products

After launching the cheapest Mac in history, Apple is preparing three ‘Ultra’ products. Wants to go for both ends of the market

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A few days after the arrival of MacBook Neothe cheapest Mac in history, we know thanks to Mark Gurman in Bloomberg that Apple is preparing three products for this year. All three aspire to be the most expensive in their category. And that contrast says a lot about Apple’s strategy for the immediate future. The panoramic. Gurman is the journalist with the best history of leaks about Apple. And he has published in his newsletter Power On that Apple plans to launch at least three products with the Ultra surname, or at least with its essence (the most powerful and expensive in its range): A foldable iPhone. We have been listening to it for years and It seems that 2026 is going to be the year. Expected price of around $2,000. It does not replace the Pro Max, but rather points to another form factor and to those who want to have the most advanced device in the line. AirPods with camera sensors. They would be above the AirPods Pro in price. Its differential would not be in the audio but in space capabilities that the cameras would provide. Macbook Ultra. Although it is not confirmed that it will be called that. With OLED touch panel and M5 Ultra chip. It would be the most expensive and powerful laptop ever launched by Apple, aimed at those who already spend similar amounts on a mac studio plus a monitor. All this in the same year that Apple launches the MacBook Neo for $600. He counted. They are complementary movements. The Neo lowers the barrier to entry into the Mac ecosystem, and the Ultra raises it for those who are already inside and can (and want) to go further. Apple has been trying a similar logic for some time. He first Apple Watch Ultra It arrived in 2022 for about double the price of the current Series. Without being a radically different product, it found its buyer: who wanted the best Apple Watch possible without the price being a major obstacle. It worked. Between the lines. The touch screen on a Mac deserves separate attention, because Apple justified not incorporating it a few years ago, when there was some pressure for it to do so, explaining that touching a computer screen is uncomfortable due to the position of the arm. The question. Just because the strategy is coherent on paper does not mean that all products will be able to sustain it. The foldable iPhone will arrive after seven years with other foldables on the market, without anyone being able to turn it into a bestseller. AirPods with cameras are going to have to offer something that justifies the spending premium, not just a gimmicky demo for the first few days. And the MacBook Ultra will have to justify its price with something that only that laptop can deliver. Apple knows better than anyone that a premium line demands that premium products truly deliver. In 2026 we will see if it is up to the task with this new shipment that seeks to raise the ceiling of several lines. In Xataka | Apple has only found one option to make a cheap laptop: make it a mobile Featured image | Tatiana Steve, insung yoon, dlxmedia.hu

and that includes products from Korea

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Entering Mercadona and finding empty shelves in the cosmetics section is no longer surprising. What was once an almost automatic purchase—gel, deodorant, a basic cream—has transformed into a treasure hunt driven by social media: 3.50 euro products They sell out, they are recommended as if they were high-end and They generate videos with millions of views. It does not happen in a specialized perfumery or in Sephora, but between preparations and delicatessen. In the last year and a half, the white label Deliplus has gone from being a functional and cheap option to becoming one of the great engines of skincare in Spain. And not only because of price. What is happening in the aisles of Mercadona is the visible symptom of something deeper: a change in the way of consuming beauty, in the perception of luxury and in the growing—and now structural—influence of Korean cosmetics. Before the Korean aesthetic became explicit in its launches, Mercadona had already been training its consumers in a different logic for some time. In the last two years, Deliplus has intensified its presence with products that go far beyond basic care: serums with promises botox-likepatches, facial treatments, perfumes inspired by great houses and cosmetics designed to function as dupes of the high range. The strategy is to detect trends, replicate them quickly and place them in an everyday and massive environment, where the low price reduces the perceived purchase risk to almost zero. The result is not only sales volume, but a cultural phenomenon: the supermarket cosmetics aisle converted into a new aspirational showcase. Trying stops being a thoughtful decision and becomes an impulsive gesture. It is on this basis – a brand already accustomed to virality, to dupe and immediate consumption—where the codes of Korean cosmetics fit with special ease. The settlement of K-Beauty Korean cosmetics, known as K-Beautyhas not prevailed only for its products, but for a combination of industry, culture and digital marketing that has been going on for more than a decade expanding outside of South Korea. In economic terms, Korea has established itself as one of the great cosmetic powers in the world. since last year compete directly with historical giants like France or the United States. The K-Beauty It has ceased to be a niche fashion and has become a structural force in the global market, with a presence in pharmacies, department stores and European supermarkets. But its success goes beyond the numbers. Korea has been able to sell a specific idea of ​​beauty: compared to the traditional Western approach, which is more corrective and focused on treating visible problems, Korean cosmetics has built his story around prevention, care of the skin barrier and consistency from an early age. It is not about covering up imperfections, but rather preventing them from appearing. Hence aspirational concepts like the glass skin: luminous, uniform and healthy skin. This approach fits especially well into the logic of the algorithm. Step-by-step routines, visual formats, assets with recognizable names and photogenic results turn the K-beauty in perfect content for TikTok and Instagram. Added to this is the cultural weight of Hallyu u “Korean wave”: music, series and aesthetics that reinforce the association between Korea and cosmetic innovation. Mercadona does not adopt this philosophy in all its complexity, but it does translate its codes to European mass consumption: sticksessences, “all-in-one” products, language of star assets and visible promises in a short time. Koreanness works here as a cultural shortcut: it evokes care, modernity and efficiency without needing to explain the entire system behind it. One of the clearest examples is the Facial Clean detox & illuminating stick facial mask, which costs 3.50 euros. As explained Trendsit is a stick mask—very common in Asian cosmetics—whose format and message of quick results explain a good part of its success. However, compared to the narrative of “it works for everyone”, the first crack appears when the dermatological criterion comes into play. “There are no miracle creams”: the warning that does not go viral The dermatologist Almudena Nuño, who we have interviewedmakes it clear from the beginning: there are no universal or miraculous products. “The same cosmetic can be wonderful for one person and disastrous for another,” he explains. The difference is not in the price or the virality, but in the type of skin, in habits and in the rest of the products that are being used. In the specific case of this type of masks with clays, Nuño emphasizes that they can work well on combination or oily skin because they help absorb sebum and mattify, but they can be irritating on sensitive skin or skin with previous pathology. “When you see completely opposite opinions – some love it and others it destroys their skin – it is not because the product is good or bad, but because it is being used without criteria.” For the dermatologist, this is one of the big problems of the skincare viral: the promise of an immediate result detached from the context of use. The stick mask is no exception. In recent months, Mercadona has launched facial essences, hydrating mists, products with hyaluronic acid microcapsules and cosmetics that are deliberately placed in concrete steps of the Korean routine —after the toner and before the serum—. They are no longer just selling a cream: they are selling a way to take care of your skin. The problem, according to Nuño, is that they try to replicate a complete ritual with one or two products. “Korean cosmetics work because they are accompanied by habits: strict sun protection, consistency from an early age, careful diet, medical treatments when necessary. Here we want the result without everything else.” However, this phenomenon cannot be understood without the economic and cultural context. Mercadona has perfected what has been called the luxury of hallway: products reminiscent in texture, packaging or effect to high-end cosmetics—Lancôme, Dior, Shiseido—eliminating the price barrier. You don’t just buy a functional product; you buy the feeling of participating in a global trend. This … Read more

All tech companies are putting AI in all their products. The problem is that nobody wants them

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It’s been a year and a half and it seems like 10 have passed. In May 2024, Microsoft announced the launching Windows Recallan artificial intelligence option that allowed us to remember and recover things we had done on our PC. It seemed like an interesting idea, but soon he was criticized his approach to privacy and security and the company had to delay it and then relaunch it without making too much noise. That was one of those AI features that promised to transform our PC experience, but three years after the launch of ChatGPT, one thing is certain: AI has not meant no revolution. Not at least on the PC, we insist. Microsoft, of course, has not stopped adding more and more AI functions to Windows 11. We have co-pilots and theoretically revolutionary functions to bore, and that obsession with putting AI even in the soup has been demonstrated with the legendary Notepadwhich has gone from being a minimalist app to one that is losing focus. Microsoft’s reasons are legitimate: they have invested a real fortune in AI and they will want to take advantage of it. Surely the intention was good (at least, in part) when it came to offering new ways of working and enjoying our PC. The problem is that good intentions have caused just the opposite of what Microsoft intended. Instead of us wanting to use Windows 11 more and more, is making us want to use it less and less. We have seen it with renewed interest for some Linux distributionsbut also with the appearance of an app that is exclusively dedicated to eradicating Windows 11 any trace of AI functions. AI fatigue The same thing is happening with AI browsers. Comet, Day and Atlas They are two striking proposals for this integration of AI functions, but neither of them seems to have caught on, and Microsoft Edge – which of course has integrated Copilot – has not proposed any change in trend either: the browsers we want to use, at least for the moment, continue to be the traditional ones, without AI. And there is the key. In what We users have not asked for so much AI. That is precisely the great criticism of these industry efforts to boast that their products have AI. Those two magic letters no longer get expectations. What they are starting to get is rejection. Firefox is the latest example. Mozilla has just appointed a new CEO, and in its first public statement it pointed out its intention to transform Firefox into a product in which AI was the central axis. The users of this browser – and I count myself among them – are not at all clear, and the unified response message has been clear: “Firefox does not need AI, but rather listen to its users“. What has happened and is happening with Windows 11 and Firefox shows that we are entering a new stage in which AI no longer excites, but rather fatigues. It’s everywhere: The list is of course much longer, and in many cases there is another added problem: that AI is the excuse to raise prices. Microsoft is here again a notable example with Microsoft 365but we have also seen it in Adobe, which He raised the price to his customers right off the bat because now they could enjoy an AI that they had not asked for. It’s happening everywhere because the promised AI revolution still hasn’t happened. There are, of course, areas in which it has proven to be transformative—programming is the clear case—but in many others that acronym has lost its meaning. The industry’s commitment to making this work is logical: companies have invested hundreds of billions of dollars invested with the idea that this was going to explode… and so far it hasn’t. But they continue to fill everything with AI. And as often happens, that’s the bad thing. It tires you a lot…And if we haven’t asked for it, even more so. In Xataka | Adobe has presented itself as the champion of copyright in the AI ​​era. Now we know that maybe not so much

Follow the presentation of OPPO’s new high-end products live

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Today we have an important appointment with OPPO. The Chinese firm is back on track and has scheduled us in Barcelona for the launch of its new Find X9 series. They are mobile phones that clearly aspire to the podium of mobile photography and, as it could not be otherwise, you will be able to follow the presentation live and direct with us. OPPO conference will take place today, October 28, at 4:00 p.m. Spanish peninsular time and you can follow it with our comments on our YouTube channel. The schedules according to regions are as follows: Spain: 16:00 (15:00 in the Canary Islands). Mexico: 9:00 AM Colombia: 10:00 AM. Venezuela : 11:00 AM. Argentina, Chile: 12:00 PM. Live What we hope to see Unless there are surprises, it is most likely that today’s event will have two main protagonists: the OPPO Find X9 and OPPO Find X9 Pro. The Chinese firm did a very good job with the OPPO Find OPPO has been leaving clues on its networks, such as that the maximum zoom will be 120x (probably digital) and that the OPPO Find X9 Pro will have a 200-megapixel Hasselblad telephoto lens. another tweet It suggests that the battery will also be a cornerstone, since it will exceed 7,000 mAh. Silicon-carbon to power. Image shared by OPPO in X showing the new Find X9 and the Enco X3s 1 Image: OPPO – Click on the photo to see the original post We also see a change in the design, more rectangular than the last generation, and a generous camera module that apparently hides three cameras and not four, as was the case in the OPPO Find X8 Pro, although there seems to be room for a fourth sensor. Surely OPPO has left the zoom in the hands of that huge 200 megapixel sensorbut we will clear up doubts in just a little while. We will also see the differences between both devices, since from the photos they seem really similar. Last but not least, OPPO will present the OPPO Enco X3syour new headphones. These have been optimized by Dynaudio and will offer active noise cancellation, but we don’t know which range they will fit into. We will also have the opportunity to see ColorOS 16its new customization capability that promises, among other things, more fluidity. We will find out today, October 28, at 4:00 p.m., we are waiting for you! Live | Follow the presentation of the OPPO Find X9 Series Images | OPPO

It is called cheapflation and it directly attacks the most basic products

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In recent years the inflation seemed to subside on the charts, but not where millions of homes feel it: the supermarket. Under this appearance of normality, a silent and structural shift has been taking place that does not hit everyone equally: because what increases the most is not luxury, but the essentials, and it is paid for by those who cannot stop buying it. One word sums it up and explains it perfectly. Cheapflation. I remembered this morning the newspaper El País that food inflation has not been neutral: it hits harder the less you have. Thus, the so-called cheapflation (the disproportionate increase in the cost of the cheapest products) has raised the price of basic foods by 37% between 2021 and 2024, compared to 23% for high-end foods. The result: the poor households spend more proportion of their income in essential goods, and when they try to lower their basket by replacing commercial brands with white brands or smaller formats, they discover that these ranges are precisely the ones that have increased the most. The burden is not only economic: the qualitative degradation of the diet in households with financial stress has an impact on health, and in Spain the ECB indicators show a gap “exceptional and persistent” between food and the rest of the prices from 2022, consolidating a structural, not cyclical, shock. Pandemic, energy neck and Ukraine. The sequence that triggered cheapflation is recognizable: the exit from confinements with the demand running ahead of the offer, the later energy escalation and logistics, and that war in Ukraine that has only been stress fertilizerscereals and fuels. The ECB estimates a +30% accumulated in food in the eurozone since 2019, and in Spain, groceries have risen more than 30% from 2021 (compared to 19% of the general CPI), with essentials such as meat, milk, butter between +30% and +50%and extreme peaks in olive oil, coffee or cocoa, with increases up to 80%. The hidden layer. The increase in food is not explained only by wars or general inflation, but by how it is organized the market itself. Since the 2008 crisis, basic foodstuffs have been traded as a financial product on futures exchanges, which allows for speculative movements that push up prices. Account the investigation from the Barcelona Urban Research Institute (IDRA) that at the same time the world cereal trade is in the hands of only five large companies that control between 70% and 90% of the market and they also participate on both sides: in the physical grain and in the financial business linked to that grain. Between 2021 and 2022 they obtained record profits, some multiplied by three on previous levels. That combination (few hands managing the product and the price) means that any global shock translates into higher prices faster and with more strength. Spain as a laboratory. According to the same report from the Barcelona Institute, in Spain, both manufacturers and distributors captured extraordinary margins in inflationary phase: agri-food leads the rise in margins with +38.1% since 2020; The large distribution groups declared record profits (7.5 billion in 2024), while salaries in the sector are below average and pockets of precariousness persist, such as in fruit in Lleida and Andalusia. The contrast in this sense is clear: income moves from consumers and labor to capital concentrated in an oligopolistic market whose pricing power has not been contested. Non-intervention policy. The report also pointed out that when the market is left to resolve itself, the same thing almost always happens: the hard of the cost remains in families (worse and more expensive food, more deprivation, more inequality) and the extraordinary benefits remain above. Spain is already the third country in Europe where the food deprivation in 15 yearsonly behind France and Greece, and mainly affects single-parent households, dependent people and precarious jobs. Although from 2023 costs went down energy and logistics, the final prices have not. When a price “jumps” due to a crisis, if there are few companies dominating the market, that jump becomes the new floor and there is no going back. Regulation of power. The studies agree in which the problem is not solved only with specific aid, but by changing how the market works. That means reduce concentration of power in a few companies, stop financial speculation with food and be able to put temporary caps on prices when there is a crisis to prevent them from staying at the top forever. According to the documentit is not useful to give money to the consumer (because the State pays it) or to demand discounts from the farmer (who is already the weakest link), the adjustment has to come of the middle part of the chain, where the highest margins are (industry and distribution), and with an active role of the State to monitor that price power. The ultimate goal is not only for food to cost less, but for essentials to stop depending on financial fluctuations and the control of a few companies that today they dominate the grain on which food security depends. Image | H. Friar In Xataka | The shopping basket is so expensive that many Madrid residents are driving 40 minutes to buy in a cheap supermarket In Xataka | They are touching our balls (specifically, their price)

Mercadona has been filled with gels and shampoos that mimic luxury products: the silent revolution of supermarkets

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A light texture cream and minimalist container that could go through a Sephora launch, a Bombonera type bag that Remember Loewe or Jacquemusand a colony whose aroma evokes Carolina Herrera or Issey Miyake perfumes. All this coexists, at reduced prices, in the same place where fried and softening potatoes are sold: the supermarket. Between clonations or inspirations – not to open the legal melon – you can find global cosmetics and perfumery trends, including Korean skincareas well as viral accessories in a daily and massive context. A phenomenon that arouses passions on social networks and that, in Spain, has Mercadona as one of its main protagonists. Imitation as a strategy. According to Business InsiderMercadona, through its own Deliplus brand, accurately mimics makeup products and personal care of firms such as Mac, Benefit, L’Oréal or Urban Decay, with containers and textures that remind the original but at prices that rarely exceed six euros. Among the best known examples are the Maxi Volume mask (inspired by L’Oréal), the silicone base similar to Benefit or Illuminator and Coloretes that refer directly to The Balm and Nars. The formula works thanks to the massive distribution and indirect marketing that generate users and influencers by viralizing findings such as bath gel with amber and vetiver for 1.50 euros, described by the confidential as “a gel that smells of gods” and compared to high -end perfumes. In Xataka A feeling is growing in Europe and Canada: Boicote "National" The hole that leaves inaccessible luxury. This “corridor luxury” blooms at a time when traditional luxury has become more expensive until its clientele concentrated in the richest 1%. According to the avant -gardethe average price of luxury products has risen 25% since 2019, displacing the aspirational consumer that previously saved to buy a perfume or accessory. Today, more than 40% of the sales of many brands come from that 1% of greater purchasing power. The consequence of all this is a market hole that fill legal imitations, inspired products and, in the illegal field, falsifications. According to the countrydigital copies trade has exploded with apps and channels in Telegram, where young people buy and exhibit replicas without complexes. 54% of the B buyers see with good eyes that others carry falsifications, and 37% admit that it carries or carry them. In this panorama, legal clones such as those of Mercadona are positioned as an “safe” alternative, although they are part of the same conversation about value, authenticity and saturation. The origin of luxury by hand. The mixture of luxury references and daily consumption is not new, but in the last decade it has been normalized and even turned into a statement of style. The figure of the “luxury choni” – who combines gold logos with basic garments and low cost makeup – has permeated in artists such as Bad Gyal, capable of dressing in Versace and Use Mercadona Profiler. Also Rosalia, in its beginnings, sang in Aute Cuture: “In the Palace and in the Chinese”, encapsulating the coexistence of two consumption universes in the same aesthetic identity. This symbolic cross has found fertile ground in cosmetics, where the price does not always determine social recognition. An effective clone can grant the same symbolic capital as a luxury product, especially when social networks amplify the finding. The era of “dupe”. In networks like Tiktok, the term Dupe It has become a generational flag. Vogue Business has documented How gene generation has stopped hiding that uses imitations: finding and showing them is a source of pride. Brands such as Mcobeauty in Australia have grown thanks to this movement, while firms like Charlotte Tilbury have launched campaigns to claim their “original formula” and differentiate themselves from copies. In other markets, the line between inspiration and copy has been tested in court. According to Vogue BusinessBenefit’s demand against Elf Cosmetics for a mask similar to his Roller Lash failed: justice considered that packaging and components differ enough not to confuse the consumer. On the other hand, Mercadona does not fight on that forehead: its strategy is to identify and produce quickly, benefiting that in Spain, as in many markets, copying formulas or aesthetics without violating patents is perfectly legal. Beyond beauty: edible luxury. This phenomenon is not limited to cosmetics. According to Delishgeneration Z is moving aspirational consumption to food. In the United States, chains like Erewhon sell $ 20 with superfood and collaborations of Celebritieswhich are both a well -being product and a content for social networks. Logic is similar: to make daily consumption (makeup, breakfast, hydrate) into an act of visible and replicable status. Luxury is no longer alone in marble boutiques: it is in the glass Take Awayin the design bottle of design and, in Spain, in the supermarket perfume line. The debate: democratize or dilute. He Dupe It can be understood as democratization: put aesthetic and sensory codes available to a few people. But it can also dilute the value of the original and its promise of exclusivity. Marc Chaya, CEO of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, warned in Vogue Business: “Duping is a serious matter … some serve to remind brands that cannot abuse the price, but others flood the market without providing utility or purpose.” For the consumer, the dilemma is different: pay for history and prestige or for the effect and similarity. For brands, the question is how to maintain relevance when desire is satisfied with cheaper alternatives. {“videoid”: “x85k87i”, “autoplay”: fals, “title”: “Black Friday: how to know if an online store is reliable ️ Buy with internet security”, “Tag”: “”, “Duration”: “562”} Cart as a global showcase. It is not about replacing the traditional luxury experience, but about appropriating its symbols in times of inflation, precariousness and digitalized consumption. The “hall luxury” is a symptom of an era where the barriers between high range and mass consumption are increasingly diffuse. And there, in that hall where glamor coexists with the softener, a new chapter is being written in the history of consumption: one where a … Read more

We have cheap dough chatbots, and ultra -premium products for the elite

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A 200 euro mobile normally does everything you need. A mobile of 1,000 euros simply makes it faster and better. A 25,000 euros car takes you perfectly from one place to another. But experience is different and better in a 60,000 car. Contemporary economy has taught us how life can work at two speeds. And with AI is happening exactly the same. AI at the balance price. Yesterday Deepmind announced The availability of Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite, a reasoning model “for those looking under cost and latency.” It is not Google’s most powerful model, much less, but it is one thing: cheap. Costs Between three and six times less than its standard model, Gemini 2.5 Flash, and that makes more than ever a clear trend. Welcome to the McDonalization of the AI. Since the AI ​​models began to be marketed, we were seeing how we had a two -speed AI. On the one hand, free or very cheap chatbots –even local– With “minced meat” models for the big masses. On the other, the superpotent and capable chatbots, the most advanced and also the most expensive. Free and ia at $ 250 per month. That division was enlarging over time. AI plans of $ 20 per month have already become “middle range” plans for users. Now we are living a clear phenomenon in which if you want the best, you will have to pay a lot for it. The most advanced models of Openai and Google They cost 200 and $ 250 per month respectively. Before we had super -premium mobiles. Now we have overemium. Free AI is still (very) good. The most striking thing is that this McDonalization of AI is not bad at the moment. Free models, those who use the vast majority of users, They are fantastic for many scenarios And they fully meet their needs. Here we have benefited from an ultracompetitive market: AI companies have had to offer better benefits on their free platforms so that we would not run to use others that did the same for free or cheaper. The cost per million tokens (in dollars) has not stopped falling for two years. He will continue to do so. Source: Epoch AI (click on the image to access the interactive graph). And the AI ​​will continue to be reduced. A few days ago OpenAi The price of O3 was cut by 80% and offered its advanced version, O3 Pro. The latter is an even more capable model, but it is also 10 times more expensive than the standard O3 model. It is intended for very specific users who get all the juice to these models with very detailed prompts and contexts. O3 Pro is not helpful for typical consultations (often not too specific) that we do in Chatgpt, for example. That tendency to the reduction of AI is constant. But also more expensive. The opposite is also true: the cost of inference does not stop lowering, but access to the best models could be further increased. Especially if, as the companies that offer them look like they propose them as substitutes for human employees. Sam Altman already pointed out that an agent of the hyperavanzado with the ability of a human doctorate will not leave for 200, but for $ 20,000 per month. But if you meet expectations – and as always, maximum uncertainty here, Altman is a specialist in generating Hype-, that AI will be able to do the job of many employees, and also do so constantly, 24/7. The price of exclusivity. We are also seeing how these ultra -premium models are those that give access to characteristics that consume many resources, such as Spectacular capacity Video generation of Vist 3. although it is possible to generate a few videos with the “mid -range” accounts of Google (Google Ai Pro, 21.99 euros/month), to use that option much less limited we can sign up for the Google Ai Ultra Plan, 250 euros per month. Maybe 250 euros a month is a bar. We can consider that paying 20, 200 or 250 euros per month for accessing an advanced AI model is somewhat absurd considering that free models are already very good. However, there is another overwhelming reality: those advanced payment models can be an absolute bargain. If you produce double or do your work in half of time, what are 20 euros per month, or even 250? It all depends on how you squeeze them, of course. As said Javier Recuenco (@recuenco), Author and academic: “Something that takes away 80% of the work and that lets you do what you are good, that cool you and what you are good? Please give me more.” Supply and demand. Alberto Romero, author of the Newsletter ‘The Algorithmic Bridge’, I reflected weeks ago About that potential gap. As in the rest of the market industries, for it OpenAi and the rest of the companies of AI will operate in the market “with the only rule that matters, that of supply and demand.” Winners and losers of the AI. But it is also true that That for the poor and for rich will cause A new digital gap. Those who can pay the best AI models can do more things and better – if they really take out the juice – than those who only have access to free or cheap models. There will be no equal opportunities for each other. We could see something like that with access to promising AI agentswhich will be especially intensive in resource consumption but theoretically they will also do many things for us autonomously … but not those who cannot pay for them. In Xataka | The AI ​​race seemed to be matching. Openai has just hit the table with a model that points very high

“Ready to eat” are sweeping supermarkets. It is because we no longer buy products, we buy time

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Juan Roig He said it And half Spain was thrown on him: “In the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens.” Discussing whether it was a prophecy or a simple interested provocation, eight million Spaniards were already giving him right. Those who were buying prepared dishes, according to someone so little suspicious of having an interest like the EFE agency. Not that Roig is a visionary guru, he was simply reading the data that others wanted to ignore. The numbers speak for themselves: the consumption of dishes “ready to eat” bought in supermarkets (or in that genius of Naming‘Merchants’) It has grown 48% in just two years. Mercadona has this section In 1,260 storesbut Lidl also launched its own rangeAlcampo sells Up to 200 different dishes according to the store and Day has 180 products like this. Even Ikea has climbed to that car: to sell, more than ingredients, solutions. AND We are not talking about junk food or commitment solutionslike those packaged potato tortillas that made Belcebú cry. Now we see paellas, homemade croquettes, lentils, lasagers or potato tortillas themselves that know exactly what we hope they know. The trend goes beyond the supermarket: in the last twenty years the consumption of this type of dishes has multiplied by five. Supermarkets are simply integrating it into their offer and taking advantage of the fact that they are a usual place of passage, not a concrete destination such as the food houses. The nuance that explains this boom is that We are not buying exactly food, we are buying time. It is a symptom of change of our priorities. We are not stopping cooking for lazy, but by exhausted. Maybe also because we have more options what to do with that time recovered. Our parents had three television channels and the bar dominoes; We have platforms of streamingvideo games, Yoga online classes, cheap Ryanair tickets, establishments oriented towards “experiences” and an infinite offer of stimuli competing for our attention. It may simply Let’s be less willing to give up those two hours of kitchen when we know everything we could do with them. If we add the paid work, the domestic, the displacements and the care, the royal days exceed the 60 hours per week, according to the National Survey of Working Conditions of the INE. What we buy with each prepared dish is not just food: it’s a break. Returned time. A truce. And that’s why they succeed. In Xataka | Spain has become a country addicted to something that some years ago enjoyed little prestige: the white brand Outstanding image | Mercadona

reconditioned and rental products

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A decade ago it was Just an occasional exchange fair. Today, the repurchase and resale of sports material is one of the vertices that sustains the growth of Decathlon. The French chain has turned the circular economy into a commercial argumenta magnet of young customers in a country eager to Chollos in reconditioned And, above all, a visible profitability lever in its global accounts and – with special intensity – in the Spanish market. In 2013 the first ‘took placeTrocathlon‘In Spain, the first semiannual fair that had been celebrating in France from the eighties. It was the germ of the current strategy with a name that today sounds like archeology. Five years later, Decathlon was called occasion and its frequency was increased before moving on to the current nomenclature, ‘Second life‘. The project was formalized with donation, recycling and sale of returned products. Having had three different names in the last decade is more than evolution of sheet and paint: it is the passage of a specific and little transcendent event for the annual balance to a permanent service that already lives with the linear of novelties. And that weighs more and more in Excel. Not that Decathlon is alone here. IKEA has its ‘Preowned’ program, Patagonia launched ‘Worn Wear’ almost a decade ago. It is part of a trend in which the Zeitgeist which proclaims the green and sustainable helps to underpin the results account. Circular turn figures According to him 2024 results reportthe number of second -hand items reached 1.35 million units. It is not just a volume record: that implies that each of these products has generated a second life cycle with minimal marginal costs against the production of a new item. There are also the three million repairs made. There are two twin levers: operational capacity (1,730 workshops) and loyalty. Repair consolidated customer confidence, because the guarantee is prolonged and the perception of durability is reinforced, and incidentally, nourishes the information group on recurring failures or use patterns that can be reversed in design improvements for the following designs. In addition, almost half of the offer (48.5%) is born with criteria of “ecodesign”, ten points more than in 2023. That is: The circle does not begin in the after -sales, but in the design. Easy to disassemble, standardized parts, transparent repair manuals … All that lowers reconditioning and prepares the land for rental models and, of course, subscription. Even, as has happened in consumer technologyanticipates European regulations that will make that “ecodesign” a legal requirement. In the rental market, Decathlon has a 50%share, the same as in Spain. It is an example of how circularity convinces different audiences. In southern Europe there are many occasional practice athletes: The Holy Week skier. The summer cyclist. He camper of the August bridge. Etc. The type of user who sees the “payment per use” as a way to test, rotate and update your equipment Without having to make a great payment (bargain country) or have to store bulky objects (floor of the floor). This is another mine for the cross sale of accessories, insurance, maintenance services … Spain, outstanding laboratory Spain has a highly digitized type of consumer (be complex) and very familiar with the resale. Wallapop and Vinned are religion. In addition, the second -hand bike market has also raided the psychological land. Decathlon has capitalized this habit with Its 70 circular spaces inaugurated in the last two years: large areas in its large format stores that They exhibit reconditioned without sibling them, without removing dignity in front of the new ones. Its placement, by the way, is strategic, near autophagous boxes and counters. The perfect place for last -minute impulsive purchase. Second life space dedicated to cycling with the promotional image of Pedri. Image: Decathlon. Spain is also a good country for reverse logistics for its geography and connections. Makes easy to redistribute Stock to coastal or mountain stores depending on the station. To that we must add the Tarbes factory, south of France, specialized in reconditioning bikes. However, the album has a face B. or three: Delicate appraisal. The balance between what the seller receives and the margin that the retailer needs is unstable. Paying too much erodes the benefit and paying less brakes the product flow. Decathlon Test Algorithms of Pricing Dynamic that weigh local demand, seniority, aesthetic state and seasonality – a road bike is worth more in April than in October. It risks arbitrariness perceptions, something that reduces trust. Capacity of your workshops. The three million repairs are a force exhibition, but also a possible bottleneck. The workshops are concentrated by type of product (cycling, mountain), but other emerging sports such as paddle points require different pieces and skills. The specialized technician is key. Forming and retaining that profile will be key. Inverse logistics and data. Each extra kilometer in the collection of used product can neutralize a part of the savings in CO2 that Everyone proclaims in marketing. Hence the commitment to hubs urban. But the waterfall in the form of a breakdown, average time to the second sale or residual price is analytical gold … that the GDPR Maybe it does not allow you to squeeze as much as the company would like. And there can be no reputational stumble in privacy. Thinking about 2026 That Decathlon has uploaded ten points the “ecodesign” quota in its catalog lets intuit that within a year there will be another climb so important or more. AND That will require redesign entire families of product. Not only changing materials for others Ecofriendlybut modularizing components, normalizing the screws, publishing open repair guides. That will presumably raise the costs. It is the toll. Decathlon is also resorting to AI, according to his CIO in an interview with The Spanishto experiment with the Pricing or estimate the residual value, but the next step is to integrate external data (such as trends in Google) to anticipate, for example, the depreciation of a scooter depending on the weather, its … Read more

Extra virgin olive oil is one of the purest products in the world. And it is also full of microplastics

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As if it were the fashion concertFrance’s olive oil consumers have been waiting for their time for too long: that exact point in which the Bodegas Galas are left without the accumulated reserves of 2024 and prices begin to go down driven by the arrival of the Spanish product. The good news is that this moment has arrived. The bad is that oil bottles come with surprises. Surprises? These days, preparing the “great moment”, the great French magazine of consumption ’60 million of consommateurs’, decided to analyze the main brands They were in the French market. They selected 22 bottles of extra virgin olive oil (that is, extracted only with mechanical pressure or centrifugation). Despite the numerous frauds that have been found, the results of the analyzes seem to square with the requirements of composition of this type of products (99% of lipids of a certain profile, predominance of monoinsaturated oleic acids, etc …). The surprise has been the fact of finding high levels of microplastics. Also in oil? Indeed: “Bios or conventional all (…) contain some type of phthalates”, chemical substances that make the most flexible and lasting plastic. Although they are allowed products, there are an increasing body of evidence which suggests that they have an important role as endocrine disruptors. A few days ago We commented on his role in the regulation of blood pressure. And what do we do? The problem of microplastics is huge, really. Only now we begin to be aware of its dimension and depth. However, cases such as this show that we are not being diligent in the control of these: the presence of phthalates is directly due to the containers we use. A global problem. Because yes, these are French data, but it would be naive not to assume that in Spain (where these oil are consumed up to six times more and the presentations are very far from being ‘premium’) the situation is better. It is not, it cannot be. And it is precisely what should lead us to a reflection: we talk about one of the most important products in the country, the axis of a strategic industry that articulates the entire country. It is time to assume that conserving that heritage requires a much deeper look, a plan that goes beyond day to day. And that, I’m afraid, is a pending task. Image | Fulvio Ciccolo | Oregon State University In Xataka | Olive oil sales have fired 50%. The market is so broken that it threatens to be bad news

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