arrived

Huawei arrived at MWC as if the European blockade attempt had not happened. And he left as one of the great protagonists

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There are images that summarize geopolitical tension better than any official document. One of them occurred in Barcelona during the last Mobile World Congress. While several European capitals debate how to reduce the presence of suppliers considered high risk in telecommunications networks, Huawei appeared at the sector’s largest fair with a presence that is difficult to ignore. The Chinese company arrived at the event with one of the most visible spaces in the venue and left as one of the most notable presences at the congress, a scene that helps to understand the current relationship between Europe and the technology giant. The image. When touring the pavilions of the Barcelona exhibition center, it was quickly understood the weight that Huawei had decided to exhibit. As Politico tells itthe company installed one of the largest exhibition spaces at the event and located it in one of the busiest areas of the complex, a location usually reserved for the most powerful actors in the industry. During the days of the fair, that stand became a constant crossing point for executives, operators and analysts who toured the congress. Prominence also on the agenda. Beyond its deployment within the venue, Huawei also took up space in the official MWC programming. Company executives participated in different sessions of the congress and the company was among the actors present in the debates on network infrastructures and technological evolution of the sector. That role was reinforced with a recognition at the Global Mobile Awardsthe awards that are presented every year during the event. The award for one of its network infrastructure developments served as a reminder that, despite the political climate surrounding the company in part of Europe, its technological weight within the industry remains relevant. The European contrast. The scene left by the MWC contrasts with the political climate that has surrounded Huawei in part of Europe for several years. The European Commission has been toughening its discourse for some time on suppliers considered high risk in critical telecommunications infrastructure and has encouraged Member States to reduce their dependence on them. In parallel, several European countries have taken measures to limit or withdraw their technology from sensitive networks, especially in the deployment of 5G, with decisions in countries such as Germany, which has prompted the withdrawal of Chinese components in critical parts of the networkor Sweden, that banned Huawei from its 5G networks. The result is a fragmented map in which regulatory pressure coexists with a more complex industrial reality. Spain has not been immune to the European debate on Huawei either, although its evolution has followed a less abrupt path than in other countries. The Government has not decreed a formal ban, but the company’s role in critical infrastructure has been progressively decreasing. In the deployment of 5G, the large operators have been replacing their technology in the network corethe part that manages user communications and data. The result is an intermediate scenario: Huawei is still present in the technological ecosystem, but its weight in the most sensitive points of the networks has been significantly reduced. A resilience already known. The Barcelona scene fits a pattern that Huawei has been repeating for years. Following the sanctions imposed by the United States in 2019, many analysts assumed that the company would be relegated to a secondary role in the global technology industry. However, the company quickly refocused its strategy: strengthened its domestic market in China, developed its own chips and opted for an independent software ecosystem after losing access to Google services. This adaptation process allowed the company to remain present in numerous segments of the sector, even in markets where its position had been weakened. The image that Huawei left at the MWC. We can interpret it as a moment within a longer story. For years, different actors have tried to stop the advance of the Chinese giant in the global technology industry. However, the company has continued to reorganize its strategy and maintain a presence in the sector. What happened in Barcelona suggests that this process is far from over. Quite the opposite: we are watching a new stage unfold in real time. Images | Huawei In Xataka | The US has decided to shoot itself in the foot and destroy one of the best AI companies in the country

It seemed that the Fold were the territory of Samsung and Honor. Motorola has arrived to claim its space

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After doing what are, for me, the best folding Flip type, Motorola has just embarked on the adventure of its remaining format: the Fold. And I have already been able to try it: I was alone with the Motorola Razr Fold, I think it is a solid, versatile and high-quality bet. He is coming to cause a lot of war, I am convinced. The first thing I appreciated when holding it in my hand is that Motorola has known how to slim down the thickness of the phone so that it is almost “normal” once it is folded. The two unfolded parts are very thin: reaches 4.55 mm. Of course, only in the areas of the phone that do not correspond to the cameras, because there the thickness, as usual, is much higher. Motorola Razr Fold technical sheet motorola razr fold SCREEN 6.6 inch external Internal 8.1 inch 2K LTPO Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 outer glass DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 4.55mm open thickness 9.89mm closed thickness Weight: – PROCESSOR Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 RAM 16 GB RAM Boost STORAGE 512GB FRONT CAMERA 32 MP internal 20MP Outdoor REAR CAMERA 50 MP main (Sony LYTIA 828) 50 MP telephoto lens, 3x optical zoom, OIS 50 MP ultra wide angle (122 degree field of view) BATTERY 6,000 mAh 80W TurboPower Charging 50W wireless charging OPERATING SYSTEM Android CONNECTIVITY 5G OTHERS Compatible with moto pen ultra Stainless steel hinge and titanium internal plate Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Sound by Bose IP47/IP48/IP49 PRICE From 1,999 euros It feels very good in the hand, as if it were not a foldable This is important, since Motorola makes no compromises: the two wings of the phone are joined together without gaps, as if from the outside it looked like a regular phone. It’s a bit difficult to put your fingers in the phone to unfold it. The movement from there offers no resistance and allows you to hold the hinge at almost any angle. The Pantone finishes, and a rough touch on the back, give it personality, as well as grip. It holds up well when folded and unfolded, just like when it comes to taking photos. I have not noticed that it is greatly offset by the weight of the triple camera. The screen looks fabulous in all conditions: Motorola has achieved extremely high brightness for both panels. The tactile response is good and the fold crease did not seem exaggerated to me. Yes, it is marked more than that of the Honor Magic V6For example. You couldn’t ask for more in terms of power: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 516 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. The test did not allow me to analyze the performance in depth. From what I tested, I highly doubt that I will have problems on a day-to-day basis, both with regular multitasking and with games. I also didn’t appreciate that it got hotter than normal. Competing to be the reference folding I don’t think he Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 be the rival to beat for the Motorola Razr Fold: due to the extra-thin design, and the 6,000 mAh battery embedded in the phone, Moto points to Honor with its Magic V. Because that was the feeling I had when I had the new mobile: the Razr Fold reminded me of the Magic V5. When hours later I tried the Honor Magic V6I couldn’t help but draw parallels. Although the design may have certain reminiscences between one and the other, Motorola maintains software with its particular style, customizable to a large extent and with a style of Android 16 that is not too far from the Pixel. Also, very good news: The Motorola Razr Fold is guaranteed with seven years of Android updates and seven years of security updates The resistance is also certified: IP47, IP48 and IP49. It has very good quality sound certified by Bose and compatible with Dolby Atmos. A trio of reliable cameras with an AI-enhanced telephoto Cameras are usually the pending issue with folding phones, especially when they are as thin as the Motorola Razr Fold. Because there are no miracles, physics is physics. And the minimum thickness is enough for what it is, compromises have to be made. Motorola has decided to sacrifice as little as possible. Its triple rear camera debuts a Sony Lytia 828 50 megapixel which seems to behave at a good level. I was taking photos in the testing room, with plenty of light coming in through the windows, and I saw the camera resolute, accurate in colors and with well-applied automatic HDR. The wide angle is also 50 megapixels. Same as the telephoto: Motorola has relied on a trio that produces the same dimensions in the resulting images. With Quad Binning processing at 12.6 megapixels. The telephoto reaches 100x in its maximum hybrid mode, a distance that usually results in a glob. Although I have appreciated great work from the AI: can reconstruct images until you get something drinkable. It won’t be the best photo in the world, but at least it will serve to show it. With the logical risks of parts invented (or recreated) by AI. Motorola rounds off the great work it already did in the Flip format The Motorola Razr Fold is a mobile phone that surprises in the hand due to its lightness and everything it keeps inside. Power, performance, flexibility, very good cameras and the ability to become a very good work tool. At this point I especially like your desktop modeI believe that Motorola has a great asset to enhance productivity in all environments. Especially those of us who travel almost with nothing on. Very good balance between quality, performance and design. Now, it is not a phone that is unique on the market either: the Fold-type folding format is already very mature. And they are all placing themselves in a high price segment, that segment for which They seek to distinguish themselves by appearance rather than … Read more

Spain had a completely saturated electrical grid. And then data centers arrived to blow it up even more

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Imagine a highway on which not a single vehicle can fit anymore. But the problem is not that there is a lack of asphalt, but that the cars do not know how to drive efficiently and keep kilometer-long safety distances. The Spanish electrical grid was exactly that. It had been operating for years at the limit of its administrative capacity, and suddenly, a convoy of trucks of industrial tonnage and voracious appetite has arrived at the access ramp: data centers. These megainfrastructures, pillars of artificial intelligence and the cloud, promise to water the economy of millions, but their brutal need for supply threatened to burst the seams of an already saturated electrical system. To avoid collapse and not let the reindustrialization train escape, the Government has had to react and radically change the technical rules of the game. Cascading capacity collapse. To understand the collapse we have to look at how our way of consuming energy has changed. The energy transition is profoundly reconfiguring the model throughout the national territory. Requests to connect to transportation and distribution networks have skyrocketed. In addition to the electrification of industry and renewable hydrogen, there is now massive consumption associated with data centers for artificial intelligence. The problem broke out when the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) established a “dynamic criterion” to calculate how much access capacity was available in the areas shared by several network nodes. As detailed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) in his press releaseapplying this criterion means that a single access requested at a node can cause a “cascading effect that drains capacity in the rest of the nodes that share the area”, blocking requests from dozens of kilometers away. Basically, a large data center asks for passage and, automatically, the system administratively blocks neighboring nodes as a precaution, even if physically the cables have plenty of space. Investments in the air and the ghost of the blackout. The consequences of this traffic jam directly affect the real economy and national security. Real estate and industrial paralysis. The situation is so critical that, as we already mentioned in our previous coverage citing the Asprima employers’ associationlast year only 12% of connection requests for new urban developments were granted. There are 350,000 homes at risk simply due to lack of electrical power. The risk of an electrical “zero”. The Official State Gazette warns that the increase in installations that are not able to withstand “tension gaps” poses a very high risk. If there is a disturbance and these generators are massively disconnected, exchange flows are produced that are incompatible with Spain’s limited interconnections with Europe. As the diary recalls The Countrythe objective is to avoid at all costs a repeat of massive blackouts like the one suffered by the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2025. It is not enough to put more cables. In areas limited by this dynamic criterion, it is no longer possible to enable new capacity simply by investing money in reinforcing the network with “more copper.” The expert in the sector Joaquín Coronado sums it up perfectly: the demand must be 100% active; It must provide flexibility and commit to the stability of the system. The Government’s emergency surgery. To unclog this Gordian knot, the Government and regulators have launched a three-way shock plan: The new Royal Decree of MITECO. The Ministry has been brought to public hearing (until March 16) a standard that updates the technical requirements to connect to the network. The master key is that now it is required that the demands “withstand voltage gaps”, do not introduce adverse oscillations and maintain the quality of the wave. By forcing installations not to disconnect in the event of small disturbances, the number of nodes affected in shared areas is reduced. This simple technical measure could bring out 50% more capacity in about 900 knots of connection to the high-voltage network. The “flexible permits” of the CNMC. To put an end to the binary model (either I give you all the capacity or I deny it), the CNMC has proposed four new types of permits, as we already broke down in Xataka. These range from allowing consumption only in certain time slots, to “dynamic” permissions where the operator can remotely disconnect a data center if there is an emergency on the network. The “technical amnesty” for data giants. In parallel, the Ministry of Industry has been urgently removed the “off-peak” requirement. Previously, to receive aid, you had to consume at night, an absurdity for a data center (which operates 24/7) and for today’s Spain, where solar energy has brought down prices at midday. The citizen cost and the fine print. The Government’s maneuver not only responds to a national emergency, but also places Spain as a pioneer on the continent. The country is anticipating the update of the European network codes, deploying a battery of technical specifications simultaneously that is already considered a milestone worldwide, as detailed The Country. In this deployment, the new regulations also settle a historical debt with energy storage: batteries will finally have their own specific regulatory framework, no longer being administratively treated as simple “generation by analogy” facilities. However, this deep digitalization so that the network supports such a complex mode of operation will not come for free, and the bill for modernization will end up looming in the consumer’s pocket. Forecasts for 2026 They already estimate direct increases in citizen receipts, with a 4% increase in tolls and a not inconsiderable 10.5% in electricity system charges. And while citizens assume the technical cost, the data giants – recipients of this regulatory red carpet – prefer to remain cautious in the face of the eternal Spanish bureaucratic obstacle. The technology sector warns that a key piece of the puzzle is missing: If the Government does not expressly include the National Code of Economic Activity (CNAE) corresponding to “Data Processing” in the official list of sectors entitled to receive the million-dollar electro-intensive aid, all … Read more

Mercadona and the white label had been setting the course for supermarkets in Spain for years. Until the “ultra low cost” arrived

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When we Spaniards go out shopping we value above all two factors. The first, proximity. The second, the price. Even above the quality. It is not at all surprising if we take into account that we come from a inflationary crisis and there are items of common consumption (cocoa, coffee either eggs) who have experienced a real storm in recent months. The chains know how much they are risking with each euro and have acted accordingly. For example with a bet on the white label that has been especially good to Mercadona. There is, however, another strategy that has been gradually making its way into the world. retail Spanish, one also focused on prices, but that does not rely on white label or short assortment: supermarkets “ultra low cost“. “Ultra low cost“? Exact. It sounds somewhat far-fetched (almost, almost cacophonous) but that is the label that best defines certain supermarket chains that have focused their strategy basically on product discounts. double digit. After years of inflation and with costs becoming a decisive factor When families decide where to shop, most chains try (to a greater or lesser extent) to be competitive in prices. In fact in the rankings Cheaper stores usually include brands such as Alcampo, Family Cash or Aldi. In the case of super “ultra low cost“The price is, however, more than just a front on which to compete. It represents the great differentiating factor. And it is to such an extent that it conditions the approach, the offer and the way the chain operates. In a recent article, Five Days reviewed the billing data of two relatively young firms that fit this pattern: Sqrups and Primaprix. What differentiates them? That in a sector (that of supermarkets) in which it seemed that everything had been said, with Mercadona expanding your domain and the white label gaining market sharethe “ultra” chains low cost“have found an alternative path of growth. Their strategy involves offering items from recognized brands (nothing from Hacendado, Deliplus, Auchan or similar), but with surprisingly low prices. As an example, Sqrups boasts of offering its customers “significant discounts” that move between 30 and 80%. How do they work the miracle? With your business model. More like its supply model. Unlike most supermarket chains, they supply surpluses that are left ‘off the hook’ or have no place on the shelves of companies such as Carrefour, Eroski, Mercadona or Hipercor, among others. These are surplus stocks, items that do not quite work, merchandise that has been left out of the circuit due to a change in packaging or not meeting presentation standards… In short, items in good condition that manufacturers need to liquidate and cannot (or want) to distribute through ‘conventional’ chains. Their destination ends up being Sgrups or Primaprix, where they add to a catalog marked by rotation, speed and discounts. But… How do they do it? “Large international brands usually have surplus stocks in their warehouses, left over from promotions (Christmas, summer, events…), from new launches or simply products with a much lower price in one country than in another. At Primaprix we travel throughout Europe hunting for these opportunities,” details the companywho remembers that he opened his first store in Madrid in 2015 and in just ten years he has built a network of 260. Sgrups’ explanation is similar. “We recover products that, under normal conditions, distribution throws away,” clarifies its general directorRaúl Espinosa, who boasts that thanks to its discounts the chain sells products with prices much lower (50-80%) than those on the market. The company ensures that its assortment comes from three sources: “production surpluses, image changes and quality control.” It also incorporates “short-dated” products. “In the last year we have rescued more than 26 million products, preventing them from being destroyed and giving them a second chance for consumption,” the company specifiesborn ago just over a decade and that works with food, but also drugstores, stationery and hygiene items. The big question: why? Because this formula has allowed them to connect with a part of the market and expand in a sector, that of retail Spanish, in which a small number of brands have been expanding their dominance. “Companies like Sqrups or Primaprix break the differentiation with the rest of the operators thanks to this supply model,” explains to Five Days Javier Pérez de Leza, good knowledge of the sector. “Mercadona, Lidl or Aldi have dedicated themselves to a type of discount that leaves room below, because the price trend is upward. You can be much cheaper than all of them, although with risks.” What risks? One (fundamental) is the pressure that operators in the sector can exert to reduce the surpluses that these chains feed on, although it is not the only limit that the model of companies like Primaprix faces. Relying on stocks makes it very difficult to guarantee the continuity of an ever-changing assortment. Furthermore, the fact that customers encounter different products every so often may increase their interest in visiting stores but also complicates such basic issues as logistics. What do your accounts say? That neither of the two chains are doing badly at all. Primaprix data we know them also thanks to Five Dayswhich a few days ago revealed that during the 2024 financial year the company had a turnover of 347 million euros. Maybe it’s far from billions from Mercadona, but it represents a year-on-year growth of 24%. If we look further back, the company’s sales quadrupled between 2020 and 2024, a period during which it went from managing 110 stores to 245. Now it is on its way to 300 establishments. The key: your business modelwhich is nourished by the surpluses accumulated in the warehouses of large manufacturers. Your catalog is completed with purchases you make in other countries, looking at prices, discarded items despite being completely suitable for consumption, or products that will expire soon. A bet not very different from what fashion or furniture outlets have been making for years. They are merchandise (many … Read more

the day an entire shipment arrived in Vladivostok frozen

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The cold wreaks havoc and not only on the gas bill: we have already seen how this winter they have had to cancel several flights, not because of storms or snow, but due to lack of antifreeze. If we talk about cars, beyond the myth that too cold affects the batteries of electric cars (tell it to the people of norway), we are clear that driving on ice is dangerous. And hey, carrying a load of cars in an extreme winter storm, too. We are going to the Russian city of Vladivostok, in December 2021. Russia is famous for harsh winters and although the port city is not Siberia, the reality is that its average in December around – 8 degrees. Well, at that time the cargo ship “Sun Rio” docked there, packed with enormous blocks of ice that, as if they were Kinder eggs, They hid used and new Japanese cars. It was not the typical frost that forms on cars when they are parked outdoors and it snows, but a solid and compact capsule that had originated in a strong storm that had occurred in the Sea of ​​Japan that the ship necessarily had to cross to reach its destination. In reality, it was the combination of storm and sea that had caused this effect. The phenomenon is called marine frosting or spray freezing and it occurs on boats, coastal structures or platforms when all the ingredients in the recipe are present, that is, very cold (temperatures below -2 degrees), there is strong wind and the sea is so rough that the waves spray water into the air. That sprayed salt water freezes instantly when it touches cold surfaces, as happened on those cars outdoors. The layer-by-layer adhesion completely covered the bodywork, the underside and even the interior of the cars in those vehicles in which the windows could not support the weight. To the rich marine glaze of cars Visually it is striking, but also It is dangerous both for the integrity of the vehicle As long as it blocks equipment and sensors, we have already seen its effects on the moons and we know that saltpeter is not the best precisely for the sheet metal. And also the ship. This thick layer adds weight to the element to which it has adhered, shifting its center of gravity and affecting its stability. The cars were stationary, yes, but there were a few on the deck, which increases the risk of listing or even capsizing for a relatively small ship like this. As Captain Pyotr Osichansky detailed to the Russian medium VLit was not the first time it had happened on this usual Vladivostok-Busan-Toyama car supply route, but it had been one of the most intense times. With cars trapped in ice, the unloading operation becomes complicated and waiting for the ice to melt is not an option. So the staff resorted to deicers, hoses and the classic iron lever to separate the cars one by one. Some turned out pretty well, others not so much.. It should be remembered that it is not normal ice but comes from salt water, a true catalyst for corrosion in the bodywork, screws, brakes and other elements, even in cars that were apparently in good condition. It is the risk of import in the Green Corner of Vladivostok: those cars with broken windows and deteriorated interiors were discarded for conventional saledestined for opportunity sale, scrapping or sold piecemeal. There was no official balance of losses. In Xataka | Extreme cold paralyzes Europe. KLM cancels more than 2,300 flights due to a technical detail: antifreeze In Xataka | If you think it’s cold it’s because you weren’t in Albacete in 1971: the day the temperature dropped to -24ºC Cover and images | SCMP and Siberian Times

The Canary Islands and Galicia have set off the Navy’s alarm bells. Russia’s ghost fleet has arrived in Spain with warships

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Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and, above all, after the invasion large-scale ukrainian In 2022, Russia has been perfecting a form of confrontation that avoids direct clashes and moves in the shadows of international law: hybrid war. Sabotage, energy pressure, disinformation and opaque commercial fleets have become tools as strategic as tanks or missiles, and among them the called “ghost fleet”. Now everything indicates that they have found a new route: Spain. The “fleet” arrives from the south. At the end of January 2026, a Russian tanker sanctioned by the European Union was left adrift off the coast of Almería and was escorted by Spanish Maritime Rescue to a port in Morocco without being detained. He did it despite transporting more than 425,000 barrels of refined products of Russian origin. The episode, starring a ship integrated the ghost fleet (old ships, with frequent changes of name and flag and opaque structures of ownership) showed how Spain has become a key point of passage and incident management of a system designed to circumvent Western sanctions. Something happens. In the heart of the western Mediterranean, the Russian hybrid war was beginning to materialize not with missiles, but with timely breakdowns, gray areas of maritime law and routes connecting Russian ports with North Africa under the attentive, but limited, action of the European authorities. Morocco as a hinge, the Canary Islands as an entrance. A few days later, the arrival in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria of a oil tanker from Tangier set off alarms about a possible indirect entry of Russian fuel into Spain, using Morocco as an intermediate platform. Maritime security experts stressed that it was not an illegal operation in itself, but it was an unusual route which fits with the patterns of the ghost fleet, given that Morocco lacks sufficient refining capacity and has become a common destination for oil tankers linked to Russia. The Severomorsk Destroyer in 2023 The crux. The key, they insisted, is in the loading documentation, because the origin of the product remains Russian even if there are intermediate stops. In this context, the Canary Islands appear as a vulnerable link: a lightly guarded Exclusive Economic Zone, located in the transit axis of opaque oil tankers, which reinforces the idea that Spain offers the perfect combination of geography, infrastructure and control loopholes for this new phase of the Russian economic war. Silent pressure. Finally, and in parallel to these commercial and logistical movements, the most classic dimension of Russian naval power has ended up becoming visible in Spanish waters, forcing the Navy Spanish to intensify its surveillance operations. Within a week, Spanish units have followed the transit of several Russian vessels (including the destroyer Severomorsk and a mixed military-merchant convoy) from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic, with monitoring relays off the Galician coast and constant coordination with the command centers. Hybrid war. These missions, framed in the permanent surveillance of waters of national interest, show that the phenomenon is by no means isolated: while the ghost fleet operates on the economic and logistical level, the Russian naval presence reinforces the strategic pressure about key runners such as the Alboran Sea, Gibraltar and the Atlantic coast. Spain, the perfect route. The sum of these episodes draws a coherent pattern: the russia hybrid war has left the Baltic and the North Sea to settle in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, and Spain has become one of your most effective routes. It seems clear that all those breakdowns managed without detention, indirect discharges via Morocco, fuels of dubious traceability entering through the Canary Islands and Russian military ships crossing runners strategic are part of the same logic of attrition, ambiguity and saturation that we had already seen in other parts of Europe. And as in those cases, it is not a frontal attack, but rather a constant pressure that exploits the gray areas of trade, energy and maritime security, now placing Spain at the center of a board where war is not declared, it is navigated. Image | US Navy, Mil.ru In Xataka | Russia’s ghost fleet has changed its business model. Oil has given way to a much bigger target: Europe In Xataka | For years Europe has wondered how to stop the Russian ghost fleet. Ukraine just showed you the way: with AI

Windows 11 is already on 1 billion devices. It has arrived before Windows 10, and that says more than it seems

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If we had to bet on which of the two operating systems users want more, Windows 10 I would still have many numbers. Not only because it was a solid launch, but also because it came at the right time: in July 2015, with the mission of erasing the bad memory they had left Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. For years, Windows 10 was the comfortable place, but Microsoft has been playing another game for some time. Windows 11 is going well, very good. Not only is it growing, but it is doing so at a pace that no longer allows for too many doubts.According to data shared by Satya Nadella During the presentation of Microsoft’s financial results (fiscal second quarter), Windows 11 has reached the symbolic milestone of 1 billion users, with a year-on-year growth of 45%. It is a huge fact due to the number, but even more so because of what it suggests: that migration is finally accelerating. A strategy that has worked. The reading fits with something we have been seeing for a long time: Microsoft has stepped on the accelerator to push the jump to Windows 11. And it has not always been easy. In fact, until not so long ago the consensus was different. Unofficial figures for November 2024, crossed with historical data, described disappointing and slower than expected adoption. Windows 11 seemed to move forward with difficulty, as if the public could not find enough reasons to abandon Windows 10. But the pace has changed, and not exactly a little. Arriving before Windows 10. The comparison leaves a particularly striking detail: Windows 11 has reached 1 billion users before Windows 10. In numbers, Windows 11 needed 1,576 days (almost four years and five months) to reach that barrier, while Windows 10 took 1,706 days (four years, eight months and two days). Even so, it is worth putting it in perspective: Microsoft set an even more aggressive goal with Windows 10, aiming for it to be installed on 1 billion devices in just three years. A goal that changed. That plan was ambitious, yes, but it also had small print. In its roadmap, Microsoft planned to add part of the mobile ecosystem as “installations”: Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile. The problem is that that future never came. The collapse of Windows Phone and the subsequent cancellation of the project They left that approach meaningless, and Microsoft ended up adjusting expectations. In fact, in April 2015 Terry Myersonthen head of Windows, was already talking about “1 billion devices” in “two or three years” after the launch. A more elastic formulation, less rotund, and much easier to land when the board changes. A milestone amidst challenges. Because the jump from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is not—nor has it been—a smooth transition for everyone. The first wall is technical: hardware requirements. Many computers are left out of the official update because they do not have TPM 2.0 or a compatible processor. In other words, there are users who are pushed to renew equipment even when theirs continues to function reliably. The second obstacle is more intangible, but just as important: experience. Windows 11 arrived with visible changes compared to Windows 10 (design, interface, organization) and also a different philosophy, with more presence of functions powered by artificial intelligence, new features that may arrive at any time and a model of constant evolution that does not always work in its favor. Added to this is the usual noise: a chain of incidents after some recent updates that have made people talk. Windows 11 is a solid system, but also one in constant transformation, and that has a cost. Despite everything, Windows 11 is advancing. Perhaps it is due to pure inertia, perhaps because of end of Windows 10 supportor maybe because the PC market is moving again. What is relevant is that Windows 11 is gaining ground at a pace that Microsoft can read as a victory. Although, deep down, the industry has already changed enough for Windows to stop being king within Microsoft itself. Today it represents less than 10% of income from the Redmond giant. The real jewel in the crown, and the big strategic bet, is elsewhere: Azure. Images | Microsoft | Andrey Matveev In Xataka | We have been waiting for the new Siri for a year and a half. Now it’s just around the corner with an unexpected twist: Google

If you thought that getting the DGT V-16 beacon right couldn’t be more complicated, the beacons with an expiration date have arrived.

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Buying an approved and fully valid connected V-16 beacon is relatively simple. Or, at least, it should be. Because to the list of products and companies that market a completely valid product are added the beacons that can continue to be sold… but that will no longer be able to be sold. Yes, the DGT has opened a new list… and now everything is more confusing. The approved V-16 beacons. So that a V-16 beacon is valid by the DGT and is completely approved, the product must meet a series of requirements. Among the most important are the following: Connectivity with DGT 3.0 for at least 12 years Radiate light 360 degrees Maintain irradiation intensity for at least 30 minutes Protection degree IP54 at least Guaranteed operation between -10ºC and 50ºC How do I check it? It must be taken into account that non-approved beacons are being sold on the market despite being completely legal… more or less. And when the arrival of the beacons was approved in 2021, we didn’t know anything about the DGT 3.0 platform. In 2023 it was confirmed that its connectivity with the platform would be mandatory but, by then, beacons without connectivity had already been sold. Right now, they are still on the market selling. These beacons are not valid. We can use them but the DGT will force us to have one approved. From FACUA they point out that there are beacons that are being sold with the DGT badge but that are not approved because they do not have connectivity. Despite everything, they are still on the market. In this situation, the only thing we can do is check if the purchased product is in this list offered by the DGT. It includes each and every one of the products that can be purchased that meets the minimum requirements. The new list of the DGT. Click on the image to go to the official website. Brands and models with certificates with expired validity. Everything seemed, therefore, hands or less clear when it came to purchasing a connected V-16 beacon of those that will be mandatory from January 1, 2026. Until the DGT has added a new list with the name indicated at the beginning of this paragraph: Brands and models with certificates with expired validity. In the description of the DGT to explain what these models are, why they are on this list and what it means, Traffic points out the following: This table shows the brands and models with expired certificates that covered their manufacture and are valid for use by drivers who have purchased them until the end of their useful life. At the time of writing these lines there are three products from the Ledel Solutions CO brand. LTD and another from Ditraimon SL All of them have an end of validity date of 2025. What does this mean? To try to clarify the matter, we have contacted the DGT who have told us the following: “They are beacons that met the requirements in the first approval, but when they went to renew the certificate and had to pass the tests again, they did not meet the required quality criteria” That is, we are talking about companies that have put a valid product on the market. That product, over time, has to pass quality tests again to certify that it continues to meet the minimum required criteria. It was in this second test that they failed and, therefore, lost the certificate that allows them to sell connected V-16 beacons unless they again present a pilot product that guarantees its validity. What if I have one of these beacons? The DGT has confirmed to us that there is no problem. From Traffic they point out that if we have bought or, right now, we buy any of these connected V-16 beacons that are on the market There is no problem because the production runs that have been made until the certificates were withdrawn are completely valid. In theory, we have a guaranteed 12 years of connected V-16 beacon from the moment of purchase, as required by the technical requirements to approve this product. More confusion and more questions. Of course, what is certain is that this new DGT list adds even more confusion to the consumer. And based on the description and the responses from Traffic, it is understandable that a customer may doubt whether their connected V-16 beacon is now valid or not. According to the DGT, we repeat, yes it is. Other questions also arise. If the companies and products that appear in this list as of December 26, 2025 were lost between the months of April and September, why has it not been published until now that they have lost the certificate? In theory and with the answers that Traffic has given us, the companies Ledel Solutions and Ditraimon have not been able to put on the market a new productive run of connected V-16 beacons once the date on which the certificate renewal has been denied has passed, but there is no problem in purchasing one of these products after this date if they were already on the market. Theoretically, they are guaranteed to operate for the required minimum 12 years. Photo | Netun Solutions and DGT In Xataka | Counterfeit V16 beacons: what you should look for to differentiate them from the approved ones

In 2024 a package bomb arrived on a plane. It was the beginning of the great threat to Europe: that of a “ghost” crossing the red lines

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Europe lives a strategic transformation that few had imagined possible in such a short time. What began as a series of “flats” (intermittent blackouts, suspicious fires, minor incursions) has become a coherent pattern: a campaign of directed hybrid war that is no longer limited to destabilizing, but rather deliberately explore the thresholds of what it can inflict without provoking a direct military response. It all started a year ago. The silent climb. The plot is explained more clearly from July 2024when several DHL packages exploded in centers logistics from the United Kingdom, Poland and Germany, devices powerful enough to shoot down a plane if they had detonated in mid-flight. The episode, an infiltrated bomb at the heart of the European air system, marked a before and after, because it showed to what extent Moscow was willing to strain continental security and because it exposed the fragility of an Old Continent trapped between an increasingly aggressive Russia and a United States whose commitment has stopped being reliableand. Since then, Europe no longer sees hybrid warfare as a peripheral nuisance, but as a structural threat which targets critical infrastructures, social cohesion and the European institutional framework itself. In Xataka Mercadona has found a vein to grow beyond its white label and prepared food: tourism The Russian laboratory. I counted this week the financial times that the Russian campaign has been refined in breadth and depth. European intelligence services have disabled plots to derail trains full of passengers, set fire to shopping malls, damage dams or contaminate water in urban areas. The attacks are not isolated improvisations: they respond to a “gig economy” model of sabotage in which young recruited by Telegramlocal criminals or foreigners with residence permits act as expendable pawns for unknown objectives. Plus: they are difficult to detect, impossible to anticipate and legally ambiguous, since they rarely there is a direct connection with Russian intelligence that allows them to be accused of espionage. The case of frustrated railway sabotage in Poland (an explosive planted on the Warsaw-Lublin line that came within seconds of causing a massacre) exposed that pattern in its clearest form: unimpeded entry and exit, cryptocurrency financingfalse identities issued by Moscow and a diffuse chain of command that leads to intermediaries as Mikhail Mirgorodsky or even networks managed by former Wagner members. And there is more. Yes, because each cell discovered suggests others not yet detected, and what is worrying is not the errors of saboteurs (sometimes incapable to delete videos of its own attacks) but the scale that this model offers to a Russia resentful of decades of diplomatic expulsions and doctrinally rearmed to a pre-war period. The doctrine that returns. The ISS analysts They recently reported that the archives of the KGB and the StB (Czechoslovak intelligence) reveal parallels disturbing differences between the sabotage manuals of the Cold War and what Europe witnesses today. The objectives listed decades ago (military bases, energy infrastructures, dams, communication systems, transportation) match almost exactly with the whites of the last two years. Equally revealing is the doctrinal sequencing: during times of peace, minor attacks with the appearance of accidents, in pre-war phases, massive sabotage, increased risk tolerated and increasing willingness to cause civilian casualties, and in open war, total activation of clandestine networks for lethal operations. The prelude to something more fat. It we count very recently. If you will, Europe seems to have entered fully into a intermediate stage: a pre-war phase where each incident also functions as offensive reconnaissance, a permanent exercise by razvedka boyem to measure Western reaction capacity, locate vulnerabilities and exploit any weaknesses. The episode of the unidentified drones airports and military bases European operations illustrate this dynamic: cheap raids, of uncertain origin, that revealed systemic failures in the continental air defense and that, due to their replicator effect (copies, jokes, hysteria, false alarms) multiply the psychological and financial wear and tear. A continent without a network. I remembered the new york times This morning an added problem for Europe: that if the Russian threat escalates, the other half of the problem is the growing disconnection with the United States. For the first time since 1945, Europe perceives that Washington is not unequivocally on your side in a matter of war and peace. The Trump administration is not only pressuring kyiv to accept an agreement In Moscow’s terms, it also redefines Europe as a suspicious actor, criticizes the democratic integrity of its governments and promises to openly support the European extreme right. The result is an unprecedented scenario: a Russia that intensifies its hybrid campaign, a Ukraine that depends almost entirely on continental support and a Europe that must finance your own safety while compensating for the withdrawal of US capabilities (satellites, long-range missiles, command and control) that it cannot replace before 2029the year that NATO considers the limit to have a credible deterrent. European leaders also face depleted budgets, electorates hostile to increased military spending, and a rising far-right that Moscow sees as a strategic multiplier. {“videoId”:”x8j6422″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Declassified video of the clash between Russian fighters and the American drone”, “tag”:”united states”, “duration”:”42″} The battle of money. The internal European debate on how to finance the resistance Ukrainian reflects the magnitude of the challenge. To support kyiv for the next two years, about $200 billion is needed, an unaffordable figure without activating the 210,000 million euros on Russian assets frozen in Europe. The problem? Right now it takes the name of Belgiumwhich guards the majority through Euroclear, and which fears retaliation from Moscow and the possible erosion of the credibility of the euro as a safe haven. Washington, despite its strategic ambiguity, is also pressing for these funds to be don’t touch each othersince its eventual return is part of the US scheme for a peace agreement favorable to Russia. One more thing. And yet, without that money, Europe would have to coordinate (outside the EU framework) a colossal loan and politically explosive. The crossroads are so profound that in Berlin and Paris they are … Read more

We thought smoking was no longer fashionable among Gen Z. Until Sabrina Carpenter and Jeremy Allen White arrived

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For decades, the cigarette starred in some of the most iconic images in popular culture. In the imagination of journalism, that reporter from the last century always reappears leaning over his typewriter, surrounded by wisps of smoke while writing an urgent chronicle. In television fiction, that scene evolved into Carrie Bradshaw typing on her Mac with a half-consumed cigarette butt in her New York apartment. And in the cinema, the cigarette was almost a visual code: from the dark seduction of Humphrey Bogart to the melancholic aura that enveloped so many classic characters. Smoke, more than an accessory, functioned as a symbol of charisma, mystery or vulnerability. All of that seemed to be extinguished with the advance of anti-smoking laws. The terraces they cleared themselves of smokeHollywood moderated its use and audiovisual culture stopped associating the cigarette with glamour. The gesture was relegated to a stale past, linked to the strong smell of bars before the ban. But something unexpected has happened: the cigarette has returned. And it has done so hand in hand with the only sector capable of resurrecting what seemed forgotten: celebrities. The visible return of the cigarette to pop culture. The warning signal came from the mecca of cinema. According to a report from the anti-smoking organization Truth Initiativehalf of the movies that debuted last year included cigarettes, cigars or tobacco. In addition, it detected a 110% increase in representations of tobacco in programs aimed at young people between 15 and 24 years old, and a quadrupling in the most viewed series. The figures confirm the obvious: the cigarette has regained prominence. And, to give a couple of examples, it is being observed in music: Sabrina Carpenter appears in the video clip for Manchild smoking and posed for some photographs wearing a corset made from packets of Marlboro Gold. In cinema, films like Saltburn, Materialists or Oppenheimer They have returned tobacco to an almost omnipresent place. Fashion has not been an exception either, during New York Fashion Week, models they smoked on the catwalk as another accessory. And there is still something else, I couldn’t forget about social networks. The Instagram account @cigfluencerscreated in 2021, publishes images of celebrities smoking and has accumulated more than 80,000 followers. The cigarette as a symbol? The most curious thing about this phenomenon is that it is not mass tobacco consumption that is returning, but rather its aesthetics. That nuance is essential to understand what is happening. The point is that the cigarette returns as part of the revival Y2K and aesthetics indie sleaze and heroin chicthat mix of grunge, decadent glamor and soft rebellion that dominated the 2000s and that today inspires fashion, music and social networks. In this framework, the cigarette functions as a retro accessory, a vintage gesture that provokes more visually than addictively. This aesthetic dimension also operates as a narrative tool. In a report for The New York Times point out that the cigarette re-emerges as a symbolic resource on screen: Dakota Johnson smokes in Materialists to underline the emotional emptiness of his character; Jeremy Allen White, in The Bearuses smoke to intensify his melancholy; Sabrina Carpenter holds a makeshift mouthpiece in an ironic tone. According to the medium, the cigarette does not get in the way of the shot: it fills it with aura, drama and texture. And the fundamental question, does it have attraction for young people? There is a component of minimal rebellion. According to the BBCsmoking functions as a gesture of light transgression within a generation accustomed to self-care, permanent surveillance and implicit norms of well-being. The aesthetics brat popularized by Charli XCX It combines hedonism, irony and a touch of nihilism: a perfect territory for the cigarette to recover its provocative role, more suggestive than dangerous. Hence, the great paradox when observing the real behavior of Generation Z. While they watch celebrities smoke on screen, young people consume less and less substances. Already we have explained in Xataka how they are succeeding coffee raves —alcoholic-free daytime parties, where you dance with a cappuccino in hand—, and Tinder registers a boom in dry datingwith one in four young people preferring alcohol-free dating. In other words, cool aesthetics no longer have anything to do with actual habit. Should we worry? The problem appears when cultural trends intersect with health data. The WHO remember that tobacco It kills more than seven million people a year and that there is no safe level of exposure. EPData confirms that its global consumption has fallen from 32.7% in 2000 to 22.3% in 2020, but institutions like the CDC —cited by Wall Street Journal— warn that repeated exposure to tobacco images increases the likelihood that young people will start smoking. In fact, the BBC collected testimonies from American doctors who already observe cases of young people who, after normalizing vaping, have switched to cigarettes because “it gives more credibility” or is “more aesthetic.” Constant exposure to so-called “digital smoke”, pointed out by the Spanish Association Against Cancercan normalize a habit that seemed on the way to disappearing. However, a study carried out by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) showed that Tinder profiles of smokers receive between 29% and 52.7% less matches. Young people do not want to date someone who smokes, but they do want to consume – from a distance – the aesthetics of cigarettes on screens. The contradiction is clear: in the video clip it adds glamour; In real life, it reduces romantic interest. Fad or cultural turn? Perhaps the cigarette has not completely returned: perhaps its ghost, its iconography, its gesture has returned. Aesthetics are back, not addiction. The smoke, not the habit. But while celebrities hold it up as if it were just another jewel in the photo, health organizations remember that tobacco continues to kill half of those who don’t quit. And although on the screen it is pure aesthetics, in real life it is still a tangible risk. The cigarette, that old protagonist of classic cinema, today experiences its … Read more

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