Windows

the best Google Play titles that you can install on Windows

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We bring you a collection with top 38 best Android games to play on PC taking advantage of the fact that Google Play also allows you to install them on Windows. Not all Android games can be played on Windows, but from those that are compatible we have selected the most notable ones. Because sometimes a small screen is not worth it, and some titles are better enjoyed on a good monitor. Additionally, sometimes being able to use the keyboard and mouse can also be more effective. But as we always say at Xataka Basics, this is just our choice. Therefore, we invite you to tell us in the comments what you think are the best Android games that can be installed on PC, so that the rest of the readers can benefit from the knowledge of our xatakeros. Best 38 Android Games for PC Amaze GO! Arrow Puzzle: If you like maze-solving style puzzles, here you have dozens of levels without time, to get you thinking and keep your mind busy. Link: Google Play. Asphalt 9: Legends: One of the most popular racing games created for mobile, and one of the most popular sagas for these devices. An arcade racing game with dynamic environments and car customization. Link: Google Play. Blackmoor 2: Action Platformer: An arcade platform game with combat that includes cooperative multiplayer. You have a story mode full of dungeons, turns and doors, and your own custom dungeon generator. Link: Google Play. Block Blast!: If you like Tetris, this is a fun clone full of levels and totally free. Link: Google Play. Boxes: Lost Fragments: A leisurely puzzle game in which you are a thief who has to unlock treasure boxes full of puzzles. Link: Google Play. Cats are Cute: Cat Town: A simple and minimalist game, an idle simulator where you have to build a town full of cats and you can relax and see their lives. Link: Google Play. Chess.com: One of the most popular online chess platforms in the world. If you are not convinced by the web version, here is the mobile version with several puzzles, tutorials, lessons and, how could it be otherwise, online games with its base of millions of users. Link: Google Play. Clash of Clans: One of the great mobile strategy games. You will have to build your village, train troops and face other players in clan wars. Link: Google Play. Clash Royale: One of the great titles of collectible cards and strategic battles in real time. The only problem here is that many users complain about the excessive pay to win. Link: Google Play. Cookie Run: Kingdom: An action game with role-playing touches starring cookies. You can train your characters, there will be events, and you have several game modes. Link: Google Play. Cop Duty Police Car Simulator: A kind of reverse GTA, in which you are a police officer who has to circulate around the city chasing criminals. Link: Google Play. Creatures of the Deep: Fishing: A fishing game in which you have to navigate, look for the best spots, investigate, and catch fish for mysterious monsters of the depths. Link: Google Play. Drive Mad: Physics Racing: A fun physics-based driving game where usually the biggest obstacle is your overconfidence. Each level has a new type of vehicle, and is guaranteed to have laughs. Link: Google Play. Legendary Terminator: An RPG in which you have to save the world by exterminating all types of creatures, leveling up and advancing. Link: Google Play. Fallout Shelter: The excellent nuclear shelter management game, with all the inhabitants. You’ll have to pair them up, recruit or hatch new ones, or set them out to explore the wasteland in search of resources and rewards. Link: Google Play. Free Fire MAX: A game designed to offer you a Battle Royale experience on mobile. 50 competitors and one survivor. Link: Google Play. Fruit Ninja 2: Fruit Ninja was one of the first great viral games for mobile, and its second part takes it further. Fruits are thrown at you and you have to break them all in the air before they fall, it’s that simple. Link: Google Play. Genshin Impact: One of the most important and popular online RPGs in recent years. Its graphics are quite demanding, but by playing on a big screen you can benefit from the extra power of your computer. Link: Google Play. Geometry Dash SubZero: One of those titles that puts you to the test. An action platformer in which you have to jump and overcome levels full of obstacles. Link: Google Play. Granny: Grandma has locked you in her house and you have to try to escape without making a sound. A horror and survival game for the most daring. Link: Google Play. Homescapes: Help butler Austin restore warmth and design to his family’s mansion by completing levels with all kinds of puzzles. Link: Google Play. Infinity Loop: Calm and Relax: Another relaxing game and puzzles full of logic where you can spend time exercising your brain. Link: Google Play. Jetpack Joyride: A true classic for mobile phones, an infinite race title in which you have to fly with your jetpack to go as far as possible. Link: Google Play. Level Devil – NOT A Troll Game: If you are one of those people who like to have a hard time and be tortured by a game, this title interests you. Run, jump and reach the door of each level in which each jump or each corner can be the last. Because the maps move and seem to be trolling you. Link: Google Play. Mahjong Blast: A solitaire Mahjong game created for those looking for relaxing board games. Link: Google Play. Melon Sandbox: A game to unleash your creativity with experiments based on doll physics. Without limits and without rules. Link: Google Play. NTE: Neverness to Everness: An open world supernatural RPG with a good story, impressive graphics and a lot of fun. Link: Google Play. Pixel … Read more

The Phantom 3500 wants to break the mold by changing the windows for screens. And he’s close to getting it

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A year ago we told you the story of Otto Aerospace and its Phantom 3500, a windowless plane that aims to turn its walls into a panoramic view to the outside. As counterintuitive as it may sound, the company has had an idea: that on a plane without windows we can see better than ever what is around us when we fly. A year later, the project has been taking shape Otto Phantom 3500. Otto Aerospace’s Phantom 3500 is a project that should begin to come together next year. Last year we told you This curious project that aims to fill the fuselage of the plane with screens, eliminating all traces of windows. They called this concept Super Natural Vision, a system of screens that should show the outside in real time thanks to the use of cameras. This futuristic concept has, according to the company, the advantage of improving aerodynamics and thus the consumption of the device but also of simplifying the construction of the fuselage, saving costs. What’s new? To begin with, if you have entered the previous link you will have seen that the company has changed its name and is now no longer called Otto Aviation. Now, the company has adopted the name Otto Aerospacewhich gives an idea that its objective goes far beyond commercial transportation medianet private jets. But the most important thing is that the company has reached an agreement with flexjetwho operate huge fleets of private jets, to make the Phantom 3500 part of their fleet. The agreement contemplates a firm order for 300 aircraft and deliveries starting in 2030. It has not been made public how much the purchase figure is, which Yes, it is estimated in specialized media that the plane will cost about 19.5 million of dollars per unit but there is no confirmed figure for the purchase package of 300 aircraft of this type. Is it possible? According to its creators, of course. And with the purchase of 300 airplanes ahead, it had better be so, they will say at Flexjet. According to the company, the first flights of this private jet will begin in 2027 with a view to approval by US regulators. In his statement, Flexjet points that the purchase of 300 units of this device is one of the largest that has been recorded in private aviation and that it will serve to redefine what it means to fly using a service of this type. Can it be approved?. When launching this project, there is an important question that Otto Aerospace will have to answer. If you want to deliver the first planes in 2030, yes, you should have it under control. To approve an airplane, the Code of Federal Regulations of the US Government points out that “each emergency exit must have means that allow viewing the conditions outside the exit when it is closed.” That is, there must be a window or a reliable system that guarantees viewing of the outside without problems. And isn’t it very expensive? The other big question that Otto Aerospace will have faced is the issue of how much to fill the entire fuselage with screens. And to do this you will have to use high-quality flexible panels with a connection to your external cameras that is fast enough to not generate any type of dizziness as a consequence of a possible lag between the image and the movement of the vehicle. Likewise, filling the plane with screens also entails a cable management problem that will multiply compared to any other type of system and will add weight to the whole. Yet, The company claims to reduce consumption by half of fuel from other private jets that are currently in operation. Photo | Otto Aerospace In Xataka | Billionaires tried to hide their private jets. Now they have another problem: anyone can follow their superyachts

Your desperate solution is to cover the windows with aluminum foil

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If there is a culture shock that we Spaniards suffer when crossing the Pyrenees, it is not the meal times or the language, but the painful absence of blinds and even air conditioners. Under normal conditions, it is a simple architectural anecdote, but during a sustained heat wave like the ones we are experiencing, it becomes a public health issue. A new remedy. During the last weeks of June and the beginning of this July, France and Germany have seen thermometers exceed the dangerous barrier of 40 ° C. Temperatures for which these countries were not prepared, and that is why they are resorting to different home remediessuch as cover the glass with aluminum foil kitchen towels or thermal blankets. Two measures that respond to the desperation of seeing how their houses heat up and do not have a barrier like we can have in Spain to block the impact of the direct sun. But in addition, we are also seeing how the heat It is becoming a political weaponwith different parties promising million-dollar aid funds so that citizens can install air conditioners. It has logic. Both private homes and some hospitals in Paris have joined this initiative due to the lack of air conditioning systems, and it is not a simple TikTok eccentricity, but rather it makes a lot of sense. The reason is that aluminum has a very high reflectance, being able to bounce between 95% and 98% of solar radiation. Normally, when sunlight passes through bare glass, the energy is converted to heat as it hits the floor and interior furniture, creating the dreaded “greenhouse effect.” By placing aluminum foil or thermal blankets on the windows, the radiation rebounds before heating the room. A simple gesture that can reduce the interior temperature between 5 and 7 ºCwhich is an abysmal difference that greatly reduces the discomfort caused by such high temperatures. It is not infallible. Turning the living room into a kind of spaceship is not an architectural panacea nor is it free of problems. Here Vicent Parasie, French architect, in statements collected by La Vanguardia point that this is an “emergency, economical and superficial solution, since it does not alter the home.” The architect warns that these patches can never replace adequate sun protection elements or good insulation. In fact, he points out that if the aluminum is placed inside and without adequate space, the thermal radiation rebounds and is trapped in the glass itself. This causes extreme overheating of the glass which, in cases of severe thermal stress, can fracture or burst. On the other hand, if placed outside, domestic aluminum deteriorates quickly due to the elements. The Spanish solution. All this phenomenon has revealed the enormous structural advantage of southern Europe in the face of new climate scenarios. And the difference between Spain and France in the face of this type of extreme heat episodes lies mainly in our better response to an architectural and cultural adaptation that we already have as standard. Our Mallorcan blinds or awnings are top-of-the-line technology against heat. As we have seen, the simple gesture of lowering an awning or a blind is capable of lowering the interior temperature by 4 or 5 ºC in a safe and long-lasting way. In Xataka | Popular wisdom is not always right: the great heat myths that we should avoid in summer

In the midst of an extreme heat wave, the French have started painting their windows with white chalk. It makes perfect sense

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Yes, we are in 2026. Yes, there are air conditioners, very effective fansair conditioners and even paintings ultra-white (literally) with such a reflective capacity that they help refresh the surfaces on which they are applied. And yet, despite all that, in France there are people who are opting for a very simple method to withstand the heat: painting their windows with chalk. So much so that the demand for blanc de Meudona calcareous clay extracted from the quarries of Meudon, near Paris, has been shot in hardware stores. Looking for solutions at 40ºC. In the middle of the heatwave and with the Paris thermometers fooling around with 40ºCthe logical thing is that people start buying air conditioners, fans, fans and ice bags. In France, however, there is another item that has been as or even more in demand these days: the blanc de Meudona white powder made up mostly of calcium carbonate. The new toilet paper. It is so requested that a few days ago Le Parisian dedicated an extensive report in which he explains that there are craft stores that are depleting their supplies of blanc de Meudon and businesses that have run out of stock. Even people who order it online receive it late. “My wife went to all the DIY stores in Auray and couldn’t find it,” confess to Western France Philippe, a Frenchman who had no choice but to go to another town to buy white chalk. There are those who already compare their compulsive purchasing with what they experienced with toilet paper during the pandemic. @daphneblt I have tested the astuce of the blanc de Meudon 🕵🏼‍♀️🥵 Comme vous j’ai vu passer cette astuce partout sur mon fil d’actualité, although je n’arrivais pas à en trouver, tous les magasins étaient en rupture de stock 🫠 Le dosage : 1 dose of pour + 1 dose of water and form a small liquid to apply on the fenêtres to reflect the light (in théorie) ☀️ And the white of Meudon c’est de la craie donc réduire en poudre des craies ou bien utiliser de la poudre d’argile blanche c’est la même chose 👀 Mon verdict: c’est mieux que rien et je suis passée de 36/37 à 35 degrés dans mon appartement parisien sous les toits (cc Yann Barthès 🤠) orienté sud 🤔 Bon c’est mieux que rien, évidemment si vous avez des recos je suis preneuse, parler de l’aluminium qui apparemment colle aux vitres et de la couverture de survie qui visibly réchauffe les voisins d’en face 😭 Bon courage à tous et allez voter en 2027, vu l’état currentuel des choses c’est le geste avec le plus d’impact qu’on puisse faire (avec le fait de manger moins de viande 🥩) ✨🗳️ One of my first thoughts to Bernard Arnault who probably passed all the same since we are on a yacht, on a private jet, in a climatized villa or on a private island. ☠️ #responsibleconsommation #consommermieux #cunning #blancdemeudon #ecoresponsible ♬ are original – daphneblt Why’s that? He blanc de Meudon It is not a new product. On the contrary. It has always been marketed, although it is normally used in houseworksuch as cleaning cutlery or marble. Also it’s usual that merchants use it to cover their store windows during renovations. Basically the blanc de Meudon It is a calcareous material that is mixed with water to form a whitish paste with a milky texture. These two peculiarities (composition and color) have made it a popular and cheap resource to cool homes in the heat of the heat. It is not a new remedy, but in the last month it has gained followers thanks to articles and videos that sell their supposed benefits. Of course, the method is simple: the clay is mixed with water until it forms a paste and then, with the help of a brush, it is spread directly on the windows. The result is not what is called aesthetic, but its defenders say that it helps to refresh the houses. A couple of degrees less. In reality, there is little surprising about it. White surfaces are known to reflect sunlight and heat. In fact, commercial paints can cool at 1.7ºC the opposite side of the surface on which they are applied and there are researchers working on ‘ultra-white’ versions able to reflect 98% of social radiation. Some studies claim that, with an appropriate combination, daytime temperature could be reduced in more than 7.5º. @abou.addict J’ai testedé un truc à 3€ contre la chaleur, maintenant c’est en rupture partout.. Une astuce simple et qui marche partout: dès que tu as une fenêtre exposée plein sud que tu ne peux pas protéger avec des volets ou un store, le blanc de Meudon fait office de bouclier anti-chaleur. On dilute, on apply on the glass, and the remaining piece beaucoup plus fraîche. Ça marche also bien dans une école, une mairie, un bureau ou chez soi: partout où il ya du vitrage qui prend le soleil toute la journée et qu’on ne peut pas équiper autrement. On availability I posted this astuce l’an dernier et elle a fait plus de 600 000 vues, donc on la repartage avant la prochaine vague de chaleur (et pendant qu’on en trouve encore, parce que ça part en rupture de stock). #canicule #cunning blancdemeudon maisonfraîche #fraicheur ♬ âm thanh gốc – Coach sportif – Coach sportif “An excellent option”. Added to these advantages are those offered by calcium carbonate. “Chalk is primarily composed of CaCO3. It absorbs very little sunlight, even in the visible range, which gives it its white color. Additionally, it does not absorb UV radiation and very little near-infrared light, making it an excellent choice,” comment Xiangyu Li, Purdue researcher, told the BBC. On the France3 channel they assure that only covering the windows with blanc de Meudon can be earned between two and three degrees of indoor comfort. It is not the same as an air conditioner, although it is also much cheaper. … Read more

Experts agree that opening windows at night and closing them during the day is no longer the best strategy against heat.

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For decades, long before air conditioners and the fans will take Every corner of its geography, Spain knew how to handle the heat: during the day, everything was closed tight; at night, everything open and ventilate. It sounds rudimentary, but in 2026 that is still the strategy we recommends the Ministry of Health. And yet, there is a problem. The Spain of the blinds game did not sleep in cities at 26 degrees at four in the morning. Not 26, not 28, not more than 30, as has been happening these days in Almería. The arrival of the ‘hellish nights’ challenges everything we thought we knew about domestic heat management. Therefore, we have asked ourselves… and now what? What we were doing until now. That popular knowledge I was talking about goes viral every time the heat makes an appearance. And, like I say, it makes sense. In a world where it cools down at night, the winning strategy is night cooling and daytime insulation. What he says Health Plan against high temperatures. The central issue here is that that world has ceased to exist. Because the key is not the time, it is the thermometer. In reality, what we are looking for is to open when it is cool and close when it is hot. It’s usually cool at night, but… What if he stops doing it? Summer has stretched on for five weeks and Spain is about two degrees warmer than at the beginning of the eighties. The torrid nights (with minimums of 25 degrees or more) have multiplied by ten since 1984 in the ten most populated capitals and, according to AEMET data, this affects about nine million people. Even the tropical ones (minimums of 20 or more) today add a dozen more a year than decades ago. We can’t sleep… although researchers have not agreed on the ideal temperature for sleeping (some point which is about 18.3ºC, but there is no consensus), they have done so on a fundamental idea: sleeping in the heat is objectively a bad idea. For whatever reason, it is true that our temperature changes between wakefulness and sleep. In fact, “thermal regulation is a significant factor” in sleep control, explained the teacher Cameron Van Den Heuvelfrom the University of Adelaide. “About an hour to thirty minutes before sleep, the body begins to lose body heat. This increases feelings of tiredness in normal healthy adults.” People with insomnia, without going any further, “show that they have a higher basal temperature just before sleeping than people who do not have sleep problems.” Ambient heat does not help this thermal reduction and it seems to be proven that when the temperature is very high, it is more difficult to fall asleep and, when it is achieved, it is of very poor quality. And then what do we do? In the interior of the peninsula, as the thermal amplitude remains high, opening at dawn works. There is nothing to change. The problem is for those who live on the coast or in the big city. When the night exceeds 20 degrees, the strategy is reversed. Ventilating at night is no longer the main technique and the battle is won during the day: you have to seal the house as soon as the street heats up, squeeze out the thermal inertia and use the air conditioning wisely. However, as the nights get warmer the household tricks come to an end. If the trend is confirmed, we will have to assume that the housing stock must be transformed: sun protection, rehabilitation and climate shelters will be the buzzwords in a few years. Image | Fernando Rosado In Xataka | ENT doctors agree: “Sleeping with air conditioning forces the nose to work excessively”

Philips launches new air fryer for small kitchens with double basket and windows to see the food

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Philips has new air fryer. This appliance has become an essential in many kitchens, no matter if it is for large or small families. There are different capacities to cook large quantities of food, but when it comes to cook variety instead of quantitybetter if the fryer has two baskets. That’s where the Philips 4000 series fits in, available in Spain for 229.99 euros. 4000 series Airfryer with double stackable basket The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Double basket, but without taking up half the kitchen As we say, there are many air fryers that have double baskets. This is something very interesting because it allows you to cook two foods at the same time, each with its own temperature and cooking time. For example, you can make some wings in one of the baskets while you have vegetables or potatoes in the other. Philips is committed to this distribution with its 4000 series, but it does so with a compact appliance that barely measures 24 centimeters wide. Each of these baskets has a total capacity of 5 liters and the fryer is designed so that the air circulates evenly throughout the interior. Furthermore, each basket It has a window so we can see the inside without having to open itsomething key because, by doing this, we are releasing a large part of the heat from the interior. The fryer has 6 automatic programs and up to 13 different cooking techniques, such as dehydrating or gratin, among others. One of its best features is that it has a system that allows you to automatically synchronize the time of both basketsso you can set different temperatures and cooking times, but both will finish cooking at the same time. ⚡ IN BRIEF: Philips 4000 Series Air Fryer ✅ THE BEST Double basket for small kitchens: This type of double compartment fryers is usually very large. The Philips breaks this trend and is positioned as a top option if you don’t have much space. Window to see its interior: Being able to see the inside of the basket without opening it is not only very cool, but it is very useful when cooking. Cooking synchronization: You can put two foods in the baskets that require different times and temperatures and they will still finish at the same time. ❌ THE WORST It has a high introductory price: It costs almost 230 euros and arrives in stores without a launch promo, which means it is not for all budgets. 💡 BUY IT IF… You want an air fryer that allows you to cook two dishes at once and you have a small kitchen or you want it to take up as little space as possible. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You’re on a tight budget or you usually use the air fryer for a single food. You may also be interested Cosori Large Air Fryer with Double Basket 8.5L Air Fryer, High Power and Speed, Max 8-10 People, 10 Functions, Stainless Steel Interior with Bail, Healthier, Intuitive Touch Panel, Cleanable The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Cecotec Oil-Free Air Fryer 9L or Double Bucket 4.5L Cecofry Advance 9000 Window Plus. 2200W, Dividing Wall, Dual Temperature, Display Window, 8 Menus, Temp 60-200 ºC, Touch Panel The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Philips In Xataka | Which Cosori air fryer to buy according to your needs In Xataka | The best air fryer for 4 people. Which one to buy? Tips and recommendations

Nvidia has just presented the definitive chip against Intel and AMD. There is a problem: Windows

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The Nvidia processor for PC is the “the wolf is coming” of consumer technology. The company has been the reference for years in GPUs for gamers and flirted with SoCs thanks to the Tegra chips (which are what give life to both nintendo switch like to nintendo switch 2), but for computers they still couldn’t find a way to get equipment with 100% Nvidia guts. That just changed with the presentation of RTX Spark chips. It is a SoC that directly attacks the binomial Windows PC = Intel or AMD CPUone that is positioned as the alternative to those traditional options and that is specifically designed to compete for the heart of the consumer PC. Specifically, for laptops. Now, although Microsoft and Nvidia have been generating excitement for a few days and pointing out that it is the new era of the PC, there is a problem. Windows. The brake is no longer silicon, it could be Windows The theory is very interesting. RTX Spark combines a CPU Grace up to 20 cores that it has developed together with MediaTek (this is curious) with an RTX Blackwell GPU with 6,144 cores. TSMC (how could it not be otherwise) has given life to chip in a 3 nanometer lithography. Not only is it powerful, but it has up to 128 GB of unified memory (the same design that we see in Apple Silicon) and an interface NVLink which allows communication between RAM, CPU and GPU to be very, very fast. Nvidia talks about rendering heavy 3D scenes on laptops, running models with 120 billion parameters, and at the same time running games at 1,440p above 100 FPS with DLSS and ray tracing. The best? That Jensen Huang stood out at the Computex conference showing this in very thin and light laptops. It is the same strategy that Qualcomm follows. own Microsoft has already presented a Surface with RTX Spark and it is an architecture that makes a lot of sense in the universe of current light but powerful laptops… and also in desktop computers like a mac mini or of a mac studio. And, compared to the more traditional PC industry, the GPU is estimated to be in the range of a RTX 5070 for laptops. In the absence of testing it, it is undeniable that it looks good and that, although there are data that are not so favorable (such as bandwidth when compared to the most powerful Apple), it is a good addition to a segment in which, if we left the Intel/AMD duo, the only one that was trying was Qualcomm with devices like the Snapdragon X Elite. And there is the key: RTX Spark, like Qualcomm chips, is focused on being the heart of a Windows that is at its brightest. Because RTX Spark is a chip with ARM architecture and, although in office tasks Windows ARM It moves well, under more demanding tasks is when it begins to not be up to par. Microsoft’s system, which they themselves know is not at its best level of popularity due to the whole issue of AI features, has many shortcomings in its ARM version when it comes to gaming, precisely what Nvidia is promoting. It is also not the best optimized on laptop computers, something that is being seen with type machines. Steam Deck. The heart of the new Surface We are seeing it in recent years with PC-console asus, MSI either Lenovo: The hardware is good, but Windows drags down the experience significantly. The paradox is that the Steam Deck, being the least capable on paper, is usually more recommended precisely because it avoids Windows and relies on a system much more fine-tuned for that format. With RTX Spark, the two companies say they have been working for a long time to solve those problems and make this time, Windows on an ARM chip feel different with support for games with anticheat and native for personal agents. We will see in practice what ends up arriving, but two things are clear here. The first is that Microsoft gains aggressive hardware to compete face to face against Apple in the field of very powerful laptops with long battery life. The second is that Qualcomm is no longer alone in that corral and now it will be very interesting to see what hardware it responds with. Because Nvidia already has the chip, the CUDA ecosystem and agreements with all manufacturers, as well as the support of the giant TSMC. The “weak” link, therefore, is not silicon, it is a Windows on ARM that has improved a lot in recent yearsbut that is the element that will have the most to prove. In Xataka | Graphic muscle for Windows and a slam of the door on Android: the exclusivity toll that Nvidia demands with its new ARM architecture

The MacBook Neo has made traditional Windows laptops look ridiculous. This is great news for users.

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He MacBook Neo showed the way. Mid-range laptops seemed stuck in the past, with an unattractive price/performance ratio. The feeling was that once you were buying a laptop, it was better to invest 1,000 euros or more to be able to work and play comfortably. That seems to be finally changing, because we are seeing a lot of movement in the world of Windows laptops. Asleep on our laurels. Apple’s new model showed that there could be alternatives and caught manufacturers on the wrong foot. Everyone seemed comfortable with it. status quobut he MacBook Neo woke them up from slumberand soon we will see a deployment of modest but functional equipment. Above all, because three of the semiconductor majors already have their SoCs ready or almost ready to compete with the Apple A18 Pro of the MacBook Neo. Qualcomm Snapdragon C. The first alternative is this chip with ARM architecture that just announced by Qualcomm and according to the firm, it will allow equipment to be offered with starting prices of $300. It is very likely that these proposals are too limited (and have no more than 4 GB of RAM), but also that there are versions with higher configurations. The Snapdragon C promises remarkable efficiency, and Qualcomm is an old acquaintance of Windows for ARM equipment. Intel Wildcat Lake. In April we saw how Intel showed its great commitment to conquer this new era of mid-range laptops. I did it with his family Wildcat Lake in which, for example, the new Intel Core 3 304 are integrated. The fundamental advantage of these chips is that of using the traditional x86-64 architecture, which until now has proven to be the best option for Windows computers due to its completely native support for the OS and its applications. Nvidia waits its turn. A lot has been spoken how the duopoly of Intel and AMD on Windows computers could have an expiration date. Qualcomm has not managed to erode that reality, but who may have an important asset is Nvidia, which is preparing the launch of its Arm chips. There has been talk for months that there will be not one, but two based on the GP10 chip which Nvidia jointly developed with MediaTek. The names that are mentioned in the leaks are N1 and N1X, and although the details are unknown, the expectations are notable and already start to leak also Lenovo models that will integrate the N1X. But Windows on ARM has never caught on. The doubts with Qualcomm and Nvidia’s proposals are not due to them, but rather to Microsoft and its Windows operating system. Its version for ARM chips has been available for years, but the teams that have taken advantage of these chips were limited by some software conflicts. I’d better stay with Intel and AMD. There are hardly any problems in that sense anymore, but the promise of the efficiency of ARM chips was not so striking when the prices of such equipment were high. In the end, it was more worthwhile for most users to bet on “traditional” chips from Intel and AMD, and Qualcomm’s proposals—the only ones that appeared on the market—never quite conquered the general public, not even when Copilot+ PCs appeared. Windows 11, by the way, He didn’t make it easy either. with your list of requirements. Specs don’t matter (that much). We already saw yesterday how the specifications of the Wilcat Lake chips are superior to those of the Apple A18 Pro of the MacBook Neobut that doesn’t mean much. Above all, because the MacBook Neo have proven to be laptops that offer a fantastic user experience, but at the moment computers with Intel chips have not been analyzed and their performance is unknown. These same doubts affect future devices with Qualcomm or Nvidia chips: they will have to demonstrate that the user experience is as good (or better) than that of the MacBook Neo, or else these manufacturers (and Microsoft) will have a serious problem. It’s good news. Whatever happens, Apple’s move has caused manufacturers to finally move and develop solutions to try to compete with the surprising team from Cupertino. If the MacBook Neo had not been launched, we would probably still be stuck in the mid-range Windows laptop segment, but this is going to liven things up and revive competition between manufacturers. We all win. In Xataka | “We arrived too soon, but we were right”: The MacBook Neo is everything Microsoft dreamed of with the disastrous Windows 8

The Chuwi Unibook is the $450 Windows laptop that aims to take down the MacBook Neo. The problem is not the specifications

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The Chinese manufacturer Chuwi has given the surprise with the presentation of its Chuwi Unibook, a mid-range laptop that surprises with its price of $449 and that has undoubtedly been created to compete with the new rival to beat: the MacBook Neo from Apple. The truth is that on paper the proposal seems really attractive, but the problem is precisely that: that this computer, like all those that will soon appear based on Windows with similar specifications, will have to comply with what is important. The user experience will be everything. The MacBook Neo still has no response. The PC industry was used to not having too many concerns in the mid-range. The manufacturers had accommodated themselves and proposed proposals without much ambition, modest but functional. Then came the MacBook Neo from Apple and revolutionized the sector: For the first time it was possible to access the Cupertino laptop ecosystem and its experience for a much more affordable price. There are sacrifices to the MacBook Neo, of course, but the device’s appeal is evident to many users. Apple has the A18 Pro, Intel has Wildcat Lake. The striking thing about the MacBook Neo is that Apple demonstrated that the iPhone chip was more than enough for a mid-range laptop. To compete with it, Intel has launched a new family of low-cost processors called Wildcat Lake. These chips, made with Intel 18A photolithography, are promising, and according to some benchmarks one of their variants It is 21% more powerful than the Apple A18 Pro of the MacBook Neo. The spec sheet rocks. If we look at the pure specifications of the Chuwi Unibook, the difference is notable. The equipment is not only cheaper, but it surpasses the Apple model in almost everything. For example, it has a theoretically more powerful processor, keyboard backlighting, better connectivity and more battery. The sacrifices required by the MacBook Neo are fewer sacrifices in this equipment. On paper, the Chuwi Unibook is really promising. On paper. Source: VideoCardz Project Firefly. Intel’s Chinese division recently announced this initiative. With it, they hope to help manufacturers reduce manufacturing complexity by offering reference designs that reduce production costs. Intel has already done things like this in the past (I’m sure many of you will remember both the Centrino branding and its Ultrabook program), and the idea here is precisely to provide certain tools to manufacturers to develop more competitive models in a market. shaken by the Apple model. Manufacturers wait their turn. The launch of Intel processors from the Wildcat Lake family has caused several manufacturers to begin announcing laptops based on these chips. Lenovo is already preparing some models IdeaPad Slimand so much Asus as HP They also prepare their plays. The Chuwi Unibook seems to be just another variant of those proposals, and in all of them the specifications, although modest, seem to surpass those of the MacBook Neo. Lots of advertising, little real product. Almost all major manufacturers have shown their intention to develop mid-range laptops that compete with the MacBook Neo in that price range. The announcements have been varied, but none of them have communicated the price or availability date of these devices, probably because everyone is waiting to see how the memory crisis evolves. It is reasonable to think that the imminent Computex fair is the perfect occasion to definitively present all these proposals. But. The problem with the Chuwi Unibook, like that of other manufacturers waiting their turn, is not the specifications. The problem will be the benefits and above all the real experience that these teams offer. Windows PC manufacturers have not done well with cutting features in the past, and if that experience is not good we could witness a new phenomenon like netbooks: affordable equipment, but too limited and that ended up condemned to oblivion. In Xataka | “We arrived too soon, but we were right”: The MacBook Neo is everything Microsoft dreamed of with the disastrous Windows 8

Airplanes have circular windows for a reason. It took two plane crashes to find out.

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When you get on a plane, have you ever wondered why the windows of this means of transport They have an oval shape. If you look closely, it’s not just the windows: also the armrests, trays, screens and any interior furniture. has a circular shape. Although it may seem something purely aestheticthere is actually scientific reasoning behind this choice. But before getting into the technical details, we need to talk a little about the history of aviation and how two fatal accidents changed everything. In their early days, airplanes had rectangular windows like those found in any house. As taking to the skies became more popular in the 1950s, airlines started flying at higher altitudes. This guaranteed them considerable economic savings, since the thin air generates less resistance and, therefore, less fuel is consumed, as well as allowing more comfortable driving with less turbulence. But in order for planes to fly at those heights, manufacturers were also forced to make design changes. The cabin had to be pressurized so that the pilots could breathe without problems. And a pressurized cabin requires a cylindrical shape to function, which creates a pressure difference between indoor air and outdoor air which increases as the plane rises. The flat body expands very slightly and therefore stress is applied to the material. And this is where the shape of the windows come into play. In 1954 there were two fatal accidents which caused the death of 56 passengers and crew. The reason the fuselage disintegrated had to do with a design flaw, which was that they had kept the windows square. Due to its right angles, Cabin pressure was concentrated in its corners and it was multiplied by three, more than in the rest of the fuselage. That caused the windows to end up exploding. It must be taken into account that airplanes usually fly at an altitude of 10,000 meters or more and that level atmospheric pressure It is about a third of normal. As Real Engineering explains in this video“When a material changes shape like this, stress is created in the material. Eventually, the stress can increase so much that the material breaks.” This is exactly what happened in the aforementioned accidents. The problems However, in a circular plane, tension flows smoothly through the material, a flow that is interrupted by the introduction of a window. But if the window is oval, stress levels are more evenly balanced. The same principle applies to the cargo and cabin doors. And that’s why we also see it in the windows of ships and spaceships. Unfortunately, it took two plane crashes and several decades of research to realize the evils that square windows were causing. Furthermore, as commented Anthony Harcup, director of the Teague design company, which has worked with Boeing for more than 75 years in this article from Travel + Leisure: “Sharp edges hurt elbows, knees, hips… or any part of the body they come into contact with. Rounding of all parts of the plane is also done for the “deletalization”a design principle that ensures that when subjected to Murphy’s Law, a passenger cannot be injured anywhere in the airplane seat.” It’s not just the shape of airplane windows that has changed over the years, but also their material. The windows you see on airplanes actually They are not glass, but acrylicwhich is more durable than the first. Also, as you may have noticed, there are three layers in each window. In fact, the interior window that faces passengers is not even part of the structure of the plane (it is just a safety measure so that the exterior window does not get touched or scratched). And the second layer exists as reinforcement to maintain the pressure on the end in case the exterior window is damaged. If you looked at the window, you will also have seen a small hole in this layer. Its role is essential since it serves as a valve to equalize pressure between this inner window and the outer window. Between the interior and exterior window there is a small air chamber and this hole regulates the pressure between the two sheets automatically. In addition, it balances the humidity level, preventing the window from fogging up or freezing. Everything on an airplane is pure science. Images | Unsplash In Xataka | The design can save the middle seat on airplanes from being the most hated: wider and “without invasions”

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