increase

Microsoft has just announced a global increase in its Xbox consoles and gives its reasons

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If we thought that the rise of PS5the announced price for the Steam Machine or the increase in the price of several Apple products They were isolated episodes, the answer is beginning to be quite clear: they were not. What we are seeing is a cost pressure that no longer remains within the data centers or in the internal accounts of the manufacturers. It’s coming to devices we know well, from computers to consoles. And now it’s Xbox’s turn. Microsoft has set a date to the next move: the adjustment will take effect on August 1, 2026 and will have global scope. According to the company, 512 GB Xbox consoles will increase by $100, while 1 TB models will become more expensive by $150. The other relevant decision is that Microsoft will stop selling its 2 TB model, a recall that affects the Xbox Series X Galaxy Black Special Edition. The clearest way to read the rise is to separate markets. In USA We can now take the complete photo, because we have the current price and the result of applying the increase announced by Microsoft. In Europe, however, there is still no new official table in euros for August. What is confirmed is that the adjustment will be global, so it will also reach Spain. United States, current price and price since August 1, 2026 Xbox Series S 512 GB: $399.99 to $499.99 Xbox Series S 1TB: $449.99 to $599.99 Xbox Series X Digital 1TB: $599.99 to $749.99 Xbox Series X 1TB: $649.99 to $799.99 Xbox Series X 2 TB Galaxy Black Special Edition: Microsoft will stop selling this model Europe and Spain, official prices valid from May 2025 Xbox Series S 512 GB: 349.99 euros Xbox Series S 1 TB: 399.99 euros Xbox Series X Digital 1 TB: 549.99 euros Xbox Series X 1 TB: 599.99 euros Xbox Series X 2 TB Galaxy Black Special Edition: 699.99 euros, although the model will disappear from the catalog Microsoft does not present the increase as a decision taken lightly. In its statement, the company recalls that in October 2025 it already raised the price of Xboxes in the United States between $20 and $70, and states that “We hoped it wasn’t necessary.“apply another increase. The problem, according to their version, is in the costs of memory and storage, which have become more than 2.5 times more expensive and could double again by autumn 2027. The company frames the movement within a component crisis that affects consumer electronics, but that hits consoles hardest because, according to Microsoft, they tend to be sold below what it costs to manufacture them. Memory has become the new bottleneck Microsoft doesn’t directly mention artificial intelligence in its statement, but the market context helps explain why memory and storage have become a bigger issue. The Wall Street Journal has described the massive deployment of data centers as a new engine of inflationary pressurewith impact on components, electricity and consumer products. TrendForce has also noted that demand linked to AI is absorbing memory and storage capacity. Now, the Redmond firm is trying to accompany the rise with several ways to soften the blow to the buyer. They talk about deferred payment options in the Microsoft Store, interest-free financing for up to 12 months on eligible purchases through Amazon, buyback programs with retail partners and more availability of certified refurbished consoles. It also mentions that refurbished Xboxes can be found in the Microsoft Store with up to $100 off the recommended price. The fine print matters: These options vary by region, depend on third parties, and are subject to eligibility conditions. The bottom line is that the old cheap console logicsold with little margin to recover later in games and services, is colliding with a different reality. If memory, storage and other components become more expensive due to a demand that does not depend only on the video game, the manufacturer has less room to absorb the blow. At the end of the day, we consumers are the ones who end up paying the price. We have to wait to see what other movements of this type will occur in the industry. Images | Microsoft In Xataka | “If you tell them no, they won’t talk to you again”: Valve blames RAM manufacturers for the price of the Steam Machine

Sudden 500% increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country

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In Japan it has existed since 2019 a “Sayonara rate”: a departure tax of 1,000 yen that all travelers pay when leaving the country, including Japanese. It was created pto finance infrastructure tourist attractions just when the country was beginning to break visitor records. Now, with another increase linked to access, Tokyo seems to follow the same logic: convert the tourism boom into a direct source of income. Breaking half a century of stability. Japan has decided to shake up one of the most stable parts of its immigration policy: the entry price for foreigners. The Government has approved a 500% increase in visa fees, a historic increase that multiplies the current cost by five and breaks a price freeze that had been intact since 1978. How much? Now, the single entry visa passes from 3,000 to 15,000 yen and the multiple entry jumps from 6,000 to 30,000, marking the first revision in 48 years. The official explanation, and the “other”. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi justified the decision appealing to inflation and the current state of the yen, a weakened currency against the dollar and other currencies. On paper, the logic is simple: if everything costs more, processing visas does too. But the reasoning has cracks. The administrative management of the visa is carried out within of the state apparatus itself Japanese, with mostly internal costs, so the reference to the exchange rate seems less of a structural necessity and more of a fiscal opportunity. A rise designed to take advantage. The key is in the context. Japan is experiencing a tourism boom fueled precisely due to the weakness of the yenwhich makes the country cheaper for millions of visitors. The political calculation is simple: if the trip remains cheap in accommodation, food and shopping, a more expensive visa will hardly alter the decision to travel. Motegi put it bluntly when affirm that “They do not expect an immediate influence on the number of foreign visitors.” The phrase is important because it makes it clear that Tokyo believes it has room to tighten without breaking the flow. Who will really pay the bill. The blow will not be uniform. Many tourists from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or members of the European Union will continue to enter visa-free for 90 daysso for them the impact is limited. Where it does hurt is travelers from countries outside that list (especially China) and those who travel for work, study or residence, even if they come from exempt countries as tourists. That is where the rise becomes a much more visible economic barrier. China, the big name behind the operation. There is one fact that explains a good part of the maneuver: Chinese visitors represent one of the largest blocks of foreign entry to Japan and require a visa. The Japanese Government itself estimates that this measure will generate 116.1 billion of additional yen in fiscal year 2026. That makes the upload more than just an administrative update; It is a collection tool supported by the massive volume of regional mobility. In practice, the more Chinese tourism grows, the more profitable this new toll will be. The underlying message. If you like, the interesting thing is that this decision reflects a broader trend: Countries are beginning to more aggressively monetize access to their borders. For decades, visas were primarily a tool of immigration control. Now they are also a source of income and an economic instrument. Because Japan isn’t closing the door, it’s simply charging more to open it. And if this rise works without stopping arrivals, others could soon take note. Image | pickpik, Artanisen, Pakutaso In Xataka | Japan is increasingly looking like a crowded theme park. So there is a business on the rise: wedding tourism In Xataka | Faced with labor shortages, Japan has taken an unprecedented measure in the last two decades: paying women the same

increase useful space up to 38%

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Planning space in a modern kitchen is often a puzzle in which you have to choose between capacity, aesthetics and performance. To break this barrier, Siemens has just presented its new generation of single-door refrigerators and freezers. A range of household appliances designed for a joint Sidy-by-Side installation (as a pair) that promises to become the technological and design core of any kitchen. These are the products that make up this new range Siemens iQ500 integrated refrigerator (177 x 55.8cm) by 1,185 euros in the official store. Siemens iQ500 integrated refrigerator (122.1 x 55.8cm) by 889 euros in the official store. Siemens iQ500 undercounter refrigerator (82×59.8cm) by 859 euros in the official store. iQ500 integrated freezer (177.2 x 55.8cm) by 1,385 euros in the official store. iQ500 integrated undercounter freezer (82×59.8cm) by 919 euros in the official store. iQ500 Built-in refrigerator 177.2 x 55.8 cm SoftClose closure with fixed door The price could vary. We earn commission from these links iQ500 Integrated freezer 177.2 x 55.8 cm SoftClose closure with fixed door The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A monumental format that expands space intelligently The main asset of this new range of free inspiration is its ability to adapt. When configured as a pair, both independent modules create a monumental-sized cooling solution that reaches up to 736 liters of useful volume. At the internal engineering level, the brand has optimized space through innovative cooling technology. The result is a significantly higher volume utilization If compared to their previous catalogues: the new single-door refrigerators gain 16% more capacity, while the freezers take an exponential leap, increasing their useful space by up to 38%. To manage such a space, the interior has balconies and flexible compartments that can be moved from the doors to the inside of the drawers on two levels. This makes it easy to store tall bottles, oversized containers or bulky purchases. They have Total NoFrost technology Unlike traditional systems, Siemens has brought Total NoFrost technology to the entire range, which means that the active moisture extraction system is no longer exclusive to the freezer, but makes the definitive leap to the refrigeration area. with this condensation and drop formation on the rear wall is completely eliminatedbanishing forever the need to defrost the appliance manually. When it comes to conservation, the spotlight goes to the system hyperFresh 0ºCwith a drawer for meat and fish, which maintains a constant controlled temperature just above 0 ºC to take care of the most delicate foods. It also has a drawer for fruits and vegetables with a precise humidity regulator that promises to keep them crispy and with their vitamins intact for up to 14 days. The exterior design maintains clean lines with white finishes, anti-fingerprint steel and its more premium version, black anti-fingerprint steel. Inside, the aesthetics are taken care of by a metal rear wall that helps to better distribute the cold, safety glass shelves and integrated progressive LED lighting to avoid glare. In addition, the firm has worked on acoustic comfort, achieving extremely quiet operation that oscillates between 30 and 35 dBwhich positions them as ideal appliances for homes with kitchens open to the living room. You may also be interested Hisense RB343D4CWE – Combi Refrigerators, 269L The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Haier FD 70 Series 7 HFW7720EWMP – Refrigerator with Water Dispenser The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Siemens In Xataka | American refrigerator or 70 cm Combi? Be careful with making mistakes when buying liters that you may not be able to use In Xataka | No Frost vs. cyclical (Static): why your refrigerator dries food and when it pays to buy a ‘low frost’ one

With the new increase, the Netflix plan with ads already costs more than what it cost to watch the platform without advertising two years ago

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Netflix has just confirmed a new price increase in Spain. When the platform presented the plan with ads in 2022, it did so as the economic option for those who did not want to pay the full rate. Four years later, as Antonio Ortiz emphasized in Xthat plan with advertising costs more than the old basic plan cost without any type of advertising, which was eliminated in 2023. The new prices. The increase affects the three rates available in Spain. This is how they look: Standard Plan with ads: It goes from 6.99 to 8.99 euros per month, an increase of two euros or close to 29%. Standard Plan without ads: It goes up from 13.99 to 14.99 euros. Premium Plan: Access to four simultaneous screens, 4K resolution and without ads, scale from 19.99 to 21.99 euros, surpassing the barrier of 20 euros per month for the first time. This is the second price increase in less than two years, since in October 2024 the company increased its rates in Spain. The new prices are now active for new users and will apply to current users in the next billing cycle. Ten years reviewing upwards. Netflix arrived in Spain in October 2015. Since then, the evolution of its rates describes a trajectory without exceptions. In 2017 the Standard plan increased by one euro and the Premium plan by two. The same pattern was repeated in 2019 and 2021. In 2022 it introduced the plan with ads at 5.49 euros, and in 2023 it eliminated the basic plan of 7.99 euros to push towards that advertising option. Already in 2021 we were talking about how the Premium plan had risen 50% in four years. It has not stopped doing so: currently it costs 21.99 euros, in 2017 11.99. Almost double in nine years. The paradox of the cheap rate. As we say, when the plan with advertisements arrived in Spain it did so 5.49 euros per month. Subsequently It went to 6.99 euros and now stands at 8.99 euros, which represents a joint increase of around 64% since its launch. That is, Netflix’s cheapest option has gone above what the old Basic plan without ads cost, which remained at 7.99 euros until its final elimination. In other words: whoever today wants to pay as little as possible on Netflix accepts advertising and pays more than what those who had a completely ad-free subscription paid two years ago. Because. The company often justifies these revisions as necessary to sustain investment in content. Netflix plans to allocate about $20 billion to this aspect in 2026, 10% more than in 2025. But there is a very clear reason for these increases to arrive at a fixed and almost biannual cadence: Netflix has more than 325 million global subscribers and previous increases have not caused significant falls in its user base. Put into practice: the plan with ads accumulates more than 190 million monthly active users and represents 55% of new registrations in markets with enabled advertisingaccording to the company’s own data. It is the segment that has grown the most, and also the one that suffers the greatest percentage increase in this last round. The end of the climbs? At the beginning of this month, a court ruling in Italy It could mark a before and after in the relationship between the platform and the continent’s regulators. A court in Rome ruled that price increases applied by Netflix in Italy between 2017 and 2024 are illegal under the national consumer code, which requires specific and advance justification of any price change. Premium subscribers active since 2017 could receive refunds of up to 500 euros and those on the Standard plan, around 250. Netflix has 90 days to notify all those affected through its website and national media, under penalty of 700 euros per day for delay. The judges’ decision is a good blow for the finances of Netflix, which is going to appeal the ruling, and which could affect the platform’s more than 5.4 million subscribers in Italy. The potential bill for the platform could exceed 2 billion euros. The door to similar litigation in other European countries remains open, although the transposition of European Directive 93/13/EEC on which the Italian court’s decision is based varies between legislations. In Spain, for now, it can be applied but a comparable judicial resolution has not yet been reached, although FACUA has filed a complaint before the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which could also end the platform in court. In Xataka | 29 years later, Netflix has become the television it promised to replace. That’s why Wall Street has punished her

Mobile phones in China are suffering the biggest price increase in five years. The culprit is not a manufacturer: it is AI

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Smartphones face a year of challenges due to the price of basic components such as RAM. The predictions They are already talking about increases of between 90 and 150 dollars for basic mobile phones, and between 300 and 400 dollars in the case of high-end mobile phones. AI is about to blow up an industry that has claimed its first victim: Meizu. Go for it, leave almost everything. I still remember that MWC last year when I stopped by the Meizu stand. I liked what I saw: new batch mobiles, with balanced hardware, the design and ROM that I fell in love with almost a decade ago and a shocking promise: the manufacturer was preparing its global launch. A history of mobile manufacturing in China, about to return to Europe as an alternative to manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Honor or OPPO. what has happened. Recently, Meizu has announced its exit from the smartphone market to focus their efforts on AI. In addition to the strong competition in its local market, the sharp rise in RAM prices makes it difficult for the manufacturer to be competitive against more established brands. It is a movement similar to that of ASUS, which He has said goodbye to his Zenfone family to focus on AI solutions and other types of products. The death of the quality-price mobile phone? 2026 will be a critical year for quality-price mobile phones. For years, manufacturers have been able to play with relatively comfortable margins: RAM abundance Component recycling A supply chain at your entire disposal The RAM giants have their shelves collapsed due to requests related to AI, and cheap modules have completely stopped being a priority. The dilemma. IDC analysts make it clear that we are witnessing a major shock in the supply chain. It’s not a temporary high: AI has completely changed market priorities, and things like RAM won’t stabilize in price anytime soon. Historically, we have normalized annual cycles and launches “just because”, even though there was no hardware or news to justify the launch of clone phones year after year. Maybe and just maybe, the price crisis will make manufacturers have to rethink their strategy. Image | Meizu In Xataka | Expensive and premium mobile phones are not a fad: they are the new standard, and Motorola knows it

If we want to increase human fertility, mice have something to tell us: fecal transplants

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We knew that the bacteria that live in our intestine They are really positive and offer us extra protection against numerous threats from outside or even against Alzheimer’s. Now they have just added a new star function: they can help us improve our reproductive health. And all this with a simple fecal microbiota transplant. New evidence. This same month of March the magazine Nature has published an article that breaks with several scientific paradigms and demonstrates a bidirectional communication between the microbiome and women’s ovaries. The study here wanted to demonstrate that fecal microbiota transplant can completely remodel the behavior of the ovaries, reducing inflammation and even increasing reproductive success. But the most amazing thing about the experiment is not the ‘what’, but the ‘how’, since it has quite surprised the experimenters that the result has gone against what they expected. How is it possible? To understand this finding, we must first know the concept of ‘strobolome‘ which will give a lot to talk about in the coming years. In a simple way, it is a set of intestinal bacteria that are capable of metabolizing and modulating the level of estrogen, which is one of the main female sex hormones and closely related to reproduction. Until now, we knew that the microbiota played a role in almost every part of our body, ranging from digestion to our own mental health. But they wanted to go further, and in the past it was noted that they had already begun to explore how to transfer faeces from young mice to old ones, which would improve their ovarian reserve. But the best thing is that doing the opposite could accelerate the aging of the ovaries. The new study. Knowing this, this research team designed an experiment in which healthy adult mice were taken and given antibiotics to cleanse their intestinal flora. From here, they underwent a fecal microbiota transplant from mice in the ‘estropausal’ phase, which is like human menopause. What the researchers here were expecting is that if they were introduced to the microbiota of aged rats in reproductive decline, their ovaries would suffer damage. But the truth is that they were wrong. Results. The results here showed that adult females who received the “estropausal” microbiota not only did not worsen, but rather improved ovarian function and an increase in their fertility. Because? By thoroughly analyzing the organism of these ringworms, using sequencing of the genetic material of the ovaries, it was seen that the transplant had caused a massive remodeling of the ovarian transcriptome. That is, the way in which the genes in the ovaries were expressed had completely changed towards a “younger” profile. In addition, the analyzes revealed a drastic drop in the expression of genes linked to inflammation. The explanation that scientists are considering points directly to the strobolome, since it is possible that the microbiota of the stropausal mice, in its attempt to survive the natural drop in hormones of its original host, has developed brutal compensatory mechanisms. By transplanting these “surviving, super-optimized bacteria” into a young environment, they boosted the health of the recipient ovary. The future. Although in this case this effect has been seen in mouse animal modelsthe implications of this study may allow us to continue advancing treatments that can improve human reproductive health. The goal here is to be able to isolate what exactly are the specific microbial candidates or metabolites responsible for this improvement and in the future we could be talking about probiotic treatments or microbiome-based therapies to prolong fertility. Images | Kelly Sikkema CDC In Xataka | Drinking coffee in the morning has very positive consequences for someone unexpected in your body: the microbiota

the increase in abandoned oil tankers

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Abandoning an oil tanker or other commercial vessel has gone from being something rare to becoming a dangerous trend: in 2025 alone there are 410 vessels registered, an abysmal difference compared to the 20 cases in 2016, according to data from the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), a global trade union organization that tracks these incidents. What is causing this rebound? The first affected: the crew. An abandoned oil tanker does not only mean neglecting the vessel itself, but also more than 6,000 sailors abandoned to their fate, according to ITF global figures. The most affected are Indian sailors, with more than a thousand people affected representing the majority of the total. One case is that of Iván (not his real name), the chief deck officer of an oil tanker that has been abandoned for weeks outside the territorial waters of China, which recently declared for the BBC how this event has affected their health and the environment: “We had a shortage of meat, cereals, fish, basic things to survive.” And that’s not to mention the uncertainty of seeing the Chinese coast and not knowing if you’ll be able to set foot on it. The context: the ghost fleets. Over the last few months we have heard about “ghost ships” or “zombie ships”, that is, ships that legally barely exist, with owners hiding behind front companies. The objective is to operate outside the official financial and regulatory framework to evade sanctions through “prohibited” routes such as Iran, Russia or Venezuela. The Ukrainian War and the context of sanctions have created a B market for old ships that transport oil. The ideal candidates to become ghost banks are aging vessels, generally oil tankers that are around two decades old, a critical age at which the vessel is already headed for scrapping, which makes it easier for them to move into that clandestine scenario. Whoever buys it is not going to invest in long-term maintenance, he wants to pay it off quickly by transporting sanctioned crude oil. These types of boats lack complete insurance such as P&I Clubsso that in the event of any problem, the shipowner disappears before assuming repair or repatriation costs. The legal trap of rental flags. Here the “flags of convenience“, something like the tax haven of the seas. This is what happens when a shipowner registers his ship in a country other than his own to benefit from more lax regulations. There is a legal disconnection between the real ownership of the ship and the state that gives it the flag. And what does it have to do with abandoned oil tankers? According to the ITF82% of abandonments occur on ships that operate under flags of convenience. Among the states with flags of convenience are Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, which represent 46.5% of all merchant ships. But there is one country that deserves a special mention: Gambia. In 2023 it went from having no ships to having 35 sailing under its flag, a record time to create that infrastructure organically. In addition to softer legislation, many of these countries outsource inspections to private organizations and lack sufficient technical personnel to verify it afterwards, such as notes the International Maritime Organization in several reports. Prisons and floating time bombs. Ivan’s is just one case, but what an example: The ship is carrying almost 750,000 barrels of Russian oil that has a nominal value of about 50 million dollars (42 million euros). He left the Russian Far East for China at the beginning of November 2025 and there he is, at the gates of his destination and unable to enter. It is so that the alarms go off due to the environmental risk posed by a possible spill from an abandoned ship without responsibility. Furthermore, the safety of the vessel is compromised, as human error accounts for more than 80% of maritime accidents and these sailors are not exactly at their best. Fortunately, the ITF took charge of the situation in December, providing payroll arrears up to this point, providing groceries and other essentials, and planning repatriation. It is not an isolated problem. The drastic increase in abandoned oil tankers represents not only a violation of international sanctions and regulations, but also a human drama and potential environmental disaster for which there would be no legal responsibility to cover it. Although it is true that there are interventions and approaches and that there are states putting pressure on those countries that are banners of flags of convenience like Gambia and achieving something in the attemptthe reality is that this is a global phenomenon that requires stricter international regulation, serve as an example India’s blacklistwhich included 86 foreign ships in a database for abandonment of sailors and violation of their rights. In Xataka | Fewer and fewer oil tankers are being scrapped, and there is only one reasonable explanation: Russia’s ghost fleet In Xataka | The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones Cover | Jack Dong

Valve has just announced a delay and price increase for the Steam Machine

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Valve’s plans to revolutionize desktop video games face the reality of the component market. The company has confirmed the postponement of Steam Machine, Steam Frame and Steam Controller, initially planned for the first quarter of 2026, due to the global shortage of RAM and storage. The announcement comes accompanied by a warning: the initially announced prices will be revised upwards, which puts at risk the strategy of competing directly with traditional consoles. What we believed. The official presentation of Valve’s hardware took place in November 2025when the company simultaneously unveiled three devices aimed at expanding its ecosystem beyond the traditional PC: the Steam Machine console, the Steam Frame virtual reality headset, and a new iteration of the Steam Controller. At that time, information provided to media It targeted a launch in the first quarter of 2026. Our love broke. However, Valve has had to recalibrate its expectations. According to the statement, the company acknowledges that it hoped to announce definitive prices and specific release dates at this point, but circumstances in the component market have prevented this. “The limited availability and rising prices of these critical components mean we must review our exact shipping schedule and pricing,” they admit. A little later. The new time frame now extends to the first half of 2026, a deliberately vague formulation that contrasts with the initial precision. Valve emphasizes that it maintains its goal of distributing the three products within that period, but warns about the volatility of the scenario: they need to establish prices and dates that they can announce with confidence, aware of how quickly circumstances can change. The RAM crisis. The problem affects the entire technology industry. Memory manufacturers have experienced a unprecedented price increase: according to data from the component market, the cost of RAM modules has multiplied by three or even four from the beginning of 2026. This escalation responds to a strategic reorientation of the major producers such as SamsungSK Hynix and Micron, which prioritize the manufacture of high-performance memory for artificial intelligence servers, a segment that offers higher profit margins. It was seen coming. Already in November, when Valve presented its hardware, the warning signs were evident. By then, the company recognized that setting prices was complex because “the market is a little strange” and “memory prices are going up as we speak.” What seemed like temporary turbulence has been consolidated as a structural trend. It is a crisis that evokes the semiconductor shortage that shook the industry between 2020 and 2022, causing delays in the launch of consoles and widespread price increases in graphics cards. The current phenomenon presents, however, a peculiarity: it is not about interruptions in the supply chain, but rather a deliberate decision by manufacturers to redirect productive capacity towards the lucrative AI market, leaving the gaming industry in the background. What is known about the machine’s hardware. The Steam Machine, the star product of this trilogy, will be powered by an AMD processor, as confirmed by the semiconductor company’s CEO, Lisa Su, during the presentation of quarterly results: “From a product perspective, Valve is on track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year.” That statement, which sounded reassuring then, now takes on an ironic tone: the hardware is ready, but the economic context is not. During previous sessions with specialized media, the company indicated that the Steam Machine would be placed “close to the entry level of the PC space”, a formulation that suggested that it would compete directly with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in terms of price, rather than with high-end PC configurations. This approach clashes head-on with the current reality of the components market: competing with consoles means achieving very tight margins in a closed ecosystem where Sony and Microsoft can assume initial losses. Valve lacks that flexibility, and the increase in memory and storage costs threatens to place its products in a price range that would distance them from the average consumer. In Xataka | Panic of a ridiculous death among RAM manufacturers: they fear that technology companies will “monopolize” and they are already putting controls

The minimum wage in Mexico has risen in January. This increase is not reaching everyone and is creating confusion

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Spain is not the only one considering annual increases in your minimum wage. Starting January 1, the Mexican workers who earn the least will see their salaries increased with a new increase in minimum wage. However, some are beginning to notice that that increase is not reflected on your payroll and is generating some confusion. The trick is that the increase in the minimum wage which has been applied in Januarydoes not imply a general salary increase for all workers, but rather a minimum legal ceiling for salaries. What is the minimum wage and what is it for? As its name indicates, the minimum wage is the legal minimum amount that any company must pay its workers. In the case of Mexico, this minimum wage is established by Conasami (National Minimum Wage Commission) a decentralized body of the Mexican government that is responsible for updating it every year with the intention of protecting those who earn the least. However, the salary increase imposed by this body does not represent a percentage that must be applied to all salaries, but rather the minimum daily amount that employees must receive per day. According to the salary table prepared by Conasami, by 2026 the minimum wage will rise to 315.04 pesos per day in most of the country and 440.87 pesos per day in the Northern Border Free Zone. That implies an increase of 13% for the majority of the country, and 5% in the border area with the United States. Why doesn’t the increase reach everyone? The point of confusion among Mexican workers centers on the erroneous interpretation that this 13% and 5% increase is for salaries, when in reality it would only affect the lowest salaries that are within the legal minimums established in the Federal Labor Law. That is, if in January 2026, a worker continues to receive a salary of 278.80 pesos (419.88 pesos for the ZLFN), which was the minimum wage in 2025, his employer would be violating labor legislation. However, if an employee already earned more than 316 pesos, his or her salary does not have to have increased, since it exceeds (even if only slightly) the minimum limit established by the Federal Labor Law for 2026. Who should see their salary increased. There are three clear groups in which there is a legal obligation to increase the salary when the minimum increases. The first and most obvious, those employees who earn less than what is established by the new minimum wage. The second assumption is for those who were already earning exactly the minimum wage in 2025, since with the update they would be out of legality in 2026. Finally, there is a third group of employees to whom, due to the type of profession they practice, a different scale is applied and, therefore, their salaries must increase even when they already exceed the minimum wage. Specifically they are 60 professional categories that Conasami estimates that, due to their characteristics, they must have a minimum wage higher than that generally applied to other workers. When the salary is “higher” but does depend on the minimum. In Mexico, the minimum wage can also be applied as a reference indicator in contracts. That is, instead of indicating a specific salary, the employment contract indicates that the salary will be, for example, three times the current minimum wage or 350% of that minimum limit. In that case, since it is a reference variable, when the minimum wage rises, those wages will also rise in the same proportion according to what is stated in those contracts. Minimum wage vs. contractual salary. An important factor is to differentiate the minimum wage from the contractual wage. That is, the one that employees agree with the companies at the time of hiring. The first guarantees that no one will be able to charge less than the official figure established each year by the Commission. If an employment contract concluded a few years ago recognizes a salary that is currently below the minimum wage imposed in 2026, the minimum wage will prevail, since its objective is for employees to update their purchasing power. The salary that appears in the employment contract loses its validity. In that case, the salary increase is not a benefit that the company grants to the employee, but rather a legal obligation. On the other hand, if the salary indicated in the employment contract still remains above the minimum wage, the employer does not have to increase it, unless individual or collective increases are agreed upon with the workers. In that case, the increases are the result of voluntary negotiation by the company to improve the working conditions of its staff. In Xataka | Airbnb and digital nomads brought dollars to Mexico City: they have also brought the biggest housing crisis in years Image | Unsplash (Jesus Herrera, Arron Choi)

To take photos, I am clear about which phone I would buy right now. A high-end that does not increase too much in price

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I have never been a big lover of photography because until a few years ago it had not really caught my attention. But I have been experimenting little by little and Nowadays on a mobile I prefer to prioritize this section before even the power. Although in some cases good power and good photography go hand in hand in the high range, there are times when this is not the case. Here, for color tastes. But me right now I don’t even remotely take advantage of the power that this type of mobile provides.so if I buy one right now I am clear that I would bet on the Google Pixel 10. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A mobile phone with a great photographic section For many years I have played mobile games that were quite demanding. Currently, I only play one or two games very occasionally and they usually require quite low performance or power, as is the case of the Solitaire or, to a lesser extent, ‘Balatro‘. On the other hand, what I am taking advantage of right now is the photographic section of the Xiaomi 14T. I quite like to play with the options offered by the cameras signed by Leicaso it is clearer than water that the next mobile phone I would buy right now is Google’s. He Google Pixel 10like the rest of the brand’s models, has the particularity of having as a base the Google app. Yes, this can be adapted with the GCam in other mobile phones, but to this we must add excellent processing and a five-fold telephoto. The photographic section, focusing on the camera module, is made up of a 50 MP wide-angle sensor, a 13 MP ultra-wide angle sensor and a 10.8 MP telephoto sensor. It is also worth mentioning that it comes with Camera Coachwhich for those less versed in the subject may be attractive to receive recommendations through artificial intelligence. You may also be interested Spigen Ultra Hybrid MagFit Case for Google Pixel 10/10 Pro Compatible with Pixelsnap and MagSafe – Clear White The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Spigen Glas.tR EZ Fit Optik Camera Protector for Google Pixel 10, 2 Units, Transparent, Crystal Clear, Full Coverage, Installation Kit, 9H Hardness, Anti-Scratch The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Pepu RiccaGoogle In Xataka | The best mobile phones (2025), we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | The best quality-price mobiles (2025). Their analyzes and videos are here

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