Artificial platforms to invade an island

It is not necessary to go very far to find clues about the challenges that China has with Taiwan. In December, the island found an army of 53 airplanes and 90 Chinese ships In an unpublished exhibition. Days before, filtered documents showed that the nation has a plan with up to six options To invade the island through the beach and its ports. All this does nothing but confirm with the latest images. If things twist, everything is almost ready. Images and video. In the last 24 hours it has leaked A video and several images through of the Navalnews medium that have revealed the presence and deployment of new Chinese lifting barges (called in English Jack-Up Barges), used to build temporary docks that can extend in the sea and facilitate amphibious operations. No doubt, development is seen as part of China’s preparations for a Possible Taiwan invasionas well as a strategy to expand the use of maritime assets of civil appearance in support of the Navy of the Popular Liberation Army (PLAN). In fact, The video It shows three of these barges deployed in tandem on an unidentified beach, confirming China’s intention to integrate them into their military infrastructure. What we see. As we said, satellite snapshots From Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) On Longxue Island they have confirmed the departure of three of these barges, previously under construction, while three other remain in development. Analyst Tom Shugart, from the American Security Center (CNAS), identified this movement And he pointed out in his X account that vessels did not use the Automatic identification system (AIS), which suggests that China seeks to avoid its tracking or that, in effect, they are active plan. As we will see below, this behavior is similar to that of other double -use ships that have participated in Chinese military exercises and other nations. Aerial view of one of the artificial ports called Mulberry, built by the allies against Arromanches, Normandía (September 1944) Mulberry ports. The most striking of the design of these barges is their ability to join to form a single structure extended in the sea. They counted in media Like The War Zone that initially it was thought that they would work independently, but the new evidence shows that they are designed to operate together, creating a kind of floating dock of approximately 850 meters longallowing the transfer of loads from larger vessels in deeper waters. The truth is that this floating infrastructure model It is not new in military historysince he remembers and much The Mulberry ports used For the allies in it Normandy landing During World War II. With a notable difference, yes: the Chinese version It incorporates hydraulic supports that raise barge on water, providing stability even in adverse climatic conditions, which could guarantee a constant flow of loading, vehicles and troops without depending on traditional ports. Comparison with other infrastructure. The idea of ​​using floating docks with military purposes It is not exclusive from China. Recently, the United States Army implemented a similar system To expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza (although a storm seriously damaged it), which demonstrated the vulnerability of this type of infrastructure in extreme climatic conditions. In contrast, the design of Chinese barges, with their elevators, offers greater resistance to the inclement weather and could be key to establishing a continuous logistics supply in an operation. However, these structures also have disadvantages. Being large and stationary once deployed, they become easy and high strategic value objectives, which suggests that its main use would be possibly after the initial assault, facilitating the arrival of reinforcements and supplies once the area has been insured. The role of the civil naval industry. The use of civil infrastructure for military purposes is a key tactic in China’s strategy. It is known, in fact, because It has been documented in the annual Pentagon report on Chinese military development. Although the plan has not invested in the amount of landing vessels that analysts believe necessary for a large -scale invasion of Taiwan, yes has reinforced its abilities with civil ships turned into military assistants, such as The so-called Roll-on/Roll-Off (Ro/ro) and other logistics platforms. More than one purpose. This commercial asset militarization trend is not only designed for a possible invasion of Taiwan, but also could be applied in Other strategic scenarios inside the Indo-Pacific. Of course, these resources could also be used in disaster response operations and humanitarian assistance as the United States already did, which allows China to project power under a “benevolent” appearance. Perspectives and geopolitics. It is the last of the legs to be treated after knowing some images that leave so few doubts. The development of these lifting barges and their potential use in An invasion of Taiwan They have generated concern among military analysts in the United States and their allies. In fact, previous reports indicated that Beijing could be in a position to launch a military operation against Taiwan By 2027although other more recent estimates have softened such prediction. Be that as it may, the general consensus seems to be the same: China remains committed to the reunification of Taiwan of a U other way, and if things get in the worst stage, they already have lists Some of the capacities necessary for the logistics of a large -scale “amphibious” invasion. Image | 笑脸男人, Imperial War Museums. In Xataka | China has a plan with six options if things “twist” with Taiwan. World War II advocates all In Xataka | Taiwan lives an unprecedented situation in three decades: there is an army of 53 planes and 90 Chinese ships in front of the island

Prime video is becoming an “aggregator” of other platforms. And the arrival of Apple TV+ is the last example

It has been since October in countries like the United States or the United Kingdom, but as of today, Apple TV+ will be available within the offer of prime video in other European countries, such as Spain, Germany and Italy. The fate of the Apple platform is still a peculiar symbol of how things are going to the business of streaming… and how Amazon is raised. Amazon friends. Like so many other channels of the Prime Video offer, to access the Apple TV+ programming, an extra (9.99 euros) that adds to the rate that the client already pays for Amazon Prime is added. The offer includes many of the most outstanding series of the Apple platform, such as’Separation‘,’ Silo ‘,’ The Morning Show ‘,’ Slow horses ‘,’Ted Lasso‘, movies like’Wolfs‘ either ‘The secret abyss‘And sporting events such as Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball. Another channel. Apple TV+ thus adds to The offer of prime video channelswhich has become a remarkable reponent of other people’s catalogs, almost forty, although all need the client to pay an additional rate. Among the most outstanding are some of cinema and series such as Crunchyroll, AMC+, MUBI, Lionsgate+or the exclusive Amazon MGM+. There are also sports such as Dazn Pro or Laligatv, although it undoubtedly attracts three platforms that we know for their activity outside Amazon: Max, Skyshowtime and, now, Apple TV+. Apple’s fluctuations. Leaving Skyshowtime aside, a recent platform and of which there are still no data on failures or successes, Max and Apple TV+ coincide in a trajectory of astronomical losses. Warner has spent years old submerged in radical cuts What have Affected to your premiere calendar Already the production of Max and HBO. Apple TV+, meanwhile, has had to end renouncing its purpose of becoming a Major from Hollywood after failures as notable as those of ‘Napoleon’ or, above all, ‘argylle’, as well as vision figures that They pale next to competitors Like Netflix. Time to grow. This last detail is especially relevant: despite the undisputed quality of its catalog, the penetration of Apple TV+ is incomparable to that of its rivals, and hence the treatment with Amazon: geting that series as ‘separation’ or ‘Ted Lasso’ look more is essential to continue producing callity content. Apple TV+ is not collected to give control over its products, something that has always gone against its business philosophy, but in this case it needs it. An previous agreement. It is not the first time that Amazon and Apple reach an agreement related to the content of Apple TV+, since its films were available for rent in Prime Video. What Amazon got in 2020 It was that Apple did not force the spectator to leave prime video and to enter its platform and make him pay 30% commission of the App Store. It was a favor treatment that had an unusual bridge between Apple and a rival company, and made Amazon Partner Apple privileged, undoubtedly taking a first step for the appearance of Apple TV+ as a prime video channel. The transformation of streaming. What is also clear is that the appearance of a channel as relevant as Apple TV+ in Prime Video, adding to Max and Skyshowtime, demonstrates not only Amazon’s financial muscle, which will have had to pay their own for that privilege, but also allows us to advance to a possible streaming panorama transformation. We will stop seeing in the future, perhaps, islets of exclusive content that do not communicate with each other, such as Netflix or Disney+, and we will see more platforms that intersect their catalogs, leaving in the viewer field the possibility of choosing one or another service according to offers, prices or temporary exclusive. Although in that sense, few can shade the splendid offer of Amazon channels. In Xataka | Prime Video has a plan to differentiate from its competition: become a repository of foreign channels

The Government has been launching the “pajorte” for months. Spanish porn platforms are already noticing their impact

“Before watching this video for adults, please show me your porn card.” That was in July 2024 the idea of ​​the government to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content on the Internet. That hypothetical Pajorto It seems to have stayed in anyone’s land, however, because … Does anyone know where it is? Pajorto. The popularly known as porn card or “pajorte” had as an official name “Beta Digital”. That it was nothing more than a mobile application that thanks to the use of public or private keys would allow the user’s age to verify and give access to online pornographic content. Doubts everywhere. Soon many doubts appeared –even legal– On the viability of a very complex project at the technical level and With a little reach In our country. In addition, governments have centuries trying to put doors to porn And they never went too well. Pajorte, theoretically in tests. As they point out In the countryPajorte still does not exist even though it should have been ready for the “end of summer” of 2024. That was at least the promise of the then Minister of Digital Transformation, José Luis Escrivá. His successor, Óscar López, declared in the Senate On February 26 that the digital portfolio “is being reviewed at the National Cryptological Center to have all the security, because it has to give guarantees to all citizens.” Even so, according to the Vanguardia López, he said that the government “has found a solution to guarantee privacy and verify age” and that the Spanish tool is being “study in Europe and the same within a year all of Europe is applying it.” European digital identity (EIDAS2). The European Union It has been for years working on the call ‘European Digital Identity Wallet‘, a kind of digital identity card that will unify DNI, passwords and all payments in the same application. That initiative He is not exempt from criticismbut theoretically it will end up being implemented in November 2027 although the barriers are still important. Spain tried to advance with this digital portfolio focusing on solving the problem of access to the porn of minors, but the Spanish initiative has ended up becoming a recurring meme. Picture traffic drop. The Cumloouder Adult Content website, of the Asturiana Techpump company, asks its users in Barcelona and Madrid to choose an age verification system to access its contents. On the one hand, an app similar to Beta Digital Portfolio that makes the introduction of the DNI necessary. The second, an age estimate based on an image of the user’s face. Responsible for this platform explained in the country how their traffic has fallen 85% after implementing this system. Of the 15% who end up accessing “3.38% do the verification and 11.7% make the estimation with AI, it is almost four times more practically those who put their face.” Porn (national) would have to close. For those responsible for Cumlouder, a 85% drop in your business would be catastrophic. “The traffic is business. If we get to do it for all Spain, we go down blind,” said Javier Fernández, head of Techpump technology in statements to El País. Data privacy and protection. Pojorto will only affect Spanish porn platforms, which as we said are the ones that users use the least in our country. Despite this, this measure could harm them because the lack of legal clarity is worrying. The CNMC has processed several files for the application of the 2022 audiovisual lawwhich forces to take necessary measures for the protection of minors in this area. Better leave the business. In fact, the regulations are causing a blunt effect on that industry. “There is no system in the market that complies with the new audiovisual law without violating data protection rights,” explained one of those affected by regulation. He ended up selling the domain and eliminating the content “to avoid possible sanctions that could take me to bankruptcy.” The CNMC already fined 308,529 euros to Techpump Because of their zero age control, and these types of sanctions can be a death sentence for smaller platforms. Possible solution: no free content. The failure of the verification system has caused Techpump to choose to move on to a payment gateway, which will make it filter first with a credit card. From there they intend to create a verification system to offer it to other adult content platforms. The CNMC already indicated that the card payment is not enough to verify that a person is of legal age. United Kingdom, a parallel example. The British country also has been promoting measures to protect minors from access to pornography. His Online Safety Act It raises alternatives for identification and access to these contents, among which are a photographic identification, an age estimate, credit card checks or with digital identity services. However, there is no unique or definitive system, but It is supposed According to the British regulator, ofcom, which “by July 2025, all platforms must have a very effective age guarantee solution to protect children under 18.” Impossible to put doors to the field. All this leads to the colossal challenge of being able to control access to pornographic content by minors, something that seems almost impossible despite the efforts of Spain or the European Union. There is still room for options, of course, but the possible disadvantages – especially in privacy and limitation of freedoms – can be insurmountable obstacles to these projects. In Xataka | The Japanese are ceasing to consume paper pornography. And that has had a direct effect on its streets

Telefónica’s plan to convert their networks into platforms against large technology

In a huge stand of the MWC 2025 Get chaired by the slogan ‘Leading Change, Inspiral Progress’, Telefónica has deployed its arsenal of corporate alliances around Open Gateway. Chema Alonso, visible face of the digital transformation of the Teleco, has presented a series of agreements that allow to glimpse the real strategy of the operator: convert their networks, so far mere highways, on platforms that generate income. An old yearning. He has not done it alone: ​​the presentation has been a parade of managers of several companies and institutions supporting the projected. Open Gatewayin fact, it is not new. The GSMA initiative has been promising to transform telecommunications networks into open platforms through standardized APIs. And according to GSMA data, it is present in 28 markets. What is most striking is the accelerated rhythm with which Telefónica is closing agreements: more than 50 large companies and 20 commercial partners, according to the numbers that Alonso has shared. Chema Alonso during the presentation of Open Gateway at the MWC 2025. Image: Xataka. Among the most important ads is The expansion of your collaboration with Tiktok for Europe. The Chinese platform will use the numbers verification API to simplify the user registration, eliminating the SMS passage. But the really interesting thing is the joint creation of a new API called “AGE VERIFICATION“, which will arrive first to Brazil and then expand to other markets. Reading between the lines is clear: Telefónica has found a way to monetize its privileged position as identity validityan increasingly valuable asset in the digital ecosystem. The agreement with Cabify follows the same logic: provide identity verification to expedite records. In the demo there has been a saving of ten seconds: a message no longer comes, everything happens “inside”, automatically and invisible to the user. What was previously a simple SMS is now reconvigned in a premium service that companies will be willing to pay. Cabify is an example. Carlos Herrera, Cto de Cabify, along with Chema Alonso in the demo of the API. Image: Xataka. Telefónica is transforming what was previously an operational cost into a source of income. A good play … in the absence of seeing the real business volume it generates. Then there is the protocol with the Community of Madrid. What the administration wants with Open Gateway is to “optimize internal processes.” In Health, Transportation, Justice and Tourism. Movistar is positioned as well as Technological intermediary between citizens and public services. This is a space traditionally played by great technological ones, so Telefónica has found here a space to achieve one of its great desires: to be seen as another technological and not only as a telecommunications provider. The agreements with two heavyweights, AWS and Google Cloud close the circle: With Amazon, Telefónica will create an innovation center to develop SAAS products aimed at operators. With Google you will integrate Open Gateway in Firebase to offer authentication to more than 3 million developers. Christiaan Brand, from Firebase, along with Chema Alonso during the presentation. Image: Xataka. It is striking that other operators such as AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile and Telenor are also adding to this last initiative, indicating a coordinated effort of the sector to recover relevance against technological platforms. They have good reasons to form a common front. The question that floats in the Barcelona air is If these APIs will be enough to rebalance the balance of power. For years, telecos have seen how technology built multimillionaire empires on their networks while they were relegated to connectivity suppliers Comoditized. Open Gateway is its commitment to capture part of the value that passes through its networks. The challenge is to execute this vision in a usually slow sector when innovating. And above all, when displaying. APIS standardization through Camara Project (developed by GSMA and Linux Foundation) is a step in the right direction, but operators will have to demonstrate that they can move at the speed required by the industry. No one knows if this strategy will translate into the long -awaited year for relevance in the digital ecosystem, but we do know that Telefónica is clearer than ever its position: It does not want to be the highway, but also who controls a part of the traffic. Outstanding image | Xataka In Xataka | Consolidation or irrelevance: Marc Murtra launches an ultimatum to the EU in his debut as president of Telefónica

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