assault in sound quality and for being the most comfortable headphones

Now that Samsung has finally announced the new generation of its headphones, what better way to explore what they offer than to compare them with models from other brands. Are they better than Apple’s? To do this, in this article we are going to put the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 with AirPods Pro 3. The differences between the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 and the AirPods Pro 3 The design, which one do you prefer? It is evident that one of the most important points when using headphones is the design. The Samsung Galaxy Buds4 they have a open, padless design while the AirPods Pro 3 They come with a set of five pads. And this may interest you a lot when buying headphones or others. Each person is different and headphones may be good for one person, but not for you. The good thing about AirPods is that with the pads you can customize the headphones so they fit better in your ears. Samsung does not allow this as it has an open design and no pads, so in the worst case you could feel some discomfort if they are too big for you or they simply fall off when walking, running or exercising. Best for lossless audio The AirPods Pro 3 may be the perfect headphones for an Apple user, but not everything is pretty: the headphones support the AAC codec (256 kbps), so if you use platforms that offer ‘Lossless’ sound quality you will not be able to have the best possible experience. Things change with the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 that support the codec SSC-UHQ (24-bit / 96 kHz). In this case you can take advantage of the ‘Lossless’ quality offered by many platforms such as Tidal or Spotify. If you are looking for the best possible sound quality, these are the ones that may interest you the most. Samsung wins in autonomy, but with nuances Both the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 and the AirPods Pro 3 offer good autonomy, up to 30 hours for the former and up to 24 hours for the latter. But if we remove the charging case from each one, things change. If you have active noise cancellation on, the Samsung headphones will last you just under five hours, while with the Apple headphones almost you will be able to last almost an entire day of eight hours of work. This is not to say that Samsung headphones are worse. Simply you have to take into account when you are going to use them: If it is for training or listening to music for a few hours, Samsung headphones may suit you well. If you listen to music for many hours to work, Apple headphones win here. What happens if my headphones get wet? Although it is always better to avoid water to ensure proper functionality of the headphones, both the Galaxy Buds4 and the AirPods Pro 3 are water resistant, although not in the same way. Resistances are usually measured by the degree of IP certificationand in this case the headphones come with: IP54 certification on the Samsung Galaxy Buds4: protection against water jets. IP57 certification on AirPods Pro 3: protection against complete immersion in water at a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes. In any case, both headphones are durable enough to function properly when used while exercising or in the rain. In the event that, for example, they fall into a puddle of water or into the bathtub, the AirPods Pro 3 are protected for these situations. A little extra that can change your choice Although it is something that we can find in other devices such as smartwatches, it is worth mentioning that the AirPods Pro 3 have a sensor that we do not see in Samsung headphones: the heart rate sensor. It is not a simple addition that we are going to avoid because we already have a watch, since there is a good reason why Apple has decided to introduce it in headphones. Beyond the reliability provided by sensors in devices such as smartwatches, it is medically more reliable for a device to take vital signs from the ear than from the wrist. If you exercise and are looking for greater control over the measurements, this AirPods sensor may interest you. In summary: which Bluetooth headphones to choose according to your tastes and needs Why choose the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 The Samsung Galaxy Buds4 arrive in style, offering a very competitive price. Where they stand out the most is in: Your SSC-UHQ codec. If you are going to use them to listen to music on platforms that offer ‘Lossless’ quality, these are the ones we recommend. If you listen to music sporadically. The headphones alone have less autonomy than Apple’s, but with the charging case they get a higher figure. If you use them for sessions of no more than four and a half hours, these are the ones that may interest you. If you want the cheapest. It is inevitable to compare prices on these headphones, so if you want to spend as little as possible, the difference of 70 euros is quite attractive. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Why choose AirPods Pro 3 The AirPods Pro 3 were launched a few months ago and continue to be one of the best purchase options in their price range. Where they stand out the most is in: The design. That it includes five pads is something very interesting if you don’t know very well how they are going to fit in your ears. With them, you can adapt the headphones so that they do not move, something especially interesting when walking, running or exercising. Your autonomy. The autonomy of the headphones (without charging case) reaches eight hours, so if you listen to music while you work, these are the ones that may interest you the most. Better water resistance. It’s not every day that we drop our headphones into a puddle or pool, … Read more

For centuries price has been a sign of quality. Generative AI is breaking that rule in dozens of sectors

For centuries, price has served as a cognitive shortcut. If something costs a lot it is because, for one reason or another, it must be worth a lot. An Armani suit, Bang & Olufsen headphonesa McKinsey report. The number has always served to convey certain information to us before seeing the product. It was compressed reputation. With the arrival of generative AI, that is ending in many sectors. Today a logo can cost 15 euros or 15,000. And be the same logo. A market analysis can come from a consulting firm with offices on three continents or from a guy in pajamas who knows how to wear Deep Research. The report may be indistinguishable. In fact sometimes the second one will be betterbecause the guy in pajamas understands the sector and the consultant assigned the junior who was free. AI is breaking the link between production cost and final result. Something very similar to what Antonio Ortiz, AI popularizer and former final boss of this house, in “Artificial Intelligence and unlinking effort and result“. If anyone can generate in minutes what previously required teams, weeks, and invoices with many zeros, price no longer communicates much about quality. It’s starting to be noise. and this will force a signal migration. From ‘how much’ to ‘who’, to ‘how’ or ‘why’. The questions that will matter are going to be “who signed this?”, “what process followed?”, “what human decisions were behind it?” That is, the process will become the product. It is already beginning to be seen with design studios that They obsessively document any iterationor consultancies that not only sell you the deliverable but also also access to the reasoning of their partners. More and more we are digital artisans who charge for showing how we work and not only for what we deliver. AI has made production almost free, so we are being flooded with digital content of all kinds, so scarcity shifts to criteria. Knowing what to ask for, what to discard, what makes sense and what doesn’t. to good taste. AI can do almost anything, and what it can’t, it will learn next year. Deciding well what to do and what not to do is still expensive. There, for the moment and luckily, there is no shortcut. Featured image | Xataka In Xataka | The AI ​​of 2026 brings an uncomfortable truth: the most useful will be the one that watches us the most

14 steps to ensure higher quality and better sources

We are going to give you 14 Tips to Improve Gemini Responsesso that the artificial intelligence Google is more precise. These are tips related to improving the prompts. Geminiand even the way you interact with this AI. Because simply asking a generic question is not the same as giving the proper context or a better structure to your questions. Therefore, we will tell you these things that should be taken into account to refine as much as possible and ensure that the response is closer and better to what you have in mind, whether it is a text or an image. Don’t talk to him like he’s Google AI chats are trained to understand natural language. This means that it is not necessary that you write only using keywords as you do with Google or other search engines, but that you have to write in a more organic and natural way. Come on, when you make a request to Gemini you have to talk to him like you would as a personexplaining well what you want. Yes, if you write to him “best camera phones 2026” he will understand what you mean, but there may be room for errors and misinterpretations that there would not be if you write what you want naturally. Specify well what you want to say The first tip to improve Gemini answers is specify as much as you can the details of the answer you want to get. Your question must be clear and precise, and take into account context and purpose of what you want to achieve. To give you an example, it’s one thing to ask them to write you an email to request something. However, if you specify details such as whether it is in English or the tone that you want to use, as long as it is professional, the result it gives you will be more precise. Details, details, details Sorry, I’m going to insist on the previous point. But it is vital don’t spare details when making requests. Don’t leave anything out, because each of the details you provide will help the AI ​​have a little more context when composing its response. When creating images, every detail you provide will make the results more personal, and the same thing happens with texts: All the details you can give will enrich the answer. You can say who the text is addressed to, the purpose, or how long you want the answer. Also tell him formats such as summarized or by points, what part of an event or topic you want him to explain to you, what event, anything that comes to mind. Go composing prompt by prompt It is obvious that you are not going to come up with all the details you want the first time. Therefore, when an answer is not what you expect, you can ask again using the same prompt but adding things to it. And so, little by little you will compose a much more specific request. Imagine that you ask him to explain an event to you, but the answer is too vague. So, you can ask him to tell you from a specific point of view, then you can add the tone, and little by little improve it. Besides, You don’t need to write the entire prompt either.. If you say something like “make it more formal,” he’ll know you mean the answer he just gave you. Ask me to use the structure you need When you ask Gemini to compose a text, you may have a purpose or a structure in mind, and that the result that the AI ​​gives you is totally different. That is why it is important that you mention that purpose or structure in the prompt. For example, if you want to ask Gemini for a comparison, it is not the same as him making you a short text or making you a list of points for or against. That’s why it’s important to specify it. You can also ask that it be an academic document, that it has a specific format, that it uses bullets, whatever you need. Adapt the explanations to you If you ask Gemini to explain something you have no idea about, it’s possible that if the answer is somewhat technical you don’t understand it too much eitheror that seems a little complicated to you. In these cases, you will be able to adapt it by having it explained to you in a simpler way. A classic when asking for more elaborate definitions is to add something like “explain it to me like a 10-year-old child.” You can also adapt it to other ages, or even to specific school years. When you do, Gemini will change terminology and examples to make them much simpler, basic and understandable. Specify the fonts you want to use When it comes to answering you, Gemini combines a knowledge base with which it has been trained and information it pulls from the Internet. And when composing a response it will use these sources to generate it. However, you can also specify where you want me to get the information from in case you want me to use a specific source of knowledge. For example, asking “what is climate change” is not the same as asking “Explain to me what climate change is based on academic research and peer-reviewed studies.” With this you are asking him not to get the information from anywhere, but only from a specific type of more reliable source, and when giving you the explanation he will include quotes mentioning where he got it from. Mention specific institutions or media In addition to generic font types, you can also ask to use specific sources. This can be institutions or organizations, as well as specific websites or media. You can even ask for specific authors or studies. Because asking them to tell you what the weather will be like tomorrow is not the same as asking … Read more

Ten years ago Beijing was an unbreathable city. Today its air quality is better than that of Madrid for a reason

On December 8, 2015, schools were closed in Beijing. Construction stopped. Only a handful of cars could circulate on the streets. The atmosphere was unbreathable. We don’t say it, the city leaders said it at that time. As stated BBCit was the first time that the red alert due to contamination. In China, an action protocol with four levels had been launched to deal with this type of episode. That day marked a before and after. Just over a decade later, Beijing is one of the Chinese cities with the best air quality. The country still has a serious problem with pollution but the data show that the country’s capital has left those days of constant fog behind. And it has done so, in large part, by a huge investment in cleaning up transportation. Better air quality than Madrid That December 8, Beijing registered 291 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5ultrafine particles especially harmful to health. They are polluting emissions that can come from different sources but in whose production diesel engines intervene decisively. That’s why DGT environmental labeling that It is used in Spanish ZBEs discriminates (by age) between diesel vehicles and gasoline vehicles. Is 291 micrograms a lot? To get an idea, the WHO recommended At that time, it did not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter. Obviously, this pollution rate occurred on a specific day under specific circumstances, but the annual levels were so high that in 2013 they signed 89.5, as stated in Motorpassion. Last year, according to published data By the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, the city signed 27 micrograms per cubic meter of PM 2.5. A fact that improves the air breathed in Madrid, “which did not exceed 31 micrograms of PM 2.5” on average, in the words of the Madrid officials. The decline is absolutely spectacular and is marked by profound changes in mobility, lowering the 30 microgram barrier for the first time in its history per cubic meter on the annual average. In addition, 311 days of 2025 were classified within the parameters that point to the best air quality. For this, Beijing launched a campaign against pollution which became especially relevant a little over a decade ago, although it already took its first steps with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Days. It was not until 2013 when the city took serious measures. More than a million coal-fired boilers in the city were replaced with boilers that run on gas or electricity. The city added more than 600,000 new energy vehicles (electric or plug-in hybrids that generally operate in completely electric mode). But, above all, 1.9 million cars that were considered too old and polluting were taken off the road. Low emission zones had a key effect in achieving this. Then, the 6NI mechanical (which was equivalent to our Euro 6) to let vehicles pass or not. Automobiles that, in addition, had to stay at home alternately (discriminating by license plate) when high pollution episodes were activated. The evolution of Beijing has been so spectacular in the last 10 years that it is common to see it as an example for those most polluted cities, like New Delhi, in India. Photo | zhang kaiyv and Quique Olivar In Xataka | Tire pollution is as serious as engine pollution. This company says it has found the solution

Apple TV once again prioritizes quality over everything else

AppleTV has done it again. It is a platform that we could consider minority, which refuses to follow the currents that unify the rest…and gives us one of the best series we can see right now. Vince Gillighan’s seal of quality, a plot that will be familiar to science fiction regulars and a tremendous humanist message that reflects on the here and now. It’s ‘Pluribus’ and these are some of the keys to its success. How it started. After closing the ‘Breaking Bad’ universe with the end of ‘Better Call Saul’ in 2022, Vince Gilligan presented an original project to Sony Pictures Television completely unrelated to Walter White. A bidding war between platforms then broke out in which Apple TV+ won, offering what Gilligan valued most: “trust and time.” Trust translated into figures: each episode of ‘Pluribus’ has a $15 million budgetquintupling what ‘Breaking Bad’ cost. What is it about? “The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness,” reads the official synopsis from Apple TV+. Carol Sturka, author of romanticasydiscovers he is one of just 13 people immune to the “Union”: an extraterrestrial virus that merges human minds into a perpetually optimistic collective consciousness. The film’s title inverts the American motto “E pluribus unum” (out of many, one) to question what happens when individualism dies out. Gilligan, a self-declared “science fiction nerd my entire life,” wanted to “touch every trope of the sci-fi world“. For example, Carol baptizes the hive as “Pod People”, a direct tribute to ‘The invasion of the ultrabodies‘, which Gillighan obviously cites along with ‘The Twilight Zone’ as a fundamental inspiration. There are also something from the Borg of ‘Star Trek‘ when designing the hive mind, but in general the entire series breathes an air of classic sci-fi, like a Richard Matheson story, absolutely delicious. Everyone loves ‘Pluribus’. The series has been unanimously acclaimed on aggregators such as Rotten Tomatoes (99%) or Metacritic (86). Her it has been said which is “an exceptional and distinctive vehicle for its star” (incidentally, Gilligan conceived the project as a vehicle for Rhea Seehorn, who agreed to come on board before reading a single draft of the script). BBC crowned her as “one of the most intelligent and entertaining series of 2025“and Variety as a”captivating piece of television“. Is it that good? It’s all a matter of opinion, but… yeah. Now his proposal, of original science fiction with a super-production budget in an audiovisual era kneeling before the franchises It is worthy of admiration. But also, the balance between satire, forceful drama and exquisite staging is just what we can expect from the creator of ‘Breaking Bad’, with that narrative that unfolds very little by little, without artificial secrets or cheap twists, but keeping the viewer absolutely fascinated with what happens. There will be those who may object to its overtly symbolic approach, but the satire works perfectly (in the first instance, towards the AI artifacts; secondly, to the post-internet human species that we have left, where our only objective is to express an eternal complacency towards strangers). There is infinite space in its approach to show us characters that move in an infinite scale of gray, as in fact it has already done in just three chapters, and that force us to ask ourselves in each episode the million-dollar question: what would I do? Apple TV, the great winner of all this. ‘Pluribus’ represents one of its most ambitious bets to date for the platform (not bad for someone who has built a mastodon like ‘Foundation’). The platform invests between 4,500 and 5,000 million dollars annually in contentpursuing a radically different strategy than Netflix or Disney+: prestige over massive volume. Apple TV controls only 8-9% of the business streaming in the US after Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney+. But its objective is different. Apple TV+ has become the prestige area of ​​the streamingthat corner in which HBO once sat comfortably. Now there are more viewers than in the days of ‘The Sopranos’ and Apple TV loses about a billion dollars a year, but can afford it. The figures are overwhelming: 271 original titles compared to 13,000 from Prime Video, but yes, 271 titles of unquestionable technical and artistic quality. Apple TV, and ‘Pluribus’ is the best proof, it does not seek to conquer the numbers, but the conversation. In Xataka | The 21 best science fiction series

Gemini 3 promises more quality and precision than ever in its responses. The question is whether we will really notice the difference

Google has announced the launch of Gemini 3its new artificial intelligence model. in the company They claim it is their most advanced reasoning model because it is “designed to understand depth and nuance.” Gemini 3 will also be available as standard as part of AI Mode in the renewed Google search engine (in this case and for the moment, only in the US). It is the first time that Google offers the benefits of its AI model from day one in the search engine, but it also reaches the Gemini app and the developers who work with AI Studio and Vertex AI. Behind him success of Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flashthe new version arrives in 30 new languages, including Catalan, Basque and Galicianand as we say you can start testing today in the United States… or outside of there via a VPN. Gemini 3 promises. At least in the tests Google highlights how the model’s behavior has been outstanding in various synthetic tests. Thus, Gemini 3 leads the LMArena classification with 1,501 points—the first to overcome the 1,500-point barrier. According to Google, the Gemini 3’s test results put it ahead of all its competitors in virtually all scenarios. In fact, he manages to reason “at the level of a PhD” according to the tests of Humanity’s Last Exam (exceeds 37.5% of the test without tools) and GPQA Diamond (91.9%). It also makes spectacular progress in mathematics, as demonstrated by the 23.4% on the MathArena Apex test: GPT 5.1 scores 1.0% and Claude Sonnet 4.5 1.6% on the same test, for example. The model also wants to be more direct: his answers are more “concise (…) and he prefers to offer valuable information instead of resorting to clichés and flattery. Tells you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear“. Gemini 3’s ‘Deep Think’ mode goes even further in tests: in Humanity’s Last Exam it achieves 41.0%, but it also in the demanding ARC-AGI 2 It achieves 45.1% (with code execution), which also demonstrates progress in abstract reasoning and visual understanding. Gemini 3 explains the world to you in a simple way The model has a context window of up to one million tokens, which allows it to be used, for example, to analyze huge repositories of code or text and then work on that data. Its multimodal support allows you to analyze all types of information. For example, Gemini 3 can decipher and translate handwritten recipes in different languages ​​to create a family cookbook that you can share. Or analyze your pickleball games (we assume the same thing happens in other sports) and identify areas where you can improve and generate a training plan. Or scrutinize the data from a research paper and from it generate code for an interactive guide that helps us better understand those studies. In fact, integration with Google Search is an especially important part of Gemini 3, which being “embedded” in AI Mode It has the capacity to generate interactive visual elements (widgets, calculators, simulations) in real time. At Google they want the search to be more interactive than ever, and that will mean that sometimes the answers will not be just text, but rather a small interactive webapp that allows us to better understand the answer. Programming (and agents) to power The other crucial element of the model is its capacity in the area of ​​programming. Its results in tests of this type are once again outstanding, and for example it tops the WebDev Arena leaderboard with a score of 1,487 ELO. The model now behaves much more powerfully in the visual part. It also scores 54.2% on Terminal-Bench 2.0, which evaluates a model’s ability to use tools and operate a computer through a terminal. Additionally, it far outperforms 2.5 Pro in SWE-bench Verified (76.2%), a benchmark test that measures the effectiveness of scheduling agents. These Gemini 3 programming capabilities are intended to be used in a new agent development platform called Google Antigravity. The developer experience is using a “conventional” AI integrated development environment (IDE), but your agents can have access to the editor, terminal, and browser. That means these agents can autonomously plan and execute complex software tasks and validate their own code, making it easier for human developers to review and audit that code than ever before. The real challenge of the most recent models On paper Gemini 3 is postulated as a model that can really make a difference compared to its competitors. The test results and Gemini’s own trajectory make us think that the behavior of this model will indeed be remarkable. However The question is whether we will really notice the difference. In recent months we have seen how other AI companies have launched new models, but the impact for a large majority of users has been discreet: the previous models already performed really well, and although the new ones undoubtedly provide improvements, for many consultations these improvements allow us to perceive that jump in performance. Here we see two ways for Google to effectively demonstrate the capabilities of these models. The first opportunity for Gemini 3 will likely be in the area of ​​programming, and it will be these professionals who will likely be able to get the most out of those additional capabilities. But for the rest of the users, it will be that new AI Mode and the Gemini app that will have to make us notice those features. We are intrigued by this ability to respond with small interactive elements —graphics, widgets—, and perhaps with them we will really discover this new capacity of this chatbot. In Xataka | Let’s say goodbye to Google Assistant a decade later. Google has begun to delete its code to leave only one option: Gemini

India has bombed clouds to improve its terrible air quality. They have wasted 400,000 dollars

The sky of New Delhi is a painting. While half the world is focused on reduce your emissions and improve air quality (something that ultra-polluted giants like China are successfully implementing), the other half continues with inefficient decarbonization policies. India is one of themand the arrival of winter does not help. To combat its poor air quality, the country has “sown its clouds” about New Delhi. And there are voices that suggest that they have spent a fortune and it has not been worth anything. Crisis. The situation of the large cities of India, with the focus on a capital that has more than 28 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area and a density of almost 6,000 inhabitants per km², is really complicated. Vehicle emissions account for 40% of emissions in the city, but there are other sources such as construction dust, inorganic aerosols or industrial activities themselves that contribute a lot. ‘dirt’ in the city air. The quality is not good at any time of the year, but in the post-monsoon season, between October and November, the situation becomes critical. It is when a large amount of rice stubble and other waste is burned, which, together with the rest of the sources of particles since the arrival of cold air traps the pollutants near the ground, causes the amount of particles to skyrocket. And it’s not a joke: esteem that between 2009 and 2019 there were nearly four million deaths in India linked to poor air quality. Figures. To measure this “dirt” in the air, we turn to PM2.5. It is a measure of the amount of fine particles that are suspended in the air, specifically those that have a diameter equal to or less than 2.5 micrometers. They are so small that they can penetrate deep into the lungs, reaching the blood system and posing a serious health risk. That said, PM2.5 levels in Delhi are between 140 and 170 µg/m³, almost 12 times higher than the safe levels set by the WHO, of 15 µg/m³. Petter Ljungman, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, analyzed the role of these particles and determined that “each increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter in the concentration of PM2.5 leads to an 8.6% increase in mortality.” Bombing the clouds. In the face of a crisis like this, two things can be done: become aware and rethink the country’s strategy or resort to desperate measures. As we read in Reutersit seems that the Government has opted for the latter. On October 28, the Delhi government in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur carried out the first tests of cloud seeding. This is India’s first attempt at this technique and it is not about “creating clouds”, but rather making the existing ones release water. Using a series of catalysts launched from aircraft, water droplets contained in a cloud can be made to coalesce into larger, heavier droplets. In this way, and due to their own weight, they fall to the ground in the form of rain. It is not something new because, although it may seem like something out of science fiction, we have been “sowing” clouds for half a century. Negative… results. The problem is that each time we have had more and more evidence that it is something that is of little use. If clouds are good candidates, yes, showers are generated, but the big problem is that it is a very expensive practice for the results obtained and that is the reason why more and more countries have abandoned his projects related to this “creation” of rain. In the case of the Indian experiment, the cost was about $400,000 to put into operation the planes that dispersed sodium chloride and silver iodide over several districts north of the capital. Each of the flights cost about $70,000 and the person who said that it was not of much use was not an external entity or someone critical of the Government: it was the director of IIT Kanpur himself. Manindra Agarwal admitted that the results were “not as desired” because the humidity levels in the clouds were extremely low. It was a crucial error because it is estimated that the minimum for condensing these cloud droplets is 50% and the chosen ones had levels between 15 and 20%. Despite this, Agarwal commented that a reduction of between 6% and 18% was observed in certain particle measurement parameters, but they were at very localized and short-lived moments. deaf ears. And of course, faced with the investment of such a fortune without results, it did not take long for the voices to say “I told you so” to rain down. Climate activists said it, but also two other official bodies: the Indian Meteorological Department and the Air Quality Management Commission. The two organizations indicated That the technique requires specific clouds that are absent during Delhi’s cold, dry winter. Recommendations. In the end, what this action demonstrates is that, in desperate situations, desperate measures only work as a source of funds. The solutions must be considered more in the medium and short term and this is something in which China has served as an example. In the case of India, what is being proposed is control over stubble burning during this autumn season, better waste management and stricter industrial regulations. On the other hand, the country has taken giant steps in recent years in terms of transport electrification is concerned, but progress must also be made in improving urban forestry that “traps” pollution and in the use of large-scale renewable energy. Until they do that, the almost 30 million inhabitants of New Delhi will breathe air equivalent what they would inhale if they smoked seven cigarettes a day. Images | Naomi E Tesla, Submitmpsd In Xataka | The Atacama salt flat is the key on which the electric car industry pivots. And it’s starting to dry

Iberian ham has been synonymous with the highest quality for decades. Now Guijuelo wants to blow him up

“Race is not a parameter of quality.” With that simple idea, the Salamanca town of Guijuelo wants to open a gap in one of the flagships of our country’s gastronomy: ‘low cost’ Iberian ham. With the endorsement of the Ministry of Agriculture and the opposition of the rest of the denominations of origin (which call it “deception of the consumer”), Guijuelo’s movement has just unleash a whole Civil War in the ham sector. And it’s no wonder. What has happened? That the Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) of Guijuelo (Salamanca) approved a modification of its regulations to certify, as Iberian, “hams and pork shoulders that are 50% Iberian breed and 50% Duroc”. Until now this was something that could only be done with 75% or 100% Iberian hams. On September 1, the General Directorate of Food He has limited himself to saying that the change is legal and various communities they have supported him (although others, as we will see, have opposed it). After all, The Iberian Quality Standard (RD 4/2014) covers legally this movement; as long as it is well labeled. If this had been done by a small DOP, it would have been controversial; but it surely would not have unleashed the enormous earthquake that it has unleashed. However, Guijuelo has done it: the oldest denomination and the largest in number of marked pieces. The rest of the DOPs have come out in a rush. Let us remember that there are only four DOPs of Iberian ham in the country. Well, the other three (Jabugo, Dehesa de Extremadura and Andalucía) have denounced the change because they consider it “unfair competition” and what is worse, a “trivialization” of the DOP seal and the Iberian in general. In recent days, regulatory councils, communities (especially Extremadura and Andalusia) and professional groups have announced appeals and do not rule out going to trial if Agriculture does not take action on the matter. But if it’s legal, what’s the problem? In slightly more technical terms, the conflict is not whether a “50% Iberian” ham can exist; but whether that type of ham should carry the DOP seal. We must not forget that these seals are designed to ‘make visible’ in the market a special relationship with the territory and the product. The rest of the Regulatory Councils that want to maintain stricter racial criteria (as has been customary) believe that there is a reputational risk and that it could end up confusing the consumer. And the issue of price, of course. Guijuelo is accused of wanting to burst the market by lowering prices and moving production towards less demanding specifications. The DOPs fear that the seal and label will harm livestock farmers and dryers who have been betting on higher quality standards. In fact, as reported from the Pedroches valley, the regulatory change in Guijuelo “facilitates more intensive productions (a jump in densities per hectare in “field bait” is cited within the specifications), which threatens the pasture and the sustainability story associated with traditional Iberian. And from Jabugo they assure that “Brussels said that can’t be done.” What do they say in Guijuelo? From the PDO of Salamanca, in addition to describe many of these statements as “barbarities”focus on defending that a) the movement is legal and b) that “race is not a quality parameter, food is.” And now what? The question is whether the changes to Guijuelo’s regulatory document are indeed “normal” or require the approval of Brussels. And the most likely thing, if the regulatory councils decide to go ahead, is that it will reach Brussels. Or at least Image | Tim Sackton In Xataka | A tax on ham? There are those who already propose it as the best way to eat less meat

How to activate spotify Hifi and configure loss -free quality

Let’s explain How to configure losses without losses in spotifyso that you can make the most Spotify Hifi. This service is already beginning to be available in Spain, and if you are a premium user of the service you will soon begin to receive the notification that warns you. Remember that the quality of Spotify Hifi is the so -called improved CD quality or Lossless. Is 24-bit/48 kHz compared to 16-bit/44.1 kHz, although It is a lower quality to the hi-re lossless offered by others competition services. Even so, for most users it should be more than enough. It should also be remembered that You will not enjoy the HIFI if you use bluetooth headphonessince this technology is not able to transport the amount of data offered by this audio quality. You will need a device compatible with spotify Connect or quality headphones and wired connection, and even in many cases it will cost to notice the difference. How to activate and configure Spotify Hifi To configure spotify Hifi at any timeyou have to enter the application configuration, either on the mobile or desk. Click on your profile image to see the options, and in them click on Configuration. Once inside, click on the option Multimedia content quality That will appear inside. This will take you to options where you have three adjustments where you can configure the lossless audio as sound quality. You will be able to do it when playing music with Wifi, when playing music with your data rate, and when you download music. Keep in mind that the sound quality is almost 10 times better than until now, which means that the songs music files are also almost ten times larger. My recommendation is that you consider not using the HIFI with your data rate. First for data spending, but also because surely when you leave home you listen to music through Bluetooth, and because even if you do not do it, between external noise and others you can not perceive the difference so much. Therefore, I recommend activating this quality for when you play music with the WiFi, because you will not spend so many data. AND Also in downloadsalthough if you are going to do it, I recommend that you disable the option to download songs using the data rate, to only be able to do it with WiFi. In the Apra Desktop application everything is exactly the same, only that you only have to Configure the section of Audio quality. Here, you can open the options of Streaming quality and Dischargeand in them choose the option of Loss without loss. But When you activate spotify HIFI for the first time Everything will be easier, because you will appear a full -screen message warning you. And then you just have to press on the button Access quality without lossand advance until reaching the sound quality configuration of the service. In Xataka Basics | 14 apps and services to discover new music in Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services

The “best mechanic in Spain” says that Low Cost gasoline is of worse quality than the premium. Reality is much more complex

In the long term, fuel Low Cost “It can cause breakdowns.” We do not say it, says Carlos Pérez, recognized as “best mechanic in Spain” in an interview with Canal Moveo de The avant -garde. And we don’t give it because, simply, there is no reasons to say it. In fact, Carlos Pérez himself emphasizes that “all gasoline ultimately come from the same wholesale suppliers.” So what happens? Who. As we say, one of the spaces that The avant -garde He dedicates to the mobility sector has interviewed Carlos Pérez, known on the Internet as “the best mechanic in Spain.” The title is no invention, among the different awards he has obtained we find the one delivered by The workshop community who are focused on communication within the post -sales market. Since then, Pérez has granted various interviews to different media in which he has been explained about What are the most reliable brandswhat are they the car models that recommend Or, simply, which is the best gasoline to use. Yes, but. And here comes the controversy. In his statements about gasoline to use, Carlos Pérez assured the following to The avant -garde: “Although all gasoline ultimately come from the same wholesale suppliers, the differences are in the additives that each company incorporates. These additives are those that help to keep the feeding system clean and prevent the accumulation of waste in the engine, which can affect the performance and durability of the vehicle. The price can be tempting, but in the long term, the use of fuel That supposes in repairs “ That is, a Yes, but in full rule. According to Pérez, there should be no reason to distrust the cheapest fuels but in the long run “it can cause breakdowns and greater engine wear.” Obviously, the price would not compensate for the expense and headaches of the breakdowns. Same origin. The truth is that in Spain there should be no differences between refuel Low Cost or supposed fuel Premium. Because deep down, the fuel is exactly the same. And this is not much less. In Xataka We already played this topic in 2015. Then we explained that the origin of both fuels is the same: CLH or hydrocarbon logistics company that In 2021 he changed his name to exolum. This receives the fuel from the refineries that are distributed by Spain in the hands of BP, Cepsa Moeve or repsol. This fuel already arrives with quality standards that guarantee a good product. This fuel is maintained in the exolum facilities until it is distributed by the service stations. It is here where the difference between products occurs: additives yes or additives no. The additives. To begin with, the exolum itself already has His own additives (HQ300) For part of the fuel it stores. It is the responsibility of the Marketing in charge of fuel with additives or without them. Obviously, this second is cheaper. What is an additive thinking? In theoryto improve long -term engine and vehicle care. Companies Premium Do you sell that their formulas manage to leave less remains in the engines or allow more kilometers with the same amount of fuel. And is there scientific evidence? Really, none. At least that is what Carles Fité, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Rodrigo Soto, chemical engineering reader, who asked about this same matter, pointed out that “all are equal. I see no difference at this level of analysis.” According to their samples, “they basically contain the same compounds and in the same proportions. Everything comes out very very the same”, in words collected by The confidential. Nor have they found substantial differences in the OCU. In fact, they point out that we are talking more about blind confidence in the effects of additives than on realistic checks: “The effects of additives on engines and gasoline consumption do not seem very verifiable. (…) Prove that an additive lengthens engine life is very difficult, because there is no way to determine how much that same engine would have lasted if that gasoline had not used.” And the secret? The secret is called the economy of scale. Simply, there are two types of business when we talk about service stations. The gas stations Low Cost They can save the customer money because they themselves They already save money on operational costs Of their businesses: they do not usually have employees, they do not invest in R&D to improve those fuels and do not invest in advertising, trusting in the mouth-oreja. On the contrary, gasoline stations Premium They base their business on those additives that generate confidence in the client. But also In formulas to catch you in the following purchase such as loyalty cards or stores that orbit around the suppliers. Also in their Agreements with other companies as insurance companies or large supermarkets. Scams and maintenance. In summary, the quality of the repossed product has much more to do with the maintenance of the service station (which is renewed regularly and does not spend too much time in deposits, for example) and, above all, with complying with the minimum quality standards. The latter should be an endorsement when we repost in Spanish gas stations, however, in recent months the SERVICE STATION SHOWS They have used worse quality fuel and took advantage of great sales at very low prices to subsequently scam the State in the presentation of the VAT tax. This has generated a worse image to the product Low Cost. Photo | BALLENOIL AND BP In Xataka | Diesel or gasoline: what are the differences and which one is better to buy according to your use

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