goodbye

The first great Atlantic submarine cable that connected us to the internet says goodbye for a simple reason: it was too expensive to repair it

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It has been at the bottom of the sea for more than two decades, forgotten. But now, finally, the TAT-8, the first fiber optic cable that crossed the Atlantic and connected us to the Internet, is being removed from its place. And to understand the importance of this, it is worth telling its story, since perhaps the Internet would not be as we know it without this cable. The cable that started it all. On December 14, 1988, AT&T, British Telecom and France Telecom developed TAT-8, the acronym for Trans-Atlantic Telephone 8. It was the eighth transoceanic cable system between Europe and the United States, but the first to use optical fiber. Before him, transatlantic cables ran on copper, with very limited capacity. With the TAT-8, voices and data traveled converted into pulses of light through glass threads thinner than a hair. Just like account Wired in its report, at the inaugural event, writer Isaac Asimov connected by video call from New York with audiences in Paris and London to celebrate, in his own words, “this inaugural voyage across the sea on a ray of light.” Why was it so important? When it came into operation, the Internet was still too technical a concept for the general public. But the TAT-8 literally built the highway on which everything later circulated. The curious thing is that in just 18 months it already reached its maximum capacity, so this forced new cables to be laid as soon as possible, especially after the outbreak of the world Wide Webelectronic commerce and in a context in which the Internet became increasingly relevant. By 2001 the TAT series had already reached 14. Disconnection. Just like account In the middle, in 2002, the TAT-8 suffered a breakdown, and repairing it was not worth it, it was that simple. With more modern and higher capacity cables already operational, it made no sense to invest in their recovery. It went offline and was abandoned at the bottom of the Atlantic, where it has remained for more than two decades. Now they are taking it out of the sea. According to collect Wired, a specialist company called Subsea Environmental Services is physically recovering the cable with its vessel MV Maasvliet. It is one of the few companies in the world whose entire business consists of recovering and recycling retired submarine cables. The operation involves dragging a flat hook across the seabed, waiting hours until tension is felt in the cable, and then hoisting it aboard meter by meter. The workers they explain As the ocean floor is an increasingly crowded space, and recovering old cables frees up routes for new ones. What is done with the remains. The TAT-8 is not thrown away. Fiber optic cables contain high purity copper, steel and polyethylene, all recyclable materials with market value. Copper, especially, is a valuable resource and may become scarce in a few years. And according to the International Energy Agency, in less than a decade could be scarce if the industry does not find new sources. On the other hand, the steel of the cable will end up being converted into fences, and the plastic, processed in the Netherlands, will be transformed into pellets to manufacture non-food packaging. In fact, just as they count At Wired, you may soon be using shampoo in a bottle made from remains of the first fiber optic cable to cross the Atlantic. Sharks. Curiously, the TAT-8 is at the epicenter of one of the legends that has lasted the longest in this sector: that sharks bite internet cables. Just like share In the middle, it all started with a test prior to the TAT-8, the Optican-1, which ended up failing due to problems in its insulation. A Bell Labs engineer appeared at a conference with shark teeth that had supposedly been removed from the damaged cable. The story spread instantly. As well as point At the time, AT&T even included four pages on protection against shark bites in its press kit for TAT-8. Actually, there has never been consensus about whether the sharks really caused that damage. Subsequent tests in aquariums, where they were starved to see if they would bite into wires with electric fields, did not yield any clear patterns. At least the outcome of all that testing and debate was positive, as engineers added a layer of steel between the insulation and the fibers, which improved the cable’s overall resistance to abrasions and damage of all kinds. Cover image | What’s Inside? In Xataka | In 1901, a Spanish man had one of the ideas of the century: invent the remote control before television

MásMóvil has said goodbye to triple coverage. Although it may seem like it, it is not bad news.

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Until now, the MásMóvil group had an important competitive advantage over the rest of the MVNOs: triple coverage. The group had access to Movistar coverage when the MásOrange network was not available, a feature that the operator’s customers will no longer enjoy. But it’s not all bad news. What did we have?. In April 2024, Orange and MásMóvil merged, creating MoreOrangebecoming the first operator in Spain in number of clients. From that moment on, the group’s clients began to enjoy triple coverage: The Orange one That of the extinct Yoigo And that of Movistar Automatically and depending on network availability, our SIM card was capable of switching between the three connectivity modules. what has happened. As explained Xataka Mobilewith statements from MasOrange, the Movistar network will no longer be available on the group’s brands. “In the old MásMóvil brands that are under the MasOrange umbrella, we are stopping using Movistar’s 4G network because our customers already have complete coverage through the MasOrange network (4G, 5G SA, 5G Advanced, depending on each case), our own, modern and high-performance network. Our commitment is that all customers always have the best possible experience.” Why is it important. Although the loss of access to the Movistar network may seem like a step backwards, the move is logical. The group has been strengthening its network coverage for years, announcing just a few hours ago important advances in its first 5G Advanced network. MásOrange network coverage map. Behind this name is the prelude to the arrival of the future 6G generation and, currently, MasOrange allows access to speeds greater than 5 Gbps with latencies of less than a second. In other words: they let Movistar go to make room for their best network. An aggressive strategy. During the last year, MásMóvil has centralized efforts to be the most competitive MasOrange low-cost. Focusing on this OMV, saying goodbye to historical ones like Lycamobileand with key alliances like the one they have with Starlink to provide its clients with satellite connectivity in the future, this goodbye is not a loss for the group: it is a strategy. In Xataka | The best cheap mobile contract rates in 2026 and comparator with all telephone companies

Goodbye to ultra-processed foods and spending on snacks

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We knew that drugs like Ozempic either wegovy They were changing the scales of thousands of people around the world without having to undergo surgery, but what we were not so clear about was how they were doing. transforming the shopping cart. Something that fully affects the domestic economy and a change in habits that is undoubtedly the final objective of these medications. A new study. Made in Denmark and published in JAMA Network Open has put figures to a phenomenon that market analysts had been sensing for some time: these medications they not only reduce appetitebut they structurally modify what we buy, how much we spend and what sections of the supermarket we visit. His method. Until now, much of what we knew about the diet of GLP-1 users came from what they themselves reported in surveys. The problem is that sometimes humans lie or even our memory fails to remember what we really eat on a daily basis. To avoid this bias, a team led by Kathrine Kold Sørensen, from Copenhagen University Hospital, decided to go to the source of truth more objective: purchase receipts. The result. The study analyzed more than 2 million transactions from 1,177 Danish participants. By comparing receipts before and after starting treatment (between 2019 and 2022), the researchers detected an obvious change in pattern. The highlight without a doubt was the reduction in the purchase of ultra-processed foods, which fell from 39.2% to 38%. And although it may seem like little, in the control group without the drug, consumption increased. Reducing ultra-processed foods meant that the basket was filled with real food, which increased from 46.9% to 47.8%. This was combined with fewer calories being purchased per 100 grams by reducing sugar, saturated fat and carbohydrates. On the other hand, proteins began to increase. A hit to the pocket. If the Danish study focuses on nutritional quality, other recent reports focus on the economic impact. A Cornell University study published in December 2025, based on data from Numeratorreveals that the impact on spending is immediate. In the United States specifically, households with patients taking Ozempic reduced spending in supermarkets by approximately 5.5%. If we break down this reduction, spending on salty snacks, sweets, industrial pastries and cookies plummeted between 10 and 11%. On the other hand, there was a slight increase in the purchase of yogurts, fresh fruit and protein bars. Why doesn’t it happen? The key is not just willpower. Spanish experts such as Cristóbal Morales and Joana Nicolau, cited by the Science Media Center Spain, they explain that the mechanism is physiological, since the drugs act on the brain’s reward system. In preclinical studies in animals they already showed that, under the effects of GLP-1, rats lost their usual preferences for foods that are rich in fats and sugars. In humans, this means that the impulse to buy, to buy that bag of chips or that soda, simply disappears or is drastically attenuated. The small print. Not everything is good news regarding these drugs, since, as has been repeated on different occasions when treatment is abandonedpurchasing patterns partially revert to the previous ones. That is why the change in habit seems to be “rented” to the duration of the pharmacological treatment. Additionally, the study has limitations inherent to the observational design, as it does not test direct chance and there is potential “selection bias.” And people willing to share their purchase receipts and start these treatments are usually more motivated by initial health or receiving parallel nutritional advice. Images | Haberdoedas Ishaq Robin In Xataka | If you want a “miracle” weight loss drug, you no longer turn to Ozempic: the competition is beginning to surpass it

ASUS just killed its phone line for good reason. Goodbye to the Zenfone

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ASUS, the Taiwanese giant known for its computers, had been competing in the smartphone field for years. The Zenfone family is one of the ones that has convinced us the most at Xataka: phones with a ROM similar to that of the Google Pixel and top-of-the-line specifications. The proposal, solid on paper, has had low commercial success for years. And given the great opportunity in formats that AI allows, ASUS is clear: there will be no more Zenfone for a while. A harsh goodbye. ASUS has made a stoppage official in its smartphone division. It not only affects the Zenfone family, but also ROG Phone, its division of phones aimed at gamers. The company is now emptying its release calendar to leave a division whose future is uncertain. “ASUS will no longer launch new mobile phone models in the future.” Jonney Shih, president of ASUS. What’s wrong with my ASUS. If you have a company device, you will be covered. ASUS will maintain both guarantees and support for existing mobile phones, but there will be no room for new launches. And now what. The company’s strategy is clear: they are leaving the field of mobile phones to focus on new solutions and formats linked to artificial intelligence. The group’s revenue from its AI server business has doubled expected resultsand the robotics and smart glasses divisions will be the main beneficiaries of the death of Zenfone. Why is it important. ASUS’s strategy gives us a clue about where the industry wants to move in AI beyond the smartphone. The race in this field is being won by an unstoppable Gemini that has forced Apple to take its handand with Google distributing Android, competition beyond OpenAI does not seem possible. But in smart glasses Meta operates with its own technologies, Google has its proposals based on Gemini, and There is still room for participants who want to develop their own solutions. Even fiercer is the war in robotics, Why outside the smartphone. The mobile phone business represents a very small part of ASUS’ strategy. Their smartphones are niche products, and they never had it easy to conquer the general public. Abandoning a territory that is high in costs and difficult to obtain profits offers additional room for maneuver to invest in new product categories. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Artificial intelligence guide: main characteristics of the main AI models, points for and against, and comparison

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

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

We send fewer and fewer paper letters. So Denmark Post has said goodbye to the service after 400 years

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“Denmark is the canary in the mine.” The comment is by Marvin Ryder, researcher at the McMaster University (Canada), and what he talks about is not about markets, finances or geopolitics, but about something that has been part of the daily lives of a large part of the world’s population for centuries: the mail. The postal operator PostNord has decided that on Tuesday, December 30 will send his last letter in Denmark. In fact, it has been removing its characteristic red mailboxes from the streets for months and Monday the 29th will be the last day it accepts certified envelopes. From now on he wants to focus on sending packages, something that makes a lot of sense in view of his results. The question, how Ryder slidesis whether the end of postal mail will be limited to Denmark or will reach more countries. Goodbye letters, goodbye mailboxes. End of cycle in Denmark. The once powerful Danish postal service has decided to adapt to the times and say goodbye to postal mail. It’s not exactly new (the announcement did it months ago), but the effects of the measure will begin to be felt now, with the turn of the year: in 2026 the operator PostNord will stop collecting and delivering letters in Denmark. In fact the company takes time preparing the ground for change: in June it began to withdraw its 1,500 mailboxes from the streets, on the 18th it stopped accepting letters and on the 29th it will collect the last certified envelopes with acknowledgment of receipt. One day later, New Year’s Eve, PostNord will deliver its last envelopes. Chart on letter sending (in millions) from PostNord Danmark. A key figure: 90%. PostNord, a Nordic operator founded in 2009 from the merger of Denmark’s Post Danmarck and Sweden’s Posten AB, has been very clear about its motives. Stop sending letters in Denmark because its users have stopped doing so. Only in the last 25 years has its flow been reduced more than 90% without the demand showing signs of having hit rock bottom. If in 2000 they were distributed more than 1.4 billion of letters, in 2024 they did not reach 200 million. This collapse has coincided with the increase in online commercewhich is precisely where the operator has decided to focus its efforts. From now on in Denmark it will focus exclusively on the parcel service. “We are forced to adapt to the new situation and take the next step to build a strong PosNord for the future,” claims. It makes sense considering that the MitID system already allows Danes to receive all their official notifications digitally, the option chosen by the vast majority of the population. Only 5% of adults has renounced that possibility. Will there be no more letters? Yes. And no. PostNord has decided to turn the page 400 years of postal history (the service operates from the 17th centuryin times of Christian IV), but that does not mean that paper envelopes will no longer be sent. Danes will be able to continue sending letters to each other through Daoa courier firm that is already operational and is now preparing for a considerable increase in activity: if its estimates do not fail, it will go from 30 million letters in 2025 to 80 million in 2026. Of course, the service will be somewhat different for citizens: whoever wants to send a letter will have to go to one of their locations to deliver it or pay extra if they want it to be picked up at home. Question of obligations. In the statement in which it advanced its plans PostNord made it clear that its decision comes preceded by a change at a legal level that, in practice, frees its hands. “Our responsibility for the universal postal service in Denmark was extinguished with the Postal Law which came into force on January 1, 2024, except for mail for the visually impaired, small islands and international mail during a transition period,” clarify. Things will be different in Sweden, where PostNord will continue to operate a mail system “self-financed and profitable” and assuming the postal service. “Difficult decision”. Breaking a tradition that dates back to the 17th century is not easy. And this has been recognized by PostNord, which talks about “a difficult decision” and an “important step” designed to be strengthened in the future. For now, his goodbye has served to unleash collecting fever for his mailboxes: the operator put 1,000 units on sale for between 270 and 200 euros (depending on their state of conservation) and sold out of stock. in just a few hours. It is estimated that its network is made up of about 1,500 mailboxes and in January they will be auctioned another 200. Beyond Denmark. Where PostNord’s movements are probably also followed with interest is in the Post Offices. Although there are signs which suggest that Generation Z is reconnecting with the pleasure of sending written letters, the truth is that postal mail is also going through slow times in Spain. The National Markets Commission calculate that in ten years the exchange of letters has plummeted by 64%, which has forced Correos to try new (and multiple) avenues of business. Parcel shipping is increasing, moving at “record levels”, but precisely for this reason it is a sector with fierce competition in which it is not easy to gain a foothold. In Denmark, the readjustment of the postal service will be accompanied by a snip of staff, with the loss of 1,500 jobs. Images | News Ãresund – Johan Wessman (Flickr) and PostNord In Xataka | Correos wants to be a bank in 2025. It is an eye-catching plan in the face of the continuous closure of bank branches

Telefónica leaves Wall Street through the back door. Goodbye to almost four decades in the largest market in the world

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Telefónica has started the procedures to delist your shares from the New York Stock Exchangewhere it has been listed since 1987. The securities will stop trading on Wall Street in a matter of days once the documentation is filed with the SEC. The telecom will only maintain its listing in Madrid, in the Spanish continuous market. Why is it important. The movement closes a symbolic chapter that began when Telefónica became the first Spanish company to be listed on the largest market in the world. But the symbolism was left behind: today maintaining that presence involves high administrative costs and regulatory demands that no longer compensate. The trading volume in New York is residual and investor interest is practically non-existent. The context. Telefónica’s stock has fallen more than 90% in the last fifteen years. Its current valuation is on the floor, very far from that giant that in the nineties became the most valuable company in Spain. The dividend, which for years was the main attraction for conservative investors, has been successively cut, the last time this quarter. Buying in Madrid is more direct, cheaper and with the same liquidity as in New York, where securities are hardly traded. Between the lines. This decision fits into the strategic plan presented in November by Marc Murtra, focused on aggressively reducing costs. Telefónica has been lowering its blinds on all fronts: Sold subsidiaries throughout Latin America except Brazil. Reduced the dividend. Presented an ERE which is ending its negotiation phase. And now it is abandoning stock markets where being present no longer adds value. Also will stop trading in Lima. The figure. 4,554 departures are contemplated by the ERE that was agreed this Wednesday with the unions, 26% of the workforce in Spain. Cost savings are the obsession of the new management: 3 billion annually until 2030. Yes, but. Investors who have ADR certificates (American Depositary Receipts) will be able to exchange them for common shares in Spain or hold and trade them in US over-the-counter markets. Telefónica will provide both options, although it is evident that it prefers the first. The background. The exit from Wall Street is not an isolated or recent decision: The telecommunications sector has lost interest from investors, especially in Europe. It is a mature business, highly regulated, with tight margins and little ability to surprise. Telefónica today is a very different company from the one that debuted on Wall Street: smaller, more regional, more European. Its new strategy focuses on four markets (Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil) and on consolidating itself as a reference operator with profitable scale, in addition to increasing its focus on technological solutions. Marking agenda. Wednesday’s day at the Distrito Telefónica offices north of Madrid was hectic. The contrast. When Telefónica went public in New York in 1987, it placed certificates worth $375 million, the largest influx of European capital on Wall Street up to that time. The telecom was then majority owned by the State and its debut was seen as a milestone of internationalization. Today it leaves unnoticed, recognizing that the regulatory burden and administrative costs of the SEC outweigh any benefits. Go deeper. The obligation to report detailed information to the SEC was useful at the time: thanks to it, data such as the price that STC or SEPI paid to enter the capital were known, information that the Spanish CNMV would never have required to reveal. But that level of transparency also has a cost, and Telefónica has decided that it is no longer worth paying for. In Xataka | The Government has had an idea so that the next blackout does not leave us without mobile data: let the operators pay Featured image | Telefónica, Lo Lo

we are saying goodbye to the black monolith

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If anyone wants to know what the future of our SmartTVs is, they would do well to look into the Xataka NordVPN Awards 2025. Our big annual technology party named its winner this year in the super high-end television category, the LG OLED Signature AI T4, and with it and its podium companions it became clear where the shots can go in a market that is constantly evolving. The super high range as a crazy testing laboratory. Super high-end TVs are certainly a niche market, but one that has become a fantastic way for manufacturers to experiment without fear of commercial failure. It’s a bit like Formula 1 with respect to street cars, a crazy testing laboratory where cost doesn’t matter, what matters is innovation. Fighting the black rectangle. Both LG and its competitors seek to solve the biggest television design problem of the 21st century: what do we do with the screen when it is off? The award that this manufacturer won is not only for a beautiful or innovative TV, but also validation that the future of the television may be to stop looking like a television. Or at least, pretend that it is. When your TV doesn’t look like a TV. Samsung knows a lot about trying to make your TV not look like a TV. Frame Art Galleries They already surprised us in 2017and shortly after They introduced their Ambient Mode for camouflage even more that black rectangle. This and other manufacturers have turned these devices into ways of representing family photos and artworkbut it is no longer enough to use special frames or image modes: they now want to transform the design of the televisions themselves, and LG has experimented a lot in this regard, very crazy. Rollable? Transparent? Ask for that little mouth. The evolution proposed by LG is much more physical than digital. He demonstrated it with his LG Signature Ra roll-up television that allowed the screen to be physically hidden, although the solution was mechanically complex and very expensive. The present is transparency. The TV becomes a kind of fish tank or glass that integrates with the wallpaper with that shelf in the back of your house. This transparency is a contrast filter that adjusts to our taste and according to the content, and represents one more way to propose the end of that black monolith that is usually our TV. Look mom, a wireless TV. We are used to the back of our televisions contributing to the tangle of cables to which consoles, sound equipment, connectivity and more are added. Manufacturers want to avoid this problem or mitigate it, and have begun to propose external connection boxes. LG’s Zero Connect Box is a good example: it is not streaming that compresses, it is lossless wireless transmission of audio and video with proprietary wireless technology. Samsung does the same in its 8K ranges (like the QN900D with the Slim One Connect). These boxes do not avoid cables, but they allow them to be moved to another area of ​​the living room or room where we have the TV. Again the objective is the same: to make the TV look a little less like a TV with so much cable. LG’s Zero Connect Box allows you to move connections elsewhere and stream lossless content wirelessly. (Almost) wireless TV is possible. The image laboratory. And of course we have innovation in imaging technology and a constant search to have the image and the “perfect light.” Samsung democratized color with QLED and that converged with OLED to create QD-OLED, the best of both worlds. The current leap of Tandem OLED It allows two layers of OLED to be stacked to maintain a very high brightness delivery while consuming less energy. There are other equally interesting alternatives such as RGB MiniLED or the promising MicroLED invisible audio. Given a possible future with transparent TVs, where do you put the speakers? That’s where both LG and Sony are managing to use the screen itself as a speaker (Cinematic Sound OLED, Acoustic Surface). Actuators behind the panel vibrate the glass/plastic to generate sound, and again contribute to that idea of ​​minimalism, also eliminating the physical sound bar or combining it in different and striking ways. Samsung has its Q-Symphony and LG also enhances that facet with WOW Orchestra. Processors with AI. Televisions like the award-winning LG T4 have that last name “AI” in the name for a reason: for the transparent TV to look good, the processor must separate by layers what is “background” from what is “main object” in real time to apply depth effects. Not only that: we are getting closer and closer to that moment in which controlling the TV with the remote may no longer make much sense if AI assistants – like Gemini, which Google is already beginning to “infiltrate” in this segment—allow us to “chat” with our television. Everything is very expensive now, but it won’t always be. All these new technologies are reserved for exclusive models that have exorbitant prices, but it is normal. Not all of those crazy ideas end up reaching the mass market, but those that do precisely allow us to access all those functions in an increasingly accessible way. Innovation ends up becoming democratized, and that will also happen with the television segment. In Xataka | I have thoroughly tested Samsung’s most advanced QD-OLED TV and one thing is clear: it has the best OLED panel out there

Let’s say goodbye to Google Assistant a decade later. Google has begun to delete its code to leave only one option: Gemini

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It’s not official but as if it were: the end of Google Assistant or the classic Google Assistant, is scheduled. An analysis of the latest version of the Google app for Android carried out by Android Authority has revealed his almost definitive goodbye. The Mountain View company is eliminating the code that, for the moment, allows us to choose between Gemini and the old assistant. It is the chronicle of a death foretold that ends an era within the company. Where before we saw the Assistant icon and dialog window, we now have the Gemini one. Image by Iván Linares for Xataka Android failed promise. Launched in May 2016, the Google Assistant was going to be a revolution. On paper, it promised full voice control of your cell phone, car and home. In practice, like many users have experiencedits use ended up being “despairing” although the “Okay, Google” It became popular in smartphones and speakers. Your inability to understand the context or natural language and the rise of AI models, has finished burying it. The future belongs to Gemini. With the rise of generative AI, Google has bet everything on Gemini, but it has had a rather confusing rollout. For months, the American company maintained a curious mess with several duplicate names, apps and services… Bard, Assistant with Bard, Project Astra… In practice, two assistants live on the same mobile phone. In February 2024, its “transmutation” began: that was when Google launched the dedicated Gemini app (Bard was left behind) on Android, which when installed was offered as a replacement for Assistant. As we tested in its day, the new AI took over of the invocation with the famous “Hey Google” command. A more mature replacement. The problem with the Gemini assistant is that, at first, it was quite green. It was a powerful chatbot, but a not so useful assistant: it could not execute the basic tasks that the previous one could do, such as routines or orders for home automation. However, Google has spent the last year making Gemini absorb the features of its predecessor. The turning point came at the end of last year, when Gemini Live – the conversational voice mode – finally landed in Spain and in Spanish. Already approaching 2025, Gemini learned a basic function that it was missing: making calls and sending messages without having to unlock the mobile. The last big feature inherited from Assistant, the «Scheduled actions»arrived in June of this year. Google’s plan. At the same time that Gemini was learning the old Assistant tricks, Google has been dismantling the latter, removing useful functions. The objective is more than clear: Gemini is the future and will be everywhere. Now you can act like the “all-seeing” assistant thanks to Project Astra (integrated in Live mode), it is coming to Google Home speakers and its landing on Android Auto is imminent. The last step remains. And that is eliminating the escape route: Google has already consolidated the transition. Gemini is the default assistant on new mobile phones and can be installed on old ones without major impediments. The analysis of the APK of the specialized Android media only confirms that the last step is very simple: eliminate the option to go back. The king is dead, long live the king. Cover image | Composition with Google images and generated with Nano Banana by Pepu Ricca In Xataka | How to create Gemini Gems to have your personalized version of artificial intelligence

SpaceX has said goodbye to Starship v2 with an unprecedented maneuver

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The largest rocket in the world has once again taken to the skies, and it has done so to say goodbye. He Starship’s eleventh test flight It has been the finishing touch to a season with lights and shadows. SpaceX has exhausted the Starship V2 prototypes and has used for the last time the launch pad from which the 11 flights have taken off. One last trick to say goodbye to the Super Heavy we know Once again, the 33 Raptor engines of the Super Heavy booster started without problems to launch the Starship into space. For the second time, the prototype on the platform was the Super Heavy Booster 15, which had already taken off and landed successfully on flight 8. The first big news about Flight 11 arrived after the separation of stages. The booster tested a new engine ignition sequence to stop when returning from space, the same one that the Super Heavy V3 will use. First he turned on 12 engines to brake suddenly (there had to be 13, but one took a while to start). He then turned off all but five to fine-tune his trajectory. Previously, the Super Heavy fired three engines instead of five during this braking phase. As SpaceX propulsion engineer Jake Berkowitz explained, during the flight broadcastusing five motors “adds an additional layer of redundancy for spontaneous motor shutdowns.” But what was noticed was not the redundancy, but the additional smoothness in the maneuver. SpaceX did not intend to recover Booster 15 with the tower’s arms, but rather to virtually rehearse the maneuver over the Gulf of Mexico. The rehearsal went smoothly, but the SpaceX broadcast from the point of view of the rocket did not do justice to the precision of the maneuver. Fortunately, NASASpaceflight cameras captured the moment from shore. With the NASASpaceflight video We witness the last seconds in flight of the Super Heavy V2. And to the last trick that SpaceX has pulled out of its hat. The imposing 70-meter-high steel cylinder, equivalent to a 24-story building, seems to stop time over the ocean. The braking is so smooth and vertical that it gives the sensation of standing still, magically floating dozens of meters above the water. Then it plummets and self-detonates. The deployment of satellites with Starship is already looking much better As for the ship, it completed one of its most roundabout flights in a long time. After finishing his eight minute climbturned off its six engines and began a suborbital trajectory toward the Indian Ocean. He later opened a slot in his cargo bay and slowly deployed but this time gentlyeight Starlink satellite simulators. Starship 38 has shown that SpaceX is very close to being able to deploy cargo with its mega rocket. Starting in spring (in the time of Elon Musk), Starship will begin launching new generation Starlink satellites, much larger than the current ones and with the capacity to offer gigabit bandwidth to customers. Another critical maneuver that they already have under control is deorbiting. For the third time in its history, Starship restarted a Raptor engine in the vacuum of space, which in the future will allow it to return from space to land or make orbital corrections on missions to the Moon and Mars. The final phase of the mission was, perhaps, the most risky. SpaceX had purposely removed even more tile patches from the heat shield with the goal of increasing stress on the vehicle and collecting data on its tolerance limits for the extreme heat of reentry. Despite the mistreatment, the ship survived the inferno surrounded by plasma while the cameras on board once again gave us spectacular views. Just before the end, the ship executed another novel maneuver: a “dynamic turn” to simulate the trajectory that future Starships will take to align with the tower at Starbase. Like the booster, the ship will attempt to be trapped by the mechanical arms of one of the two launch towers. Finally, 66 minutes into the flight, Ship 38 made its iconic turn prior to splashdown, started its engines for a final braking and fell into the water in one piece. Of course, several tiles of the heat shield fell off along the way. The end of an era and a presumed wait for the next Starship In addition to being successful, Flight 11 has been a turning point for several reasons. First, it closes the chapter on Block 2 vehicles, a generation that has had a turbulent history with the failures of Flights 7, 8 and 9 (as well as a large explosion on the ground), but which redeemed itself with the successes of Flights 10 and 11. On the other hand, it is the last mission from Platform 1 in its current configuration. This ramp, which suffered catastrophic damage on the first flight and was rebuilt with a massive flame deflector that shoots water jets, will be completely renovated to accommodate the third generation rockets. However, the next launches will be made from Platform 2, which is about to go live. With V2 retired, attention now turns to V3, the version that will be the first to reach Earth orbit and begin deploying next-generation Starlink satellites. Despite the advanced status of both the V3 prototypes and the second tower, Starship is not expected to fly again for a few months. This new iteration and its engines still have tests to complete before taking flight. Starship 3 will be more powerful, taller (about 124 meters, adding the two stages) and will be better finished. The Super Heavy will have the integrated hot separation ring and a new design in the aerodynamic grilles, which become three. It will debut Raptor 3 engines and fuel lines so large they resemble a Falcon 9. The Starship will include adapters that will allow it to transfer fuel in orbit (an essential maneuver for lunar missions). Although no one is confident that NASA’s Artemis 3 lunar landing mission can occur in 2027, the … Read more

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