Arab countries are taking it away

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What we understand by luxury It is no longer what it was. Its meaning has evolved, and with it our way of consuming. We prioritize the result —a search for outstanding in an almost arithmetic sum of factors such as price, quality or experience— more than the historical lineage of a great house French like Dior or Chanel. The truth is that the young consumer does not have as much attachment to the heritage of the brands that, perhaps, they hope to have by divine mandate; However, that does not stop us from continuing to pay attention to the high-end of iconic brands with cosmetics for one hundred euros. The difference is that today we can find an alternative on the market that provides us with a similar experience (the already famous dupes) has become a small personal triumph. So much so that not hesitating to publish the experience on networks ends up creating a call effect more powerful than twenty advertisements on Christmas Eve. Not so long ago, any allusion to “imitation” had connotations that we tried to avoid, but the reality is that the consumer now has no complexes. And the same thing happens in perfumery. A few years ago, talking about olfactory luxury automatically led us to French names, campaigns with the actors of the moment and bottles that easily exceeded one hundred euros. Today, however, we are directly witnessing a democratization of luxury, specifically in the field of perfume. Success comes from the Arab world On this occasion, this democratization does not come from perfumery dupes, the classic versions inspired by iconic fragrances and at more affordable prices that help remove the thorn of that high-end perfume or niche. The novelty is that the revolution comes, in large part, from the Emirates (they have not stopped with the Dubai chocolateno), with proposals for original perfumes that maintain the sophisticated aesthetic and olfactory character, but in which, in addition, the price is not a barrier at all. Thus, Arab perfumes have burst onto the market with force and have established themselves as a phenomenon that has filled cities with stores specialized in the sector and social networks of recommendations from these brands. Now brand names like Amouage, Afnan or Lattafa rub shoulders with classics like Dolce & Gabbana or Burberry and lead this transformation. According to data from Circana, global perfume sales grew by 17% in the first half of 2025 largely thanks to demand for Arabic fragrances. Lattafa herself increased its sales on TikTok Shop at the end of 2025 174% compared to the previous year, while the Omani house Amouage reported a 30% increase in sales in 2024 compared to its figures from the previous year. These numbers support a success that is based on a compendium of multiple factors that match current consumer trends. The keys to the global consolidation of Arab perfumes are clear: long-lasting and intense thanks to raw materials such as oud or musk, their pompous design and a price within reach of most pockets (around 30-40 euros). But, without a doubt, another of the factors that has consolidated the triumph of these perfumes is their massive presence on networks. Influencers continually recommend fragrances from these Arab houses, generating an appeal that, in combination with that price, favors impulsive purchasing by consumers, also sponsored by the striking and novelty of the product. In fact, searches on TikTok and Google for the term “Arabic perfumes” have grown more than 60% in 2025. The networks tell you how you should smell Until now it was very common for the algorithm to stuff us with hauls clothing, recommendations outfits or miracle makeup products like a base that lasts all day. Now there is an influencer sector that has been able to identify this new demand in the market and our way of consumption, making perfume recommendations for each occasion, depending on the intensity or olfactory notes that we are looking for. @marcelperfumes 5 Arab Perfumes You Must Have: 1. Mahd Al Dhahab 2. Rayhaan Terra 3. Kayaan Terra 4. Titan Khadlaj 5. Ravine Ginger #perfumes #Perfume #marcelperfumes ♬ peace – mindset So, it doesn’t hurt to say that yes, the algorithm is redefining perfumery. The call blind buywhich is nothing more than blind shopping on the internet, is no longer limited to clothing but also to perfumes. The reality is that many users decide to choose an Arabic perfume that appears in their “for you” because the bottle is beautiful and their trusted influencer claims that it will smell like lemon cake or give off notes of vanilla. We already know the benefits of accessing quality products in exchange for an affordable price, but also its risks. As happens with the skincare or makeup low costthe attractive price can lead us to spend even more. If we get a dupe of a lipstick that costs 40 euros for only 5, that feeling of savings leads us to complete the entire set and end up falling into the trap of micro spending. With perfumes, especially thanks to being a trend on social networks, exactly the same thing can happen. It is true that these Arabic fragrances are reasonably priced, but the context in which they are consumed has completely changed. For example, on TikTok videos about layeringThat is, combining several perfumes to create your own aroma with notes that you want, or enhancing the one you like the most and, to achieve this, you obviously have to add several scented products to the cart. @dyanbay Why should you mix your perfumes? And how to do it like a professional?😏🔥 Here I teach you everything I have learned studying in Paris and in the masterclass in Milan so that you don’t get confused. Tell me what combinations you make✌🏻💛 #dyanbay #perfumetok #humor #deinfluencing #antihaul ♬ original sound – Adrián Carrera👃🏻🩷 Perfume has become something totally modular and from networks we are encouraged to vary the fragrance according to our mood or the weather, as if … Read more

Running clubs have become Gen Z’s favorite dating app

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Dawn breaks and the parks begin to fill with runners. The alarm clock has rang early, it’s time to lace up your sneakers and go out to add kilometers. At the end of the route, still with heavy breathing and sweat on the forehead, the modern ritual demands to open the phone. But the goal is no longer to swipe profiles on a dating app from the comfort of the couch, but to upload the workout to Strava accompanied by a selfie or a clever title. Those who do it know perfectly well that there is someone on the other side paying attention. As a young runner confessed In a report published by the magazine ellethe intention to be seen is undeniable: “One hundred percent. Whether it’s a long run or a pretty outfit, there have been times when I’ve thought: he’s going to see this.” This scene, which is repeated every morning and afternoon in any city in the world, illustrates a massive paradigm shift. In a world where love seemed to have been trapped in algorithms, paywalls and cold screens, Generation Z has decided to return to the streets, the asphalt and the sports clubs. At first glance, Strava is a tool purely technical: GPS maps, average paces and gradients. However, the data confirm a sociological phenomenon. According to the Year in Sport: Trend Report from 2025 issued by Strava itselfone in five Gen Z respondents said they have gone on a date with someone they met through a club running. The same document reveals that the creation of new clubs on the platform multiplied by 3.5 in the last year. The transition from miles to romance has its own mechanics. As the German edition of Runners Globalgive a Kudo (the equivalent of a “like” on Strava) has become the new super-like. Tyler Swartz, founder of the Endorphins running club, points out that “Having multiple points of contact with someone is a great way to build trust.” After a group run, following each other on the app allows you to stay on each other’s radar without the pressure of an exchange of phones. The platform itself has witnessed (and facilitated) this shift. When Strava introduced direct messages (DMs) at the end of 2023 Intended to “coordinate flings,” it took younger users just a couple of hours to turn it into a new avenue for flirting, coining icebreakers like, “At your pace or mine?” Unlike Tinder’s visual catalog, seduction here is behavioral. A report from Trail Info highlights that in this network “People observe before they speak.” Knowing that someone runs four times a week at 6 in the morning says much more about their lifestyle, their discipline and their perseverance than an empty 150-character biography. The collapse of dating apps and the search for the authentic This exodus towards asphalt cannot be understood without analyzing the collapse of the previous model. Young people are tired of swiping profiles. According to a survey of Forbesmore than 75% of Generation Z suffer from burnout by using dating apps, feeling like they are not making genuine connections. Even Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Match Group (parent of Tinder and Hinge), admitted that these applications They are perceived today as a “numbers game” that prioritizes metrics over experience. The financial consequences are palpable. Tinder has experienced a decline sustained in its paying users, falling below the 10 million barrier, dragging Match Group shares into a free fall from their 2021 highs. The exception to the rule, paradoxically, It’s Facebook Datingwhich is gaining traction among 18- to 29-year-olds, primarily because it is completely free compared to its competitors’ subscription models. In contrast, the social sports business is flourishing. A report of Financial Times details how Stravawhich closed the year with 180 million users worldwide, is preparing its IPO on Wall Street under the leadership of its new CEO, Michael Martin, with a valuation that already exceeded $2.2 billion in previous rounds. The British media Guardian frame this phenomenon in the rise of calls Hobby Apps (hobby apps). Platforms like Letterboxd (for movie buffs), Goodreads (for readers) or Strava itself are absorbing users who are fleeing the toxic public square of X (formerly Twitter) or TikTok. They are friendly spaces, strongly moderated by their own common interests, where the debate focuses on passions and not on cultural wars. All this has changed the rules of seduction. Today, asking for a face-to-face date terrifies a generation paralyzed by the fear of rejection. We live in what is defined as the “paradox of preparation”: 80% of Gen Z want to find true love, but only 55% feel ready for a relationship. They are terrified of “public failure”, preferring the eternal groping on Instagram or the soft launch (announce a couple ambiguously on social networks to avoid giving explanations if they break up). Serena Kerrigan, content creator, sums it up perfectly: the apps dating dan cringe (grima) because they feel “like a job interview.” In real life, traditional flirting is mutating into absolute pragmatism. In fact, a trend on the rise is the choremancing (the union of chore —task— and romance). New dates no longer consist of going to a candlelit dinner, but rather going to the supermarket together or assembling an Ikea piece of furniture. It’s the ultimate filter: seeing how the other person manages stress, logistics, and teamwork in the real world. In this context, running clubs fit perfectly. As one attendee relates for the magazine MensXPshowing up sweaty and out of breath instantly breaks the ice. There are no Instagram filters to help when you’re trying to catch your breath; the façade disappears and authenticity takes over. Wellbeing as a new rebellion: the natural ecosystem of Gen Z It is quite complex to decipher Generation Z (and even more so from the perspective of an editor millennial), but there is a common thread that explains everything: well-being has replaced the culture of the night. Strava’s annual report sheds devastating information for the traditional leisure … Read more

NVIDIA has lost hope in China, which is why it has started manufacturing its own next-generation GPUs for AI

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NVIDIA faces this 2026 a crucial year. They have become one of the largest strategic investors in the AI ​​ecosystem with dozens of billion-dollar investments in other companies, models, infrastructure and robotics. But, in the end, they are a company that supplies chips and, so far, the H200 They set the tone. According to a report by Financial Timesthat’s over. NVIDIA just ordered TSMC to start mass manufacturing Vera Rubinits next-generation hardware for AI. The reason? They have lost all faith in China. In short. With the entire AI industry looking to the future, and NVIDIA that has its Vera Rubin on the starting grid, it was strange that the company continued to invest so much in keeping TSMC working on a chip as old as the H200. Although it has been around for a while, it has positioned itself as unbeatable in the industry due to its price/power ratio, so these are the chips on which it has been built. the AI ​​empire. However, time passes and NVIDIA needs to move. Data centers need more power, new models are more demanding and the spearhead of the software sector – such as OpenAI either Google– have demanded new solutions. According to two sources consulted by the financial media, and close to NVIDIA’s plans, the company has grown tired of “waiting in limbo” and has begun to accelerate the delivery and deployment of Vera Rubin. Yoncomparable. As it could not be otherwise, TSMC is going to be in charge. The Taiwanese foundry would have already been asked to begin diversifying the production line to begin manufacturing the new chips. And if you’re wondering why it’s not enough for Google or OpenAI to simply buy more H200, the answer is because the chips have nothing to do with it. H200 is a more classic GPU for a data center. It is the configuration that AI and computing companies on these servers have been working with for years. Vera Rubin, however, is a paradigm shift made up of new CPUs, new GPUs and designed so that everything works as a single rack-scale accelerator. It has not only more power, but also the latest software and hardware additions from NVIDIA and something very important: incredible bandwidth. The higher the bandwidth on such a system, the more simultaneous data it can handle. This implies greater efficiency when training, but also a lower cost in inference. It is not an update, it is a platform change designed for models with trillions of parameters. Qgoose faith in China. To put it more simply, if the H200 is like a “super powerful graphics card”, Vera Rubin is like a mini data center in itself. And if you’re wondering why they didn’t start production sooner, the reason is… China. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has been ‘fighting’ with Washington for months to open their arms in the trade and technology war maintained by the US and China. Trump ended up agreeing and Huang commented earlier this year that they had returned to “turn on” all production lines to supply the very high Chinese demand. The problem is that that demand did not arrive. At least, It was not as high as Huang expected. In the presentation of results, NVIDIA’s financial director commented a few days ago that “although small quantities of H200 for Chinese customers were approved by the US government, we have not yet generated any income. And we do not know if imports to China will be allowed.” We already told the problem: The US was leaving for NVIDIA to sell its graphics, butThe Chinese government did not seem so convinced. Your main Big Tech They were demanding NVIDIA solutionsarguing that they need them to keep up with what their American rivals are doing, but the ball was in the court of the Government and Customs. China is promoting AI that is different from that of the US, more focused on low costs and rapid acceptance by the client, and at the same time want to build your own hardware network with companies like SMIC or a Huawei that you already have your supercomputer for AI. complicated swerve. From the Financial Times they point out that the president of China, Xi Jinping, and the president of the United States will meet at the end of March to discuss export controls. The problem is that, according to their sources, even if the barrier is lifted completely and not just for certain companies and China can buy H200s en masse, turning TSMC’s ship around so that it starts producing H200s again would be complicated. It is not as simple as pressing a button and going from producing one thing to another. If this situation occurs, “NVIDIA would take up to three months to reallocate or add capacity to the supply chain to produce H200.” One of Vera Rubin’s PCBs Rebound winner. What is clear here is that NVIDIA is not going to lose from the operation. Huang already argued that the United States could not miss the opportunity to take a slice of a multi-billion dollar market (because the US let the cards be sold… with a 25% tariff), but whether it is the Chinese or the Western industry, it is from NVIDIA that they continue to buy the H200 and, ‘shortly’, the Vera Rubin. And the rebound winner in this operation is Samsung. Of the three companies that manufacture memory (and that have catapulted the RAM and SSD crisis we are in), Samsung is the one that has completed its new generation HBM4 memory. It is the one that has passed the high standards of NVIDIA and the one that is already being mass manufactured to be able to integrate into Vera Rubin systems. Everyone attentive. As we said, NVIDIA has to the entire industry at his feet. Google, xAI and Meta are working on their own chips, but together with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, OpenAI, Mistral and Anthropic they are some of the companies that they … Read more

It has rained so much that Morocco has not looked so green for a decade

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That the first two months of 2026 it has rained a lot It is something that we can say because we have lived it in our flesh, but its impact is such that the Earth, or rather, the portions of it where rainfall has occurred almost continuously, has also suffered a before and after. You may notice that there is more vegetation or that the river is higher, but from space it looks better: this scar in the south of the peninsula It is magnificent proof of this. The European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-3 continues to patrol the planet to record sea and land surface temperatures, sea level height and ocean color to study climate, oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. And in its sweep it has left a shocking image: the new and green Morocco. Precipitation in recent months in Morocco reached 360 millimeters at the beginning of February 2026, 54% above the average of the last 30 years and 215% more than in 2025, as reported by Swissinfothe international service of Swiss public radio and television. Torrential rains have given Morocco a respite With this rainy season, the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, announced the end of a cycle of continuous seven-year drought that had wreaked havoc on agriculture and livestock. The situation was so critical that Morocco breathed a sigh of relief: the politician explained that with these rains the country was assured of up to three years of drinking water. Of course, like Spain, Morocco also suffered from floods like the one that occurred in the Loukkos basin (they reached maximum flows of almost 3200 cubic meters per second). From drought to orchard in the north of Morocco. Via: Copernicus Sentinel 3 As a picture says a thousand words, above these lines is the northeast of Morocco photographed by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 in mid-February 2025 in the middle of the drought and a year later. In 2025, the scarce vegetation was visible from space and now, after two months of intense rains, the terrain has been transformed into an expanse of green vegetation visible from space. The image on the left corresponds to February 20, 2025 and a generalized drought can be seen in practically the entire area. On the right, just a year later, you can see extensive vegetation. However, on February 20 of this year, available water resources reached 11.8 billion cubic meters, according to the data managed by the ESAwhich represents an increase of approximately 155% compared to the same period in 2025. These rains have also made it possible to fill the reservoirs, which has reached 70.7% of the total capacity of the dams. According to the Moroccan media Le Matinare figures that the North African country had not seen since 2018. Faced with this hydraulic pressure, the authorities have carried out various controlled preventive releases of water to protect the structures. But beyond ensuring its infrastructure, these rains have a direct impact on Morocco’s water economy: from consumption to the agricultural sector through hydroelectric plants. In Xataka | The brutal floods facing Portugal and western Spain, seen from space In Xataka | A 2.5 billion-year-old geological wonder: Zimbabwe’s Great Dam seen by NASA from space

create the mother of all data centers

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Almost a decade ago we learned about Neom, a Saudi superproject orchestrated to diversify the economy and stop depending so much on oil. Within the ‘crazy things‘ inside Neom, The Line It was the largest: a linear city 170 kilometers long and 500 meters high to house nine million people. The project has been falling apartbut they have found a solution: convert The Line into a data center. You wouldn’t expect anything else, would you? Let’s go with context. Climbing, but downwards. The Line has gone from being the city of the future to something totally different. Over the years, the utopian megaproject of 500,000 million dollars without cars, automated, powered by renewables and that began to be built under strong controversies due to the forced displacement of native tribes it was deflating. Of the 170 kilometers and nine million inhabitants, expectations dropped to 2.7 kilometers long for a population of 300,000 inhabitants. The most recent and independent reports indicated that The Line was unrealizable and that not even a country like Saudi Arabia could bear the cost. There were experts who they pointed that it was something “unmoored from reality.” “New phase”. The problem is that there is already a certain infrastructure built and, being a failure as it already is (and as it is perceived by the rest of the world), the most sensible thing would be to reuse what has already been built to do whatever. And within that ‘whatever’, comes the new gold mine: data centers. In the area where they were going to build the megacity, there is plenty of space to house gigantic data centersbut also some operational advantages. A small part of the land that has already begun to be moved to build The Line. Something will have to be done with the work done From the country they have not said anything because, as we say, swould be accepting a failure of biblical proportionsbut for a few weeks it has been pointed out that this new phase, this conversion to data centers, would allow monetizing what until now has only been a pit of money. They already have the land, the earthworks and part of the electrical connections, and building data centers is easier than ‘pulling’ two skyscrapers kilometers and kilometers long. Neom IA. And this new approach fits with Saudi Arabia’s aspiration to become the global AI node. We have been telling for a few months how Saudi Arabia is investing a lot of money to attract companies that want to build data centers. For example, 7 billion in one fell swoop at NVIDIAhuge investment for build a city-sized data centerand have created a company called Humain in which both NVIDIA and AMD are already involved. The million-dollar purchases are not being restricted to investments in Western Big Tech. In September last year, the Saudi fund (which is ultimately owned by the country) was merged 55 billion dollars in a legendary video game company: Electronic Arts. He didn’t do it for his video games (which, admittedly, are in the doldrums), but to buy cultural influence in millions of homes. It has not been the only billion-dollar movement in the country in terms of video games, since they are now negotiating the purchase of a mobile games company for about 7,000 million dollars. Access to the Red Sea. Therefore, it is evident that the country wants to diversify its economy, even if that means investing astronomical amounts that, admittedly, are still infinitely smaller than The Line’s initial objective. And, apart from money, the Saudis have something equally important: the power to do what they want in terms of energy, territory and access to the Red Sea. data centers They need water to dissipate heat and, although the navy is not adequate (in fact, there is controversy over its freshwater needs), the Red Sea implies an outlet to the rest of the world. As? Through submarine cables. They are deploying cables and that access to the Red Sea would allow the data centers on The Line’s land to be integrated with international fiber optic nodes in Europe or Africa. “We are determined, by the grace and power of God, to achieve the transformation objectives. But we will also not hesitate to cancel or radically change any program or objective if we find that the public interest requires it” – Shura Council on Neom and The Line in September 2025 Challenges. They can also combine gas with renewables like solarwhere it has enormous potential on the ground, although there are some difficulties ahead. For example, temperatures are high and fresh water is scarce, although it could be used in heat exchange systems. Furthermore, the energy required to maintain the humidity and temperature conditions of the server rooms would be tremendous, complicating the design of the infrastructure. Promises and realities. In the end, and as different sources point out in Financial Timesit’s about getting money, diversifying the economy and data centers come into the equation. The location between three continents is good, there is plenty of land and access to both renewable and profitable energy (with projects like that of green hydrogen). And then there is the Red Sea. It certainly seems more likely that we’ll see a gigantic data center before anything else related to the Neom project. Current events are showing that Big Tech They have billions to invest in artificial intelligenceand Saudi pockets are deep to attract anyone. Some of the largest – Amazon, for example, which has just closed its data centers in Saudi Arabia by the Iranian attacks – may be attracted to the sovereign wealth fund. But of course, we will have to see if it is fulfilled. There we have the Jeddah Tower, Mukaabeither pharaonic airportother examples outside of Neom that, for the moment, are nothing more than promises. And Big Tech, with its hunger for computing, needs the data centers of the next decade… for before yesterday. Images | Neom In Xataka | AI is bringing … Read more

we are nostalgic for the attention span we had then

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A few days ago I saw a tweet which said the following: “There was a time when happiness took the humble form of an ordinary afternoon. Coming home, turning on the PS2 and disappearing for hours.” It is one of those tweets that manage to strike a nostalgic chord and name something that many people feel but have not yet been able to articulate. The easy reading is the nostalgia of youth: we were young, we had no responsibilities, we had entire afternoons to lose in the GTA on duty. That’s true, but it’s only half the story. The other half is that we lived those afternoons with an attention that today is almost impossible to reproduce.. There was nothing competing for her. The screen was one, the world was that, and the mind stayed inside for hours without anyone calling it back. That no longer exists. Not because we have less free time, but also because adult life overwhelms us as is normal; but because the free time we have has stopped being habitable in the same way. The cell phone does not interrupt only when it rings: it interrupts all the time without doing anythingwith its mere presence in the pocket, with the always open possibility that there is something in there that we have not yet seen. The 2007/2008 academic year was absolutely spectacular for my group of friends. Of the six of us, four of us had a girlfriend. We all finished the course single. One of the reasons was that we loved spending hours together playing PES 2008. A few years later we wanted to recover those times but it was never the same, and what had changed was that we all now had smartphones and social networks, and We all ended up looking at it, the individual screen, instead of the TV, the collective screen.so we lost track of what others were doing and the experience was completely different. Even with solo play, loading screens, which were previously a moment of mental pause or going for another Coca-Cola, have become the automatic trigger for taking out the phone. The brains that grew up with those PS2 afternoons have been reconfigured to not tolerate even fifteen seconds of emptiness, just like when we wait for the elevator or have someone in front of us in line at the supermarket. The result is a strange form of loss that is difficult to name because nothing concrete is taken from you. Even though we have more responsibilities and less free time, we still have some moments. We still have access to games. What we don’t have is the ability to step inside them in the same way, to let the world narrow until only that exists. That ability, to pay complete attention to a single thing for hours, It was a resource that we didn’t know we had until it was taken away from us. so gradually that we do not notice at what exact moment it disappeared. That’s why the tweet didn’t actually talk about the PS2. I was talking about that. From the last time a plastic rectangle was enough to make the rest of the world cease to exist for an entire afternoon. In Xataka | The intellectual luxury of our era is sustaining our attention, AI is making it worse Featured image | Swello

Is it a good time to buy a Samsung Galaxy S26 or will the price drop soon?

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According to the price at which the Samsung Galaxy S26 And taking into account our trend analysis and market history, this is how we see the purchase of Samsung mobile phones right now: 🟢 Buy with confidence Samsung galaxy 26 (base) Verdict “Launch” moment. It is on pre-launch sale and you will enjoy the novelty for a few months. official RRP €999 (Samsung store). Target price “on the street” Don’t pay more than €949 for the base model. Next release Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold (expected in 2026), Samsung Galaxy S27 (expected in February 2027). Our recommendation Buy keeping two things in mind: 256 GB model: on Amazon it is on sale with a coupon for €949. 512 GB model: on Amazon it is on sale with a discount + coupon for €944. Our recommendation right now is to buy the 512 GB model taking advantage of the double direct and coupon discount. Regret cost Low. The mobile phone has just been launched and is on sale, so you can enjoy the novelty for a lower price. Why is the traffic light GREEN? Right now (March 2026) we are in its pre-launch period, so we have the news of a new mobile phone along with the offers that we usually have on most of the brand’s smartphones in this period. Thus, we find ourselves in this situation: Pre-release effect: The Galaxy S26 has not been launched yet, so we can enjoy a few months of the “newness” effect. Multiple offers: The launch has been accompanied by many offers, which may vary depending on the store we look at. Prices in their configurations: One of the most attractive offers lies in the “Double your storage”, a campaign that many stores have in which we have the 512 GB version at the same (or similar) price as the 256 GB version. This also affects higher internal storage configurations. Expert buyer advice: If you are going to buy a Samsung Galaxy S26 right now, go for the 512 GB or 1 TB configuration if you want to have a lot of storage, especially in its pre- and post-launch period, which is when it usually has the best offers in the first months of the cycle. Price history and change prediction The image above is a price chart of the previous generation, the Samsung Galaxy S25 (2024-2025), and we have superimposed it with the prices that we have seen so far on the Samsung Galaxy S26. This is what we see: What history tells us: During the first months of the cycle we only usually find post-launch offers, so it is not until after about three months that we can see better prices. Possible price drop in April: If we look at the price history of its previous generation, it was in April when we began to find more recurring offers, especially until the month of June. Keep an important fact in mind: Around October, we started seeing worse deals on the 128GB Galaxy S25. Because? Apple has a lot to do with it, since the iPhone 17 starts at 256 GB. To compete and sell, stores stopped launching offers on the 128 GB version, and began launching more on the 256 GB version. Hence, except in December, in November 2025 and in January and February 2026 we have seen crazy prices. So? If you see the price for 999 euros (RRP), you are losing money. The pre-launch “street price” right now is around 940 – 950 euros, don’t pay more than that, especially for the 256 GB base model. The best Samsung Galaxy S26 deals now: In the pre-launch period, both the official store and many suppliers have their own offers: Samsung has it for 749 euros paying with Bizum or Samsung Pay and with a direct discount. It allows you to have double the storage (512 GB) without paying more and you can save more money by handing over your old device. MediaMarkt has it for 899.10 euros if you pay through their app. amazon has it for 949 euros using the coupon and it saves you 100 euros if you are a student. The English Court has it for 999 eurosbut it offers a 5% discount when paying from the app, another 5% discount with the El Corte Inglés card and another 10% when purchasing Samsung Galaxy Buds4 (the discount is on the headphones). fnac has it for 999 eurosbut it offers a 10% discount when purchasing Samsung Galaxy Buds4 (the discount is on the headphones). PcComponents has it for 999 eurosbut it offers training on artificial intelligence focused on Samsung Galaxy, allows you to have double the storage (512 GB) without paying more and allows you to finance the purchase at 0% for up to 36 months. Samsung Galaxy S26 (256GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Is the Samsung Galaxy S26 for you now? To better understand whether or not you deserve to buy the mobile right now, these are the reflections I would make: ✅ BUY IT TODAY IF: You need a cell phone because the one you have is broken or the battery no longer lasts you half a day. You want to enjoy the “new” effect on your mobile, also taking advantage of the fact that it is now on sale. You come from a very previous generation, from the Samsung Galaxy S23 back. ⛔ I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT IF: You have a recent mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S25. The improvements, especially compared to the previous generation, are not great enough to justify the purchase at the time of its launch. You are going to pay the official price (999 euros). You can hold out for a few months, until at least April, which is when we start to see better offers. Good alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy S26 that I would buy If you still have doubts about whether or not to buy … Read more

the wheels of your car are revealing your position to anyone who wants to monitor you

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I can think of few uglier scenarios behind the wheel than a puncture going 120 kilometers per hour. Fortunately, tire pressure sensors minimize this risk because they act as whistleblowers in case of mishaps, ranging from a blowout to a simple loss of pressure. They were designed with security in mind and not privacy and that has opened a door: monitor where your car passes. And obviously, where are you. Context. Tire pressure monitoring systems or TPMS are required by law: in the EU since 2014, also in the pioneering United States and other countries such as South Korea or Japan. This system uses small sensors integrated into each wheel to monitor the pressure and send wireless signals to the car’s computer to alert the driver if a tire drops below the set pressure. Due to regulations and validity, there are millions of vehicles in circulation with TPMS and no one perceives them as a risk: they are safety sensors, not connectivity. The discovery. A research team from IMDEA Networks has shown that TPMS sensors continuously emit a unique identification number via radio frequency that has neither encryption nor authentication. The ID does not change, so it works as if it were a license plate. Like that radar that catches you on a specific day and time at a certain point. Thus, anyone with a radio receiver can pick it up and if they do it once, from then on they will be able to recognize that car at any other time. This operation occurs without the driver knowing and, furthermore, he cannot do anything to avoid it. Why is it important. To begin with, because the research team has already confirmed that by crossing the four data from the four wheels, the reliability of the identification is high. Alessio Scalingi, professor at UC3M and one of the authors of the study, summarizes it like this: “data that seems passive and harmless can become a powerful identifier when collected at scale.” But it is also much more discreet than a conventional radar or camera: the TPMS emits radio signals continuously and these are invisible and can pass through obstacles or walls. Hiding is not an option. On the other hand, there is no need to hack anything: the signal is public and by default it arrives unencrypted. In short: TPMS tracking is cheap, difficult to detect, and difficult to avoid. How they did it. To reach this conclusion, the IMDEA Networks Institute research team together with European partners conducted a 10-week study in which they collected signals from more than 20,000 vehicles. The equipment used was a network of low-cost SDR radio receivers ($100 each), which were distributed near parking lots and roads. In that time they were able to collect more than six million messages, which helped them to reconstruct routes and routines, for example what time someone arrives at work or how often they go shopping, the type of vehicle or even whether it transports heavy cargo. The receivers are capable of capturing signals from moving cars at more than 50 meters, even if the sensors are hidden or inside buildings. How it affects you as a driver. You are potentially exposed to monitoring of your car journeys no matter what you do. This sensor goes inside the wheel and has no switch, so as a driver you cannot do anything to avoid this tracking beyond obviously not using your private vehicle. Of course, it requires someone to deploy this network of receivers deliberately. The ball is in the regulators’ court. As the research team explains, the real problem is structural: the TPMS regulations do not require encryption for these sensors, so the solution is not in the hands of users, but in those who regulate and the manufacturers. As concludes Dr. Yago Lizarribarone of the authors of the study: “Our findings demonstrate the need for manufacturers and regulatory bodies to improve the protection of future vehicle sensor systems.” In Xataka | The industry has been filling cars with complex safety systems for years. The only problem is that we don’t use them In Xataka | The Government of Spain has insisted that we do not exceed the speed limits. And it has a threat: jail Cover | Waldemar Brandt

In 1997 Winamp forever changed the way we listen to music. This is his story 30 years later

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Perhaps the main topic of this article is a fond memory for you, perhaps you have not yet moved it to that section or perhaps you do not know what we are going to talk about, but if we think about keys in the history of the digitization of music and the mp3 format, we inevitably have to talk about Winamp’s own history. A software that came to your computer in one way or another to listen to your favorite mp3s and create your lists (eventually). Let’s forget the flat designhe material design and all the modern interfaces to remember this precedent of other players, which was not strictly the first either. Who created it and what motivations were there? Why was it losing prominence? If you know him, nostalgia will probably invade you for a little while; if you don’t know him, you may know some of the reasons for his decline. The original broth of Winamp and digital music The popularization of the Internet, the lowering of its rates and the digitization of music meant that the computer began to take on the role of source and player of our songs. Regarding this, it is impossible to ignore a chapter in this story in which piracy was the order of the day, with protagonists like KaZaA or eMule (perhaps more common and longer in time depending on the country). In any case, obtaining a significant number of songs in mp3 format made the players much more required and someone thought that what was offered so far (Windows Media Player, Real Player, etc.) did not satisfy the needs or did not give the option to do so, specifically Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev (former students of the University of Utah). They created the seed of the player, which was a very simple graphical interface to make the use of AMP more comfortable (Advanced Multimedia Productswhich is considered the first *.mp3 player) on Windows systems (a title bar and a menu bar with a few playback commands). In 1997, Frankel created Nullsoft, his company, and Winamp 1 was released. It was not the only alternative player created to listen to this music format, but it was the one that combined features such as creating playlists or random playback, all in an interface that used to be quite intuitive. It soon became popular, becoming among the most downloaded software in the last 10 years. What started out as free software ended with version 1.5, at which point the license freeware became sharewareso that users had a 14-day free trial after which they would be obliged to pay 10 dollars. The program became popular to the point that Frankel He earned $100,000 a month. And the success did not go unnoticed by what was a great company at the time, AOL, which bought the software from Nullsoft for $80 millionIn fact, the streaming service and the SHOUTcast protocol also remained. Versions 0.2 and 0.92 (right). Winamp version 2.0. Winamp version 3.0. The intention was to create a leading online radio platform like Pandora or Last.FM by unifying the catalogs of Winamp and Warner Music, but they did not achieve it (the existence of one and the absence of the other is the proof). This also coincided chronologically with the launch of the iPod and its song sales platform, iTunes, which although it was somewhat behind in the mp3 revolution, had its role in normalizing the purchase of mp3s to the detriment of piracy in the United States. AOL would eventually dismantle Nullsoft in December 2003, and Frankel left the new parent company in January 2004. In Rocknerd They quote Nullsoft’s Rob Lord regarding the AOL acquisition and what Winamp could have been if it hadn’t been managed by AOL the way it was. “There is no reason why Winamp is not where iTunes is now other than the mismanagement on AOL’s part that began immediately after the acquisition.” Rob Lord, Nullsoft A review of the versions Depending on how familiar Winamp is to you (whether you were a user from the beginning, a recent user or if you have never used it before), one interface or another will have remained in your retina, but the most popular ones may have been from 1.9 onwards, when many new functions and elements were added. on the blog Old Version (now disappeared) made their particular tribute to the app by showing some of the interfaces of these versions that allowed us to recover some images. As we mentioned before, the first version was 0.2 (April 1997), which already went beyond plain text to present an interface with the basic elements of a player (title, play buttons, bitrate, audio output mode, etc.). The dark gray background that would become a hallmark would come with 0.92, in addition to the top bar with yellow lines, and in 1.0 a graphic equalizer, the list editor, a frequency analyzer and the search bar would be added to this. Version 1.6 introduced another of the features that was best received: customization. In addition, they were expanding support for different formats, such as MIDI, *.wave and CDswhich arrived with version 1.91. This interface with the equalizer taking up much of it and the playlist screen may be quite familiar to you. With version 2.0 came the Advanced Visualization Studio (AVS) by default (until then it was a separate plug-in), which allowed you to create rhythm-dependent animations on demand. But it was** in 2002 when Winamp 3** arrived, after the purchase of AOL and completely rewritten at the code level, incorporating a multimedia library, a renewed interface and the only one adapted to Linux of all the existing ones (and video support since 2.9), although there was some rejection as it consumed too many system resources and was somewhat unstable. The interface of the latest version for Mac has nothing to do with those modules with gray backgrounds in versions starting from 2.0. With version 5 in December 2003, the … Read more

“Citizen surveillance and autonomous weapons deserved more deliberation” OpenAI robotics director resigns

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A week ago we were just saying that “A dead king, a king“: Anthropic passage to pure ostracism after being considered a “risk to the supply chain” of the United States practically overlapped with the announcement of the US Defense Administration agreement with OpenAI in record time. Behind the scenes: the reasons for the no from the company led by Dario Amodei and the unknown of the terms of that agreement that installs ChatGPT on the Pentagon computers. A few days later, Caitlin Kalinowski says goodbye at his position at OpenAI, citing the military use of artificial intelligence as the reason. The resignation. Caitlin Kalinowski, head of the OpenAI robotics team since November 2024, announced her departure from the company a few hours ago in publications from X and from LinkedIn. He makes it clear that his decision is about principles and not people and expresses respect for Sam Altman and the team. In his brief statement there are two lines that, in his opinion, the company did not think about enough internally: The surveillance of American citizens without judicial supervision. Autonomous weapons capable of firing without human supervision. Tap to go to the post Context. The resignation occurs in the midst of Anthropic’s departure from the Pentagon (the transition will last six months), the entry of OpenAI and in the midst of a debate about how far AI companies should go in their collaboration with the US military establishment: Anthropic stood before the Pentagon drawing strict lines on domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. OpenAI reached an agreement with the Department of Defense to deploy its models on a classified government network in a move that has been interpreted as opportunistic. According to the company led by Altman, the agreement excludes domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, but the damage to its reputation had already been done: thousands of people uninstalled ChatGPT by way of cancellation. Why it is important. The goodbye of Caitlin Kalinowski is the first public and nominative resignation from a senior position at OpenAI motivated by ethical disagreements over the military use of AI explicitly. And this sets a precedent in the industry insofar as it exposes the internal fracture in the most influential company in the sector, placing OpenAI in a delicate situation before those who use its tools, its staff and also before society. And finally, it makes more clear than ever the need to legislate on artificial intelligence and its civil and military uses. Maybe Europe is behind in the AI ​​battlebut a long time ago he set about the arduous task of establish a regulatory framework. Which Kalinowski does not say. In the comments of her post on Kalinowski does not say it clearly, but when an agreement of this magnitude has already been signed and its CEO makes it publicthere is no room for much maneuver from within: resigning with a public statement like yours is one of the few pressure maneuvers left to exert. Consequences. For OpenAI, the pressure is growing and it faces more departures and more cancellations if it does not clearly show what its red lines are in a credible and verifiable way: the militarization of AI is something we are experiencing in real time. For the AI ​​industry, it is more fuel on the fire of the self-regulation debate. And Anthropic gains reputation, although in the short term it has lost an important agreement and its new status may put its existence in check. In Xataka | The US has decided to shoot itself in the foot and destroy one of the best AI companies in the country In Xataka | Sam Altman says he’s terrified of a world where AI companies believe themselves to be more powerful than the government. It’s just what you’re building Cover | Caitlin Kalinowski

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