of 8.4%, higher than the national average of 7.8%. The facts. 68% of the closed businesses were self-employed without employees. Another 31% had between one and four workers. That is, 99% had less than five employees. Aragon, Galicia, Castilla y León and the Basque Country have lost almost a quarter of their stores. Yes, but. While small businesses collapse, large chains continue to grow. Mercadona invoiced 38.4 billion in 2023, 7% more than the previous year. The paradox is evident: Spain today has 85,527 more companies than a decade ago, when we were just emerging from the crisis, but the local commercial fabric is disintegrating. Between the lines. It’s not just that the consumer prefers the convenience of the supermarket. The problem is structural: Small businesses competed with exhausting hours and tiny margins against chains that negotiated prices with suppliers on a national scale. The shopkeeper who opened from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and made a living from his store can no longer sustain that model when a large supermarket sells cheaper, has a greater variety of products and closes at 9:30 p.m. The pressure doesn’t just come from the consumer. Suppliers have also changed the game: they prefer one large buyer who simplifies distribution over hundreds of small, dispersed customers. Local commerce has lost strength in both sales and purchases. The contrast. There is one exception visible on the streets: the convenience stores run mainly by Chinese and Pakistani merchants yes they have proliferated. They maintain the model of endless days that Spanish self-employed people can no longer sustain: open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, without fresh but with all the basics. They have filled the gap left by the traditional grocer, but with a different equation: Intensive family work. Very tight margins. And a model that only works if the whole family is behind the counter. It is the last stronghold of classic local commerce, but it reinforces the thesis: only those who accept conditions that an average Spanish self-employed person can no longer or do not want to assume survive survive. The money trail. The cost inflation has finished off the sector: electricity, rents, minimum wages and social contributions have risen while sales prices could barely move. A self-employed person pays more to keep his premises open than he can make by selling. The figures confirm it: only 41.9% of companies born in 2018 were still active in 2023. The first year of life is lethal, with survival rates of 78.5% or lower. Rising pressure. Added to the historical problems is now the tourism: Tourist apartments have skyrocketed commercial rentals in central areas, expelling businesses that cannot compete with Airbnb hostels and apartments. María José Landaburu, from UATAE, sums it up: “If a self-employed person cannot rent premises in their neighborhood, if a business closes because its rent has tripled, that is expulsion.” Main loser? The self-employed business. Lorenzo Amor, from ATA, warns that they are “in free fall” and with them “the social cohesion generated by the businesses of our towns and cities” disappears. The shopkeeper model, sustained for decades by endless hours and tight profitability, is becoming exhausted. The big chains have won by a landslide. In Xataka | The shadow companies that are making gold with Mercadona: the silent success of Familia Martínez or Profand Featured image | Richard Melick, Mercadona

Spain has been wondering for years what the hell to do with the “castle of the tricorns.” Tourism has come to their aid

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More than a decade and a few auctions Then, a long (and fruitless) succession of bids during which its sale price fell little by little, the Maqueda castle It finally has a new owner. The Canarian firm Amcotur (América de Construcciones y Turismo SL) has decided to buy this old Toledo fortress from the State for 3.25 million of euros to convert it into a hotel. Its sale is important for several reasons. The bastion sees its future clear after a long (very long) administrative soap opera. The people trust in winning a stimulus that will boost their economy. And the Ministry of the Interior is getting rid of a property in which it invested millions of euros and which it has been trying to get rid of for a decade. In a place in Castilla-La Mancha… Although the last years of the Maqueda castle (known as “the castle of the tricorns”) have been moved at an institutional level, in reality they are only a chapter in the vast history of this fortress, located 75 km from the center of Madrid, in a town of just 500 neighbors. Its origins can be traced back at least 981when Almanzor decided to reinforce a fortress that already existed. Since then its history has been full of twists, turns and big names (it is said that Isabel la Católica stayed in one of its towers): in 1157 the bastion came under the control of the Order of Calatrava, in the 15th century it was almost completely rebuilt and over the centuries it ended up in interior handswhich was initially assigned to the Civil Guard units. What do we do with it? In your file of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha explains that until “recently” the fortress basically acted as a Civil Guard barracks, but the truth is that its recent history is somewhat more complex. Between the 90s and early 2000 An ambitious remodeling was carried out to convert the bastion into the headquarters of the Armed Institute’s historical archive. The idea was left half-finished. As relates The Countrychanges in the Government and economic ups and downs marked the project. First it expanded, adding a museum to the archive functions; But the 2008 crisis caused the plan to go into a tailspin. During the time of Mariano Rajoy at the head of Moncloa, it was decided to put the property up for sale (along with many other assets) to inject funds into the public coffers. Although the dream of converting the fortress into a museum-archive did not materialize, it did have consequences: a new block was built between the castle walls, in the parade ground, a modern concrete building with three floors and a basement. In total, the remodeling cost the State 7.4 million of euros. Until recently the property was still listed in the catalog of the GIESE (State Security Infrastructure and Equipment Management), where it was specified that it has a constructed area of ​​3,060 square meters. The plot adds 2,861 m2. Dropping in price. The castle is impressive, it has new construction and the plot is classified also as urban land suitable for residential, public or hotel uses (among others), which opens the range of possible uses. None of this prevented Interior from struggling and wanting to free itself from the fortress. In 2014 he asked 9.58 million. In vain. Nobody bid. The following year it adjusted the starting price, leaving it at 7.47 million. Another failure. The figure continued to decline (first to 5.9 million, then to 2.76) without whetting investors’ appetite. In 2023 its value was established at 3.25 million, the price for which the Canarian company has now decided to buy it, owned by Yusef Nasser and with experience both in the hotel sector and in the management of historic buildings. Among the accommodations in its catalogue, the company includes a four-star hotel located in a Burgos castle from the 15th century. Although the figure for which the bastion of Maqueda has been acquired directly is much lower than what was requested in 2014 or 2017the hotel group assures to Canarias7 that the operation has been closed at the “official appraisal” price. You will probably have to add the cost of the works to the purchase amount. Next stop: a small rural hotel. In mind, the company plans to set up a rural hotel, a four-star accommodation, with a spa, swimming pool, restaurants and conference room, according to precise laser. The station clarifies that the establishment will allow you to visit the surroundings of the walls and their archaeological challenges. For that we will have to wait. From the company recognize that to release the accommodation it will be necessary to invest in the reform and rehabilitate the old wall that surrounds the castle, declared in 1931 artistic historical monument. The idea is that the bastion, popularly known as “Castle of the Tricorns” will open its doors to guests in about a year and a half, around mid 2027. “It will give life to the town”. The mayor of Maqueda, Andrés Congosto (PSOE), admitted these days to SER that in the town they are “very happy” about the news about the reactivation of the property after “more than 10 years” of projects and ideas that had not quite come to fruition. At the time, it was even proposed to convert the bastion into a museum dedicated to democratic memory, an approach presented by the City Council and the Manuel Azaña Association to the Government years ago. The councilor has recognized elDiario.es now feels a certain “frustration”, but he then clarifies: “At least a private owner has not bought it and it will be a rural hotel. That will give life to the town, promote tourism and employment.” Images | Giborn_134 (Flickr) and Junta of Castilla-La Mancha In Xataka | Toledo has had enough of the mass tourism that saturates the city center. His plan to change it: China

the Stadler plant will be responsible for building 200 hybrid locomotives

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Stadler, a well-known Swiss manufacturer responsible for producing railway equipment, has announced a historic contract with the Luxembourg locomotive rental company Nexrail. The idea is to build up to 200 hybrid locomotives EURO9000. Although the company has not revealed official figures, according to According to Expansión, the order could reach 1.4 billion euros, taking into account that previous similar contracts have been around 7 million per unit. And why is all this important? Precisely because all production will be carried out at Stadler’s plant in Albuixech, Valencia. A boost for the Valencian industry. This mega order represents a fairly important injection of work for Stadler’s Valencian factory and consolidates its position as a strategic production center within the Swiss group. The Albuixech plant will be responsible for manufacturing the most powerful locomotive which is currently produced in Europe, a great recognition of the technical and industrial capacity that the Valencian factory provides. Hybrid technology. The EURO9000 hybrid It combines pantograph and batteries on a six-axis platform already proven on the market. With its multi-system design it allows it to operate without problems between borders of Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy. In addition, it can transport goods completely emission-free from terminal to terminal, which leaves aside diesel, a fuel that still predominates in many European corridors. Power. According to Stadler, these locomotives can operate alone even on the most demanding routes, such as transalpine corridors, without the need for an additional thrust locomotive. In direct current networks, the battery system provides extra power that improves performance and allows more load to be transported. It also offers an intelligent battery management system that optimizes regenerative braking, which reduces costs during peak electrical consumption and allows energy to be purchased at times of lowest price. The client and the first operator. The first user of these locomotives will be Hamburger Rail Service (HRS), according to has confirmed Stadler. “The EURO9000 with pantograph and batteries offers HRS a unique combination of flexible traction on lines with or without catenary, high traction capacity for our heavy loads and zero-emission operations,” explained Adem Gülaz, CEO of HRS. Decarbonization. Iñigo Parra, president of Stadler Valencia, has underlined that the order “reveals our joint commitment to sustainable innovation in rail freight transport.” For his part, Luuk von Meijenfeldt, CEO of Nexrail, highlighted that the company is “excited to lead the European locomotive market towards a zero-emissions future” and that this order marks “an important step in that transition.” Europe’s goals. The rail freight sector is immersed in a transformation process to meet European climate objectives, similar to what’s happening right now in the automotive world on the continent. Complete electrification of all lines is still economically unfeasible, so hybrid locomotives with batteries are now emerging as the most realistic solution for decarbonize the sector without giving up the operational flexibility that diesel locomotives still offer on non-electrified sections. Cover image | Stadler and Ivan Arlandis In Xataka | The lack of generational change has opened a job opportunity for thousands of young people in Spain: bus driver

Reddit, nude scenes and an out of control forum. This is how a Dane ended up being convicted in a case that marks a precedent

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We have all seen a clip from a movie circulating online as if it were a loose object, separated from the story to which it belongs. In Denmark, a case has shown that this decontextualization can have very real consequences when what is shared are nude scenes and, in addition, other protected content. A Reddit moderator has been convicted in a case involving both the dissemination of sequences of actresses in Danish films and series taken out of context and the massive exchange of audiovisual works. The forum that triggered the case, “SeDetForPlottet”, was not a marginal space within Reddit: it brought together thousands of users and maintained constant activity around nude scenes taken from Danish productions. There, cut clips were shared and described with the name and surname of the actresses, which generated concern among several professionals in the sector. Your complaints They arrived on a local radio programwhich focused on how these images circulated converted into sexualized content. A case that ends in a criminal conviction. The public exposure of the subreddit led to the Rights Alliance will report the matter in 2023 on behalf of actors, directors, producers and two major Danish networks. The police then opened an investigation that identified the moderator, who was arrested in September 2024 after it was confirmed that he had shared hundreds of edited clips and additional material on a private platform. The accused admitted the facts and, in November 2025, received a sentence of seven months of suspended prison, a figure that avoids entering prison if the imposed conditions are met, in addition to 120 hours of community service. When the problem is not just money. The Danish ruling is based on an unusual concept outside the legal field: the right to respectwhich seeks to protect the integrity of a work and those who participate in it, and which in this case is applied for the first time in a criminal conviction in Denmark. The court understood that extracting the scenes, cutting them and presenting them with a sexualized approach altered their original meaning and harmed performers and creators. Prosecutor Jan Østergaard stressed that the case shows that these violations are taken seriously, while copyright expert Alina Trapova explained to the BBC that the matter is “unusual” for focusing on damage to artistic integrity rather than economic damage. What is protected when a scene is shot. For associations of actors and directors, the failure represents an explicit recognition that the decontextualized use of nude scenes directly affects those who appear in them. In the statement published by Rettighedsalliancenthe director of the Danish Association of Actors, Maria Ventegodt, welcomed that the ruling recognized the violation suffered by its members and reinforced confidence that the authorities will act in these cases. In that same text, the directors’ spokesperson, Søren Balle, highlighted that altering and redistributing these scenes harms both the performers and the integrity of the work. On the Internet we live daily with fragments of films converted into memes, parodies or small clips that serve to comment on a scene. This clip culture has normalized the fact that works travel without context, something that usually goes unnoticed when the objective is to play with the original reference. But the Danish case had a decisive nuance. There, the dynamic was different: users organized the material by specific names, requested specific scenes and received them through links from a pornographic page. A warning for the era of AI and deepfakes. The Danish case is known at a time when artificial intelligence tools allow you to alter videos with increasing ease. In this context, the head of Rights Alliance, Maria Fredenslund, pointed out that the ruling marks a necessary limit on how images of actors and creators are used and warned that this type of protection will be relevant in a scenario with more content generated and manipulated by AI. As we say, the sentence is set in the form of a suspended prison, so the accused will not enter prison as long as he meets the conditions imposed. With that part already resolved, the case moves to civil proceedings, where the rights holders have requested between 15,000 and 30,000 Danish crowns for each clip broadcast (between 2,000 and 4,000 euros). Images | Brett Jordan | Screenshot | appshunter In Xataka | For the EU, our privacy has always been more important than AI. Until he understood that he was left behind

a hotel chain has proven just the opposite

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The hotel sector put the scream in the sky given the prospect of a possible reduction in working hours to 37.5 hours per week. From tourism employers they predicted an economic catastrophe for the sector, predicting closures and loss of competitiveness. Finally, the reduction in working hours came to nothing after not pass the parliamentary procedure, But the reality experienced by a small hotel chain in the Balearic Islands has been radically different, demonstrating that those fears were far from reality. After apply the reduction of working hours He has fewer problems with the workforce and the business is going from strength to strength. Fears in the sector. The hospitality and tourism sector was one of the most belligerent with applying the change in working hours proposed by the Ministry of Labor to 37.5 hours per week. According to himor published by The reasonsector estimates anticipated an increase of between 6% and 8% in labor costswhich will mean an additional cost of 2,538 million euros overall. The CEHAT employers’ association warned that the reduction to 37.5 hours per week would imply “a loss of competitiveness” and that the employees of the 300,000 companies that make up this sector would work “112 minutes less per week” which, according to them, would break the already delicate economic balance. MarSenses against the current. MarSenses Hotels & Homes is a small hotel chain with five establishments in Mallorca and one in Menorca, assisted by a staff of around 515 workers. In 2023, Rodrigo Fitaroni, CEO of the chain, decided not to wait for the Government to implement the reduction in working hours and began to apply it on his own. In 2024, its entire workforce worked 38.5 hours per week. The results were so positive that this year they have reduced it again to 37.5 hours per week, being pioneers in the adoption of this working day model. Fitaroni explained to Business Insider that they sought to “improve the work-life balance and well-being of the workforce”, and that this reduction was only the first step. “If the reduction in working hours goes well, we will continue to decline. But it will depend on how the worker performs and if productivity continues to be good,” noted the CEO. In addition to the reduction in working hours, the hotel chain has applied a salary increase of 8% in the last two years. Which, added to the reduction of working hours without loss of salary, translates into an average increase much higher than the average for the hospitality sector, which was around 3.8% annually. Results far from estimates. Just like Fitaroni himself counted to the Balearic newspaper Breaking Newsthe results obtained after applying the reduction in working hours contradicted the sector’s estimates. One of the most notable indicators is that the absenteeism levels from work of the chain dropped drastically below 5% from the first year. It is a very notable percentage since the industry average Balearic hotel rates are between 14.8% in Mallorca and 20% in Menorca. These data are accompanied by greater employee commitment and satisfaction, which has translated into an increase in revenue per available room. “We are trying formulas that no one has tried,” declared Fitaroni, who began his career in hospitality working as a waiter. “We come from operational positions and we know what it is like,” says the CEO. Pioneers in caring for their “Kellys”. MarSenses has not only innovated in the application of reduced working hours in the hospitality sector, but has also done so with exceptional measures in one of the most punished groups: housekeepers, popularly known as the “kellys”. The Balearic chain paid special attention to the 30 housekeepers it has on staff. These professionals face very hard work days cleaning between 20 and 30 rooms a day, which generate very intense physical wear. For them, not only does the reduction of the working day apply to 37.5 hours like the rest of the workforce, for those over 58 years of age, the working day is reduced to 32 hours per week. The Country collected the opinion of Sara del Mar García, president of Kellys Unión Baleares, who applauded the initiative of the Balearic hotel company. “MarSenses is a very important step and it is the one that the rest of the hotel chains should take,” said the union representative, alluding to the hospitality agreement in the Balearic Islands that postpones until 2028 the obligation for companies to adopt measures for the well-being of these workers. In Xataka | High level of cleanliness, multilingualism and resilience in the face of setbacks: requirements of a job offer to be “Kelly” Image | MarSensesPexels (Liliana Drew)

George RR Martin asked ChatGPT to write ‘Game of Thrones’. He did it so well that he is going to end up before the judge

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The debate about the AI usage limits and how is this going to actually affect the creators It is very complex, and it has only just begun. From discerning to what extent AI’s ability to create works outside of humans will continue to grow to the logical ethical and legal concerns that appear around a tool that, from its very definition, is in a completely unexplored area. At the moment, George RR Martin and other authors are taking steps in search of more demanding regulation. What has happened? A federal judge in Manhattan has given the green light for the lawsuit filed by George RR Martin and other authors against OpenAI and Microsoft for alleged copyright violation. The creator of ‘Game of Thrones’ and his colleagues accuse these companies of use his works without authorization to train ChatGPT. According to the ruling issued on October 27, 2025, there are reasons for the case to move forward, since ChatGPT’s proposal for a sequel to the saga was substantially similar to Martin’s work already protected by copyright. The determining test. It came when lawyers asked ChatGPT to create a fictional sequel to ‘A Clash of Kings’. The chatbot immediately spawned a novel called ‘Dance of Shadows’, a sequel that included a new Targaryen heir named Lady Elara, a rebellious sect of the Children of the Forest, and a mysterious form of ancient dragon-related magic. This ability to recreate elements from Martin’s universe made the question clear: how could the AI ​​know his work in such detail without having fed on it? The precedents. The origins of this legal conflict date back to September 2023, when Martin, accompanied by 17 other authors (including people like Michael Chabon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jia Tolentino, John Grisham, Jonathan Franzen and Sarah Silverman) raised his voice against what he considered a systematic exploitation of his work. The case was brought by the Authors Guild union, in a lawsuit that spoke of “systematic theft on a massive scale”, arguing that the tool makes use of their works without paying royalties and without the writers’ consent. The letter. Months before the lawsuit, these authors and many others, such as Margaret Atwood or Nora Roberts, they had sent a letter to large technology companies conveying their concerns about generative AI technologies. In that document they warned about “the injustice inherent in exploiting our works as part of your AI systems without our consent, credit or compensation.” The accusation was clear: ChatGPT had not only learned from his books; Now I could replicate them. Other attacks. We are at a key moment in determining the legal implications of generative AI. At the beginning of 2025, for example, it was decided by the juries a similar dispute against Anthropicwhich concluded with an out-of-court settlement: the company paid $1.5 billion to authors whose works were used without permission. This precedent shows that technology companies are willing to negotiate to avoid court rulings that could establish binding jurisprudence. In England, by contrast, the High Court of England determined that Stability AI did not infringe copyright by train your model with Getty imagesthat is, a decision in literally the opposite direction, which has generated alarm among European creators. In all these cases the debate about “fair use” or fair use: The technology companies argue that the training of their models constitutes a transformative use of works, similar to when search engines index content. The creators reply that it is a massive appropriation that replaces, not complements, the original work. And in the background, a shock that has only just begun. Header |Gage Skidmore

142 meters of luxury and technology

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a few days ago A Malaga beach bar released a robot called ‘Sardinator’ to advertise of your business. It is not the only event on the beaches of Malaga, it has also been the arrival of the Dragonfly, one of the largest, most expensive and luxurious yachts in the world. Its owner is Sergei Brinco-founder of Google. Favorite destination. Brin’s yacht had already been seen on the coasts of our country and a few days ago he arrived in Malaga for the first time, as they say in The Opinion of Malaga. And it is not the first superyacht to be seen in its port. Last year the Radiant, worth more than 270 million eurosdocked for the fourth time at its port and also stopped by there the co-founder of WhatsApp with the Moonrise. in a big way. The Dragonfly is the work of Argentine designer Germán Frers and is 142 meters long. This places her as the largest American-owned yacht and also the largest in the world. German manufacturer Lürssen. It cost a whopping $450 million to build. To put it in context, according to Superyatch Fanthe largest in the world measures 180 meters in length and cost 600 million dollars. Luxuries: yes. The Dragonfly has a total area of ​​3,000 square meters: 2,000 interior and 1,000 exterior decks. It has nine luxury cabins with capacity for 18 guests and 20 cabins for a crew of 40. Not everything is there, it has several swimming pools and, if that were not enough with one, two heliports. Regarding its power, it has a diesel-electric propulsion system and reaches a speed of 24 knots. Dragonfly History. Although it is known as Dragonfly, it was initially named Alibaba and was not going to be for Brin, but for Leonid Mikhelson, a Russian oligarch dedicated to the gas industry. Due to the blockades imposed after the invasion of Ukrainethe purchase of the Alibaba could not be signed and that is where Sergei Brin was able to acquire the yacht. He called it Dragonfly, just like his previous boat. Brin. He is also of Russian origin, but left the country with his family when he was barely six years old. Decades later, founded Google with Larry Page and that’s where it all began. He was president of Google from 2015 to 2019, when Sundar Pichai succeeded him. He is currently the sixth richest man in the world, according to the Forbes list, with a heritage of 215,000 million dollars Image | Wikipedia, Lürssen In Xataka | Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google and became millionaires. Now they are dedicated to collecting gigantic airplanes

The Steam Machine’s key to eating the market will be the price. And there Valve has an ace up its sleeve

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The video game world is revolutionized. It’s not every day that a new “PC-console” is announced, but even rarer is that the device comes from Valve. They have just presented the Steam Machinea console-shaped PC that has been posed as a direct threat to Xbox and PS5but also for the Windows PC itself. Much has changed since Steam Machines from a decade ago and, with the new model, Valve will not take timid steps. Steam Deck has shown them that they have a lot to say in the field of hardware, but as always, success will depend on the price of the Steam Machine. It has to be attractive to gain a foothold. And Valve has a wild card called 30%. The price of the Steam Machine and the 30% wildcard A decade ago, Valve already took a hit with the first Steam Machines. He said that they were a timid bet because Valve developed the system, but between the fact that there were not so many games available for it (based on Linux) and that the machines were not designed by Valve, but rather delegated to companies like Asus and AlienWare (which set prices that were not competitive), well the thing ended… badly. The situation has changed a lot by three factors: In the shadows they continued to develop the Steam OS systemmaking it compatible with both Linux and Windows games. They launched a Steam Deck with which they have shown that they know how to make competitive hardware. Although threats such as Amazon and Epic Games have appeared, their platform remains the undisputed queen when we talk about PC gaming. The Steam Machine will arrive (accompanied by a new controller and a virtual reality viewer named Steam Frame) at the beginning of 2026. We do not know the specific date, nor the price. And, of course, once the initial excitement of the announcement had passed, the conversation turned to theorizing about the price of the Steam Machine. Here I want to be cautious because whenever hypotheses are launched about the price of hardware there are a lot of factors that come into play. We can take the components as a reference and say “To build a PC like this is about 700 euros”but then there are the design costs (it is very small and that increases the price), development, logistics… The last time the price of a console was theorized was with nintendo switch 2and their 470 euros They ended up surprising (although the 90 of some of their games were more surprising). Therefore, I don’t want to venture to say whether the Steam Machine will cost more or less. There are some clues. The Verge is one of the media outlets that has had the machine nearby and claims that Valve plans a price “similar to a PC with similar features.” From the middle they point about $800, but that’s only in components (without the system and other costs, for example), but the components are customized and look like versions of laptop CPUs and GPUs, not the ones we can buy for a desktop. From the technical media Digital Foundry take for granted that the range will be between 500 and 600 euros, but again: it is difficult to estimate because there is not much to scratch. Now, my reflection is that, if the objective of Steam is to punch the table and wants to take part of the pie from both the consoles Like the PC itself, the Steam Machine will be sold at a loss. Because? Because if there is a company that can afford it, it is Valve. For starters, it’s a private company. Gabe Newel, Valve’s boss, owns 51% of the shares. This implies that they do not have to give explanations to shareholders. This is why we do not have public figures for Steam profits or Steam Deck sales (although it is esteem which dominates the -small- consolidated PC market). But the reason why Valve can sell a console at a loss, or not care so much about not making money per machine sold, is because all the ones they sell have Steam as launcher and store, and the company keeps a significant percentage per game sold on the platform. That percentage is around 30%which implies that if a million copies of a game are sold, Valve’s share of the pie is considerable. And, although not all games sell millions, thousands of video games are released every month. that “solely” for setting up the servers and hosting the games developed by other companies. Besides, there is the matter of the stickersa market in which Steam also keeps a good percentage of each transaction. AND It is something that moves dizzying figures. On the Steam Machine, as on the Steam Deck, you can run games from platforms such as GOG, Epic or Rockstar, but in the end The PC marketplace par excellence is Steam. It is the mainstream platform and each of those Steam Machines will be a window to a store that has offers every now and then and that is very well positioned at a time when console games are more and more expensive. The consoles themselves are much more expensive than when they were launched five years ago. Therefore, although it is impossible to guess a price for the Steam Machine, as I said, If there is someone who can sell their machine at a loss because it will recover the difference with the software, that is Valve. And if they launch an affordable machine, with the market as it is, they can deal a tremendous blow to their direct competitors: consoles. But also to the PC itself. In Xataka | There are more and more physical video games that are paperweights. It is a tremendous problem for video games as art.

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