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PlayStation caused a tsunami killing games in physical format. If you wait for a reverse, the final enemy is mathematics

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It’s been just over a week since Sony, PlayStation, will announce the death of the physical format for its consoles. Starting in January 2028, no physical games will be released for PlayStation consoles. This is a hard blow for the video game as an art, for preservation and for the consumer, since there are few more anti-consumer measures that make us players depend on a physical format that does not belong to us. The reaction of these players has not been good and there are those who point to a possible retreat on the part of PlayStation. There is a problem: there is no nail to hold on to other than that of hope. It makes… sense. From the company’s point of view, the move to 100% digital format is perfect. If you have ever wondered these days what drives them to anger so many players and turn part of their own community against it, it is because, although it may not seem like it, commercially it makes a lot of sense. Yes, the digital market is enormous and bigger than the physical one, but when statistics are published and it is said that only 20% (approximately) of the market is physical, it is because the digital part includes digital games, games that do not have a physical version, DLC and microtransactions. The ‘FIFA’ envelopes, for example, come into play in those statistics. That is the argument, but when you seek to eliminate the physical, you seek to control all the gains. You don’t have to make records, you don’t have to transport records, you don’t have to pay stores to sell those records. That margin that you didn’t earn before, with the digital game you start to control. You also get rid of second-hand and lending games, something that companies have been pursuing for years. Math. And, facing a new generation of consoles that everything indicates will be more expensive than the current one (for example, the price increases for both PS5 as of Xbox Series Xbut also machines like Steam Deck and the more than 1,000 euros from Steam Machine), there Sony may fear that there are users who do not want, or cannot, pay 1,000 euros for a new console. If there are fewer players who buy hardware, there will also be fewer who buy software, but what they are looking for is to maximize profits per user. As? Controlling prices. An example: on PS5 I buy all the games published by Sony in physical form and for 80 euros. Of those 80 euros, remove 30 that go to those expenses associated with the physical format and the stores themselves. Sony sees 50 euros. With PS6I would buy the same games digitally for 80 euros and Sony would not have any of the expenses associated with either the physical format or payments to stores. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier addresses this very well in this video and I was making up the numbers in the previous example, but he points out that, for a $70 first party game, Sony sees about $45. For a $70 first party digital game, Sony sees $70. If we talk about a third party game (Electronic Arts, Ubisoft or whoever publishes for Sony) that is physical, of the 70 dollars, whoever makes the game takes about 35, the store that sells it about 20-25 and Sony takes about 10-15. If that third party game is digital, whoever makes the game gets about 49 and Sony gets about 21. It’s a win-win for both. Maximize profits. Hideaki Nishino himself, CEO of PlayStation, has made it clear that the company must prioritize performance per client compared to the gross sales volume. They want more average income per user, in short, a model less dependent on selling hardware and more focused on extracting more value from each user. This is where the games themselves come into play, but also microtransactions and subscriptions. Leave the forum. After days without publishing anything on networks like Bluesky, although they have continued to make announcements on their official blog, Sony remembered the password and announced what no one was expecting: an arcade stick for fighting games. It makes sense because they have a fighting game right around the corner, the ‘Marvel Tokon‘, but the players took that announcement even more harshly. As a follower of all the fuss, it is almost better that they announced a command in their first communication. The reason? Had they taught the game they would have taught, the amount of negative comments that game would have received would be to study it and, for example, if the first thing is a video of the game of ‘wolverine‘, all the rage these days at PlayStation’s inaction would have been poured out on the game and on a developer studio that does not deserve that treatment. ¿Kicked back? There is, as I said at the beginning, the hope of some users that so much negativity will affect the company’s decision and they will back down. Obviously, no one outside of Sony can know what will happen, but I am not so sure that the company will back down from this decision. The main reason is that something like this is not taken lightly and reports are already appearing indicating that it is something very studied and they knew perfectly well how part of the community was going to do it. What’s more, there are already reports that indicate that the company’s main Blu-Ray factory, located in Austria, is already beginning the training of some employees who will go on to dedicate themselves to another type of production. bitter hope. If there is one thing to hold on to, it is that, at the same time that PlayStation announced the death of physical games for its consoles, it also set a date for the closure of the PS3 and PS Vita digital stores (wow timinghuh?), and it wasn’t the first time. In March 2021 we already broke … Read more

“If it’s hot, turn it off and wait for it to cool. You can get serious burns.”

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Heat. It’s hot. It’s really hot. And our car notices it. Because when the temperature rises, we go to the beach, the town or the mountains and we load the car, our car notices it. First because we demand more from him than we ask of him the rest of the year. Secondly, because adverse weather conditions must be added to these demands, with very extreme temperatures. The combo is perfect for turning our car into a small oven that heats up and heats up until it reaches, metaphorically, boiling. And when that happens, a red light comes on on the instrument panel and it is best that we get out of the car. In that case, these are the precautions to take. The best, prevent “With the arrival of heat, various components of the car can suffer if they are not checked in time. The engine requires special attention, since high temperatures can cause it to overheat if the cooling system is not in good condition,” explains Francisco Javier Fuentes, mechanic and trainer at Midas. Sources point out that with the arrival of high temperatures, it is common for them to suffer brakes, battery and tires But he is clear that the main reason for breakdown is engine overheating and that to achieve this, the most important thing is to check the components carefully before leaving: “it is key to check the coolant level.” And with the increase in temperatures, having coolant in poor condition or a small undetected leak can trigger almost certain overheating of our engine. The signs, he explains, are clear: “If we observe that the engine temperature increases abnormally, a fault warning light appears, we hear strange noises or notice irregular behavior, we must stop in a safe place and evaluate the situation.” But here lies an important part of how we should act. If we are on a road open to traffic and we have had to stop on the shoulder, the DGT is clear: reflective vest, beacon and we just have to get out of the car If there is a safe and remote place. Otherwise we will have to fasten our seat belts and wait inside for assistance. If, on the other hand, we have been able to stop at a gas station, Midas believes that our best ally is patience and, without rushing, seeing what can be done: “In case of overheating, I never recommend opening the coolant tank while the engine is hot, as there is a risk of serious burns. The best thing to do is to turn off the engine, wait for it to cool and request assistance if necessary.” And it must be taken into account that the coolant works because the water in the car works at a very high temperature (above 100 degrees), especially if the car has overheated due to a breakdown. Opening the tank when it is hot to check its level can cause it to evaporate quickly and cause serious burns. Juan José Ebenezer, mechanical expert and content creator, explains in one of his videos how the system works. It points out that the coolant tank acts in a similar way to that of a pressure cooker. To prevent water from evaporating when it exceeds the 100 degreespressure is applied and if there is excess, the car itself decompresses downwards in a controlled manner. When the driver removes the tank cap, it decompresses, the water begins to boil because it is at more than 100 degrees and it is very likely that it will be expelled upwards, releasing a pressurized jet of water that can cause serious injuries. Photo | Jamie Street and windy In Xataka | The problem is not that the car’s air conditioning breaks down more in summer. The problem is that we don’t look at it the rest of the year.

If you find airplane seats uncomfortable, wait until you see the first ones: they were wicker chairs

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As an eternal user of economy class when traveling by plane, my small pleasures are limited to trying to get rid of the damn middle seat in favor of being able to stretch my foot in the aisle or see the sky from the window, in addition to having at least one armrest unit of my own. As for the seats, what can I tell you: bearable for a flight of a couple of hours, but it becomes uphill if the flight is longer. And hey, not that bad, it could be worse: I might have to travel standing or sit in a wicker chair. Standing is something in the future, but no matter how incredible the wicker chairs in the cabin of an airplane may seem, it’s a reality. A few years ago someone posted a photo on Twitter that claimed to be of an Imperial Airways plane in 1936 that, more than an aircraft, looked like the living room of your great-aunt Paqui’s house: red carpet on the floor, wicker seats and, of course, no sign of a seat belt. Scopes verified the photo, but not the date (the same cockpit appears in British Airways archives dating back to the 1920s), making the image a faithful representation of what it was like to take a flight in commercial aviation at the time. Soaring through the skies in a wicker chair. In 1919 the first airline companies were born and among the list There are some mythical ones that continue to fly today like the Dutch one KLM either Avianca in America. That year the Lawson Airliner It flew through the skies as the first passenger plane and the seat chosen for passengers to travel seated were wicker chairs, according to Air Charter Service USAmore specifically 26 units. PJ Wilcynski, a Boeing historical researcher who reviewed the company’s archives, confirmed to Travel+Leisure magazine that wicker chairs bolted to the floor were the beginnings of passenger seats. But the wicker chairs were something ephemeral. As commercial aviation took off, the aeronautical industry sought more efficient and safer materials. First, in the late 1920s, with padded and leather-covered wicker chairs. As explains PJ Wilcynski“Leather was very popular because it allowed the seats to be cleaned easily, due to all the soot from airports and the dusty runways where planes landed in those early days.” Why wicker. At that time, the main design criterion For an airplane seat it was that they had the lowest possible weight to maximize the useful load, something decisive given the limited thrust of those engines. Functionality and lightness above all, we will talk about resistance to potential impacts another day. The choice was as innovative as that original Lawson: they were light seats and surprisingly comfortable by the standards of the time. The wicker seat was short-lived. In the 1930s, the Aluminum Company of America created a passenger seat made of a light metal: aluminum. And until now: most airplane seats have an aluminum frame. By the end of that decade, aluminum tube structures were widespread on airline aircraft of the time. With the change, comfort elements such as cushions and covers gained weight and velvet covers and thick seat belts arrived. In 1936, rubber-covered foam seats became the standard, with the legendary airliner Douglas DC-3. In 1952 the first commercial reclining seats arrived. However, according to PJ Wilcynski The real paradigm shift in seats to convert them into the experience we live today came with the Boeing 747, back in 1970: “the multiplex system was introduced, with the function of calling the operator and activating the reading light. It was also the system that provided the audio for the movies being watched, through pneumatic tubes connected to the armrest.” A before and after in security. Traveling on a plane on a structure as flimsy as wicker and without a seat belt does not seem like the safest thing in the world. However, safety criteria have (fortunately) evolved tremendously: in the early years the seats had to withstand a force of 6g, but in the 1950s that requirement rose to 9g. Currently the list of criteria is long: airplane seats must meet a fire resistance test 12 seconds and withstand a force of 16gIn addition to being light, they incorporate foam suitable as a float and offer enough resistance for all types of passengers. In Xataka | In the 1960s planes were going so fast that someone promised trips to the Moon. And people bought them In Xataka | Rise and fall of the Havilland Comet, the first commercial airliner with jet engines that went from innovation to tragedy Cover | Twitter and Mohammad Arrahmanur

If you thought the blue zone in your city was expensive, wait until you see what it costs to moor a yacht at the Formula 1 GP in Monaco

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The Monaco Grand Prix is, by far, the most glamorous career of the Formula 1 World Championship. Not so much because of the fact that each of its curves keeps a memory of the most successful drivers, but because of the enormous showcase of luxury and opulence when celebrating with one of the most exclusive ports in the world. Not everyone can access the most exclusive spaces at the Monaco GP. Beyond the VIP stands, the real epicenter of luxury It is on the yachts moored in front of the circuit. The mooring of a superyacht during that weekend costs a real fortune, only affordable for the richest in the world. In fact, not even the world’s great fortunes, such as Jeff Bezos, They have a guaranteed position among the privileged few who can afford to watch the race of Formula 1 from the deck of your superyacht. Three million for a front row seat During the week of the Grand Prix, Port Hercule stops being a normal port and becomes a meeting point for the greatest fortunes on the planet and their yachts. Whether you like Formula 1 or not is secondary. The week before the Grand Prix, the parade of enormous superyachts begins, such as the Symphony by Bernard Arnault, founder of LVMH, who take positions highlighted in the Monegasque port. The specialized medium Yacht Harbor estimated that the 2017 test brought together yachts valued at more than 2,000 million euros in Port Hercule. Kismet superyacht, 122 meters long However, not having your own yacht is no excuse for not enjoying a front row seat at sea to enjoy the only Championship race that can be seen from the deck of a luxurious superyacht. Yacht rentals during the race test week skyrocket. The portal of boat rental luxury Cecil Wright offers those types of services and allows you to rent the Kismeta true floating mansion for the modest price of three million euros for one week. While on the streets of Monte Carlo the single-seater engines make the most of their performance, inside the Kismet Up to 12 guests can be accommodated in eight suites. The yacht is equipped with every detail so that guests only have to relax in its Balinese-inspired spa, which includes a hammam, sauna and cryotherapy chamber, waterfall shower and chromotherapy bathtub, gym and yoga studio. One of the covers of Kismet In addition, it allows you to experience all the excitement of the race from any of the jacuzzis on its luxurious decks, and all of this is attended by a crew of 36 people. “Parking” at a Monaco GP Once you have rented the right superyacht to blend in with billionaires and royalty, all that remains is to find a mooring for the yacht. Kismet. Port Hercule is the only port with adequate depth for mooring superyachts of that category. This port offers about 700 berths, but the most sought-after place is the so-called Trackside Zone, where the boats are located next to Quai des États-Unis, Quai Jarlan and the first two positions of Quai U. That is, in the mooring line closest to the circuitwhere the single-seaters pass just a few meters from these yachts. According to the table of Port of Monaco ratesthe price of the mooring is calculated based on how close it is to the runway and the length of the superyacht. Docking a yacht in the port of Monaco during the race ranges from 5,668 euros for a yacht of less than 19 meters in the Port of Fontvieille area, the furthest and without vision of the track, to tripling its price as we get closer to the track, with a mooring price of 16,087 euros for the same 19-meter yacht. Mooring Zone 1 is at the end of the tunnel straight, just when the cars must brake. Passing mooring zone 2, from which you can see the chicane of the Pool areato the Trackside Zone (zone 1) implies a price increase of 25.7%. During the Monaco Grand Prix, mooring a superyacht like the Kismet122 meters long, in the Trackside Zone (zone 1) It can cost around 160,000 euros only for docking during Grand Prix week. Its high price is justified because its proximity turns the Trackside Zone into a kind of floating stand. The yachts are in front of one of the most recognizable parts of the track, right where the cars leave the tunnel and launch towards the Nouvelle Chicane area, one of the classic images of the Monaco Grand Prix. It is a point where the drivers must reduce their speed to follow the curve and face the Pool section, so the millionaires see them pass at a slower speed and the single-seaters can be seen in more detail. Without a doubt, the most millionaire form of watch a formula 1 race. In Xataka | Madrid has been fighting for its F1 Grand Prix for years. Ozempic’s rich heirs also want a Grand Prix in their town Image | Flickr (CaterhamF1)

Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up or wait a couple of hours? This is what science says about perfect timing

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For decades we have heard the incomprehensible mantra that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, however, nutrition has been advancing to put the focus now when we eat and not what it is eaten. But here chrononutrition studies how the timing of our food affects our metabolism; has a lot to say about it. A schedule. If you are one of those who jump out of bed straight to the toaster or, on the contrary, one of those who need a couple of hours to pass for their stomach to “open”, you have probably asked yourself: what is the ideal time to have breakfast? And to answer this question, we have to turn to science. The biological clock. Something very important here is that our body does not process food the same at eight in the morning than at eight in the afternoon, all because our circadian clock and insulin sensitivity fluctuate throughout the day. According to classic reviews in this field, aligning the onset of feeding with the active phase of our circadian rhythm improves glucose homeostasis, lipid control, and thermogenesis. The bottom line here is that our body is better prepared to manage energy in the morning. The studies. Here, a large review published in 2023 followed more than 100,000 people and its results were conclusive in pointing out that eating breakfast after 9:00 in the morning increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 59% compared to doing it before 8:00. But constantly delaying the first meal of the day and shifting caloric intake towards the evening is associated with a higher cardiovascular risk and worse metabolic markers at the population level. Therefore, the premise we have on the table right now is that eating breakfast early offers a great advantage. But with nuances. Having breakfast early is good, but… Does it have to be as soon as you open your eyes? There is no clinical trial here that dictates that you should eat food at minute zero after waking up, and in fact, waiting a little can bring benefits metabolic under certain situations. One of them, which came from a trial published in 2025compared people who ate breakfast early, at 8:30, with another group of people who ate breakfast mid-morning, at 10:30. Here, surprisingly, mid-morning breakfast reduced the glycemic response of the following meal to make it more efficient. This indicates that the time interval between breakfast and lunch influences how our body processes sugar hours later. More cases. In the case of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a trial observed that delaying breakfast until mid-morning or even at noon managed to reduce the blood glucose that occurred after eating. What needs to be done. For most adults, science suggests that it is best to eat breakfast within the first hour or two of waking up, so there is no need to get out of bed and start eating because it seems to be the most efficient. But if we want to be precise, the limit may be nine in the morning, since delaying the first time we drink something too much in the day until noon and having dinner late is the perfect recipe for metabolic imbalance. In short, there is no need to force yourself to swallow toast with your eyes still glued to sleep. Letting your body wake up, doing your morning routines, and eating breakfast an hour after waking up not only respects your natural rhythms if you’re not immediately hungry, but it has solid clinical support. Images | freepik In Xataka | We’ve been telling ourselves for 100 years that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day.” The problem is that it is not true

We thought that the price of World Cup tickets in the US was going to be the biggest nonsense. Wait to travel by train

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The World Cup is a universal spectacle, but its prices during the tournament that will be held this summer in North America (United States, Mexico and Canada) will not exactly be within reach of all budgets. Especially if you want to enjoy the final, which will be played July 19 in it MetLife Stadium from New Jersey. And not just because their tickets are sold at exorbitant prices. The region’s public transportation operator has revealed that round-trip tickets between Manhattan and MetLife will cost 150 dollars. That decision has already generated a intense controversy. What has happened? That the celebration of the World Cup in the US is being marred by the enormous cost what it will mean for the fans. Until now we knew that those privileged who want to follow the matches directly in the stadiums will have to pay stratospheric sums for the tickets, especially if we talk about the final which will be played at the end of July at MetLife Stadium. That was relatively predictable. Now we know something else: even tickets to go to the stadium on public transport will be priced at the price of gold. Are they that expensive? Yes. A week ago The New York Times has already advanced that round-trip tickets to MetLife from New York’s Pennsylvania Station would cost more than $100, although the public transportation operator, New York Transit (NJT), was reluctant to confirm the information. The mystery did not last long. On Friday, when announcing the mobility plan for the World Cup, the company revealed (almost in passing) that the filtration of Times had fallen short. “Non-transferable, non-refundable, round-trip train tickets will be on sale exclusively to ticket holders on May 13 through NJ Transit for $150,” keep it up the operator when informing of the transportation services that will connect MetLife Stadium, renamed temporarily as New York New Jersey Stadium to conform to FIFA’s sponsorship policy. In the same statement NJT explains that round-trip bus tickets (also non-transferable and non-refundable) will be sold for $80. Is it more expensive than normal? A lot more. NBC News I remembered These days a round-trip ticket to MetLife Stadium usually costs $12.9, so the fare that those who want to use the train on the day of the final will have to pay will be 11 times higher than normal. The price will be very superior This is what fans who travel between Penn Station (New York) and MetLife pay to enjoy NFL Jets or Giants games. Although the price of bus tickets will also quadruple in Boston, where they will be disputed four gamesthere has been international competitions in which fans with tickets could freely use public transport. In the case of the USA, The Wall Street Journal remember that the original 2018 pact between host cities and FIFA included free transportation, but the requirement was relaxed a few years ago. Now fans must pay $150 for a trip that is covered in less than half an hour by car. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Has it generated controversy? Yes. Because of the amount itself (150), but also because the NJT plan does not contemplate Reduced rates, which means that children and seniors will have to pay the same amount as everyone else. It is important because MetLife Stadium will host a total of eight games of the World Cup in which the teams of Brazil, France, Germany and England (among others) will compete. Among those events also includes the most significant of all: the final. Those who want to skip the train or bus and go by car to MetLife will not have it easy either. The celebration of the World Cup will cut considerably the availability of parking in the area, which explains, among other things, that passes are being offered to park in the parking lot of a shopping center in the area for $225, such as has revealed NCB News. Why does it go up so much? That question connects directly with the political debate that has broken out in New Jersey around the World Cup, its costs for the public coffers and the return it will have for the region. Governor Mikie Sherrill (Democratic Party) assures having “inherited” an agreement by which FIFA “does not contribute a single dollar” for transportation and warned that NJ Transit will be forced to pay “a bill of 48 million dollars” to mobilize the tens of thousands of fans who will come to watch the games. MetLife Stadium seats more than 80,000 spectators and Sherrill’s message, just like the one NJT has transferred to the New York Times is clear: “The cost of the eight matches will not be borne by our regular users of public transport.” That is to say, the first step is for the fans (if not FIFA itself) to pay for the transportation required by the competition. Sherrill’s position has caused tensions with the federation, which warns of “deterrent” effect What will the train fares have and remember that MetLife has hosted other macro events without the organizers having to pay for transportation. During the debate, there was also talk of the income that FIFA will receive thanks to the tournament and the return for the USA. Is it just transportation? The truth is that no. The transport controversy is added to another that already goes back a long way: that of the price of tickets to enjoy the World Cup matches. A few weeks ago, FIFA already made headlines because tickets for the final were selling for up to $10,990. Not only are they astronomical figures that threaten to become “the most expensive in history”, as warns the BBC. They also far exceed those of a few months ago. In March, after the president of FIFA recognize that prices could “go up or down according to demand,” the OCU denounced the use of “dynamic pricing”. The rates already they have put on guard to Euroconsumers. Images | … Read more

Booking has been hacked. If you thought phishing was dangerous, wait until you see the follow-up phishing attacks

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Basic-Fit’s hack yesterday It has not been the only relevant event in terms of cybersecurity in recent days. Last weekend several Booking users received emails with less than reassuring content. In these messages, the company reported that a cyber attacker could have had access to the information on its reservations. On Monday Booking confirmed that the security flaw existedbut has not given too many details about the problem. Your name and reservations were leaked, your card details were not. The information accessed by the attacker(s) includes names, email addresses, phone numbers and booking details. However, Booking has highlighted that the users’ financial data have not been part of this unauthorized access and they have not accessed the users’ home addresses either. To try to mitigate possible problems, the company forced reset of backup PINs of all affected reserves, both active and past. Too many unknowns. Although it has confirmed the incident, Booking has not provided clarification on it and it is not clear if its systems were hacked directly or the problem occurred through other means. There are also no details on the number of users affected nor is it a problem of real scope or limited to certain countries or regions. Booking has indicated that it will inform affected users individually without giving figures. According to its own website, Booking manages hundreds of millions of reservations a year and it is estimated which have about 135 million users of their mobile app. Phishing attacks have already started. These types of data thefts are exploited for massive phishing attacks, and it appears that such attacks have already begun. At least one user indicated on Reddit that he had received a suspicious message on WhatsApp with details of his reservation and personal information. That seems to confirm that the attackers were already using the stolen data to deceive customers before the public announcement occurred. But beware of “tracking” phishing. But in this case the risk is somewhat greater because this is the type of platform from which we are not so surprised to see messages that inform us of the follow-up of the reservation (with the style “There is one week left for your trip!”). Precisely these types of smishing messages can now be generated by attackers fraudulently leveraging the reservation data they have extracted to appear legitimate. If you are a Booking customer and have a pending reservation, be especially careful if you receive one of these follow-up messages. It’s not the first time. In 2021, Dutch regulators fined Booking.com with 475,000 euros after a hack exposed the data of more than 4,000 customers, including credit card information in some cases. On that occasion, Booking notified the Dutch authorities of the cyberattack 22 days late, well above the 72-hour limit required by the GDPR, which caused the company to be fined. In June 2024, the platform itself warned that phishing attacks against its clients had increased by 900% thanks to the use of AI. The company has reported the security breach to Dutch authorities, but it remains to be seen if it again took too long and could face further fines. What to do if you are a Booking user. Theoretically nothing if you have not received an email from Booking.com notifying you of the problem. If you receive it, it is important that you distrust any message, call or WhatsApp that mentions details of your reservation even if they seem legitimate. Attackers may have data about your reservations and may be using it to deceive you. You should not provide your financial data through any channel other than the platform’s official website or app. This data can be used for phishing attacks from other services that use your name or email, since this information is usually sold to be reused by other groups that carry out massive phishing attacks. In Xataka | A family paid 1,800 euros for a tourist house in Galicia. Upon arrival there was no house and no response on Booking

Congratulations, you already program without knowing how to program. Now prepare to wait six weeks for Apple to listen to you

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James Steinberg is a New Yorker, 35 years old, and has two professions. The first, cat sitter. The second, develop applications through vibecodinga technique in which knowing what one wants and iterating with AI manages to replace (in part) deep knowledge of areas such as software architecture or programming. Steinberg is not the exception, but the new norm in a phenomenon in which amateur programmers are saturating the software distribution system. Let them tell Apple. Wanting is power. There was a time when publishing an app on the App Store was a rite of passage for an engineer or software developer. After months of fighting with Swift or Objective-C, the app was ready and all that was missing was the blessing of the App Store and its strict terms of use. Today that wall has fallen, because since the vibecoding has appeared, the creation of software is no longer about being able to do things, but about wanting to do them. However, this democratization of programming comes at a price: before the problem was writing code, but now the bottleneck is get the App Store to validate it. The growth rate of apps published in the App Store has grown extraordinary since the end of 2025. The impact of vibecoding is evident. Source: BI. The explosion of agentic software. Data from the consulting firm Sensor Tower confirm that we are facing an extraordinary situation. In January 2026, the volume of new apps launched in the App Store in the US grew 54.8% compared to the previous year. A very similar figure had already been recorded in December: a 56% increase compared to the same month in 2024. Here there is not suddenly a batch of experts fresh out of university programming as if there were no tomorrow, but rather a bunch of “amateur programmers” who have used vibecoding to program their apps in a matter of minutes or hours and who have uploaded them to the App Store. Apple has a problem. When Steinberg or any other developer tries to publish their app on the App Store, they run into a problem: Apple’s validation process is dragging out and the average wait time is around six weeks to achieve the desired “green light.” Apple, aware that this saturation can damage its reputation, has wanted to come forward with figures to calm the market’s spirits. Apple says one thing, developers another. According to the company, 90% of the proposals it receives from all these programmers are reviewed in less than 48 hours, and the average wait is, according to the company, 1.5 days. In the last twelve weeks, Apple employees have analyzed more than 200,000 weekly shipments, which seems to make it clear that, at least according to them, the bottleneck is not that big. The developers don’t seem to be of the same opinion, and in forums and social networks there is talk of how reviews of existing updates take up to a week and new releases enter a kind of administrative limbo that exasperates this new legion of programmers. Apps that are AI Slop? A potential reason for this slowdown in deadlines may not only be the quantity of apps, but their quality. Both among traditional programmers and probably within Apple itself, there is a fear that this new batch of apps “vibecodeadas” is largely another variant of the “AI slop” or “AI Slop” that has already been presented in the form of images or videos. For some experts, many of these apps are mediocre, have been generated with little supervision and simply seek to monetize search niches. The strict terms of the App Store may be criticizable, but they are a kind of retaining wall that could flood the App Store with absolutely irrelevant apps. The App Store facing the dilemma. Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee indicated in Business Insider that “this is not a problem that Apple can get out of by rejecting apps. As AI accelerates the creation of applications, the company will have to evolve from artisanal surveillance to curation at scale.” Or what is the same: either Apple automates part of the process, or waiting times will continue to increase. The other option: tighten the entry criteria for apps created with AI so much that it disproportionately penalizes the developers who use these tools… of which there are more and more. Wanted vibecoder. What seemed like a hobby for hobbyists is becoming an increasingly striking economic ecosystem. According to Business Insiderplatforms like Lovable already publish job offers in which they are looking for “vibecoders professionals”, which seems to validate this new type of programmer, no matter how much the traditional market criticizes him. But. This avalanche of applications created with AI may be striking, but comments from professional developers usually agree on the same thing: these apps are more difficult to maintain in the long term. Even Linus Torvalds, who had partially fallen into the networks of AI, I warned him: “AI will be a tool, and it will make people more productive. I think vibe coding is great for getting people to start programming. I think (the code it generates) is going to be horrible to maintain… so I don’t think programmers will go away. You’ll still want to have people who know how to maintain the output.” Image | James Yarema In Xataka | Vibe coding wants to help Open Source. But developers don’t want AI botches

Is it the best time to buy a Poco F8 Ultra or should you wait? This is what the data tells us

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Depending on how the price of the Poco F8 Ultra since its launch and seeing how its predecessor (the Poco F7 Ultra) in the market, this is how we evaluate whether or not to buy the F8 Ultra, in its 512 GB versionwhich is the one we have analyzed. 🟡 CAUTION (WAIT FOR OFFER) Poco F8 Ultra Verdict It is a mobile that has been on the market for a short time and can still be purchased almost at a launch price official RRP 899.99 euros (Xiaomi official store) Target price “on the street” Don’t pay more than 699 euros (Amazon in the 12 GB RAM version) Next release Next Poco F9 Ultra expected to launch in Q1 2027 according to rumors Our recommendation Wait if… If your current mobile still holds up and you are not looking for the bargain of the century, wait a few months (June/July), since the price of the Poco F8 Ultra will have stabilized and you will be able to get it cheaper. Regret cost Medium (about 100 euros). Normally, Poco lowers its terminals when they have been on the market for more than half a year. This means that if you buy it now, perhaps if you wait until summer (or even before), you can save about 100-150 euros. XIAOMI POCO F8 Ultra – 16+512GB Smartphone The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Why is the traffic light yellow? Although the Poco F7 Ultra started with a starting price much lower than that of the Poco F8 Ultra, it is true that its history serves to suggest that, currently, it is a favorable time for wait for it to go down. Specifically, we find ourselves in this situation: A relatively new mobile: With only about three months on the market, it is normal that the price of the Poco F8 Ultra remains stagnant. The ideal is to wait for it to go down, when it has been on the market for a little longer. Future purchase: Waiting means being patient and seeing the different offers that may come out for this mobile (we are aware of them and we will offer them to you). Think that if you wait, you will be able to save about 100-150 euros on purchasing the same mobile phone that you want now and it is money to invest in other accessories or, simply, to have it extra in your monthly budget. Expert Buyer Tip: That the Poco F8 Ultra is a knockout is something about which there is no doubt. Although buying it now for almost the same price as the original price is a financial mistake. If you hold out for a couple of months, you will be buying the same hardware for the real price it should be. Price history and change prediction The graph above compare the prices that the Poco F8 Ultra has had compared to its predecessor (the Poco F7 Ultra) over a year. These are the data that we get in key from this graph: The Poco F8 Ultra has had a aggressive debutpositioning itself significantly above the historical figure of the F7 Ultra (reaching 899.99 euros in month 8). While the previous model (F7 Ultra) maintained notable stability between 550 and 600 euros, the new flagship shows much greater volatility, with rapid corrections of 150 euros after price spikes. The current trend suggests that the F8 Ultra will seek to stabilize around 749.90 eurosa price floor that is still 36% above what its predecessor cost at the same point in the life cycle. If you are looking for the real ground, the prediction indicates that you will have to wait until the last quarter of the cycle to see figures close to 600 euros. The best Poco F8 Ultra deals now: Keep in mind that many of the offers we find are no longer available once we publish the item, either because they end or because stock runs out, so make sure before buying. Right now, we haven’t found very good deals for the Poco F8 Ultra (except in a few stores). XIAOMI POCO F8 Ultra – 16+512GB Smartphone The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Is the Poco F8 Ultra for you now? If you are not sure whether or not you should buy the Poco F8 Ultra, this is what I would take into account: ✅ BUY IT TODAY IF: You want to have the latest of the latest now and you can’t live without it Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Not one more day and you don’t care about losing 100 euros in two months. ⛔ I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT IF: You budget is tightsince you are about to pay the price ceiling (749.90 euros) and you can wait a couple of months to have this Poco mobile. 💡 Good alternatives to the Poco F8 Ultra that I would buy If you still have doubts about buying (or not buying) the Poco F8 Ultra, these are some of the alternatives that I would take into account: Xiaomi 15T Pro: If you want a Xiaomi mobile, one of the perfect rivals from the same manufacturer for this Poco F8 Ultra is the Xiaomi 15T Prowhich you can buy in the brand’s official store from 799.99 euros. It is a mobile phone with cameras signed by Leica, 6.83-inch screen, MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ processor and 90 W charging. XIAOMI 15T Pro Gray 12GB RAM 512GB ROM The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Realme GT 8 Pro: for a similar price to the Poco F8 Ultra (709 euros specifically in PcComponentes) you can get this mobile with good value for money. He Realme GT 8 Pro It has a 6.79-inch 144Hz 2.K AMOLED display. It supports ultra-fast charging at 120W and comes with Snapdragon 8 Elite. Realme GT 8 Pro 5G 12GB 256GB 6.79″ Blue The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: This … Read more

Six chapters of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ have been waiting for an adaptation since Jackson’s films. The wait is over

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Warner Bros. has announced that Stephen Colbert, host of ‘The Late Show’ and one of the most recognizable and relevant faces of entertainment in the United States (and also one of the greatest Tolkien experts in the world of entertainment), will co-write ‘The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past’, the second of two new films in development for the franchise. He does it with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, and veteran Philippa Boyens. The Middle Earth franchise is picking up speed again. A special partner. The announcement was made on March 25, traditionally known among fans as the Tolkien Reading Daywith Peter Jackson looking at the camera from what looked like a home video and promising “a very special partner”. That partner is Stephen Colbert, well-known presenter of the talk show ‘The Daily Show’ (which this year faces its final season). Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have thus communicated that Colbert will co-write ‘The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past’, the second of two new films in the franchise currently in development. What will count? Colbert identified years ago a hole in Jackson’s trilogy: the third to eighth chapters of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, from ‘Three’s Company’ to ‘Fog in the Barrows’, pages that the director never transferred to the screen in 2001. Within those chapters is Tom Bombadil, the Tolkien character whose absence in the original films became one of the fandom’s most persistent complaints. “I found myself reading those six chapters over and over again,” Colbert explained to Jackson in the video“thinking that maybe it could be his own story that fits into the larger one.” The official synopsis places the action fourteen years after Frodo’s death: Sam, Merry and Pippin retrace their steps, reliving the first moments of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, discovers a buried secret that nearly derailed the War of the Ring before it even began. It is a story that unites the past and present of the franchise and that, according to the synopsis, opens the door for actors from the original cast to reprise their roles with a narratively coherent age. More fronts. ‘Shadow of the Past’ will arrive after ‘The Hunt for Gollum‘, the film directed by Andy Serkis (player of Gollum in the original trilogy) and whose premiere is scheduled for December 17, 2027. Serkis returns to the character in a story located between the events of ‘The Hobbit’ and those of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, and filming has not yet started. It is not the only adaptation underway: Amazon continues with the third season of ‘The Rings of Power‘, and periodic re-releases are planned to celebrate anniversaries such as the 25 years of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’. The corporate context. Another layer in the succession of ingredients that season this new adaptation. Paramount is acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery in a merger valued at approximately $111 billion, which is expected to take place before the fourth quarter of 2026. Colbert, ironically, leaves CBS (owned by Paramount) with his ‘The Daily Show’ to work with Warner Bros., the studio that that same corporate group will end up controlling. Colbert’s talent. Colbert’s participation in the script is not an empty promotional nod. The presenter’s relationship with Tolkien dates back decades: when he was a teenager he abandoned sports and schoolwork to read Tolkien systematically: not only ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’, but all of the author’s work. jackson said of him in 2012 that “I have never met a bigger Tolkienian fan in my life.” One of the many pieces of evidence he treasures: when Colbert visited the set of ‘The Hobbit’, Jackson organized a question and answer contest between him and Philippa Boyens, the screenwriter of the trilogy who will now co-write ‘Shadow of the Past’ with him. Colbert won. In 2013 he had a cameo in ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ as a Lake City spy, along with his wife and children (including Peter McGee, co-writer of the new film). The following year he moderated the ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. completely disguised as the same character. In 2019 he directed the short film ‘Darrylgorn’, starring Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood. A stop as a start. The cancellation of ‘The Daily Show’ is what made the project possible. C.B.S. announced in July 2025 the closure of the programin the midst of tensions between Colbert and Paramount after the network’s agreement with Donald Trump to settle a lawsuit by the president with the program ’60 Minutes’, of which the presenter has always been very critical. The last episode is scheduled for May 21, 2026, closing eleven years at the helm of the title. Colbert acknowledged in the ad from the movie that “turns out I’m going to be free starting this summer.” In Xataka | A demographer has spent weeks solving a very important question: how many people lived in Tolkien’s Middle Earth

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