Year

Every year thousands of Madrid residents go up to Puerto de Cotos to see something exceptional. And every year they get trapped

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For those of us who live in Madrid, Christmas has convinced us that there are issues that are completely unchanged from year to year. We know that the best thing we can do on the December long weekend is to flee the city (or at least the center), that going to Doña Manolita to buy a lottery ticket is almost impossible and that someone is going to be left stranded in Puerto de Cotos when the snow makes an appearance. Let the Civil Guard come! The day of marmot snow. Madrid has its favorite place to go to the snow in Puerto de Cotos. Those who grew up in Madrid are very likely to have launched a sled down the slope, taken their first steps on skis in Valdesquí or taken a broth for Sale Marcelino. And, above all, they have been snowed in, have been cold and had problems returning to the city. It doesn’t matter whether it’s public transportation or private transportation, every year Cotos collapses. The last time was yesterdayMonday, December 22, when hundreds of people sought refuge on buses to return to Madrid with temperatures below zero and snow accumulating. But the year doesn’t matter. In 2024 There were those who waited three hours to get on one of the buses that serve the port. In 2023 Cars piled up in the ditches. In 2021 Access had to be cut off and endless queues to get on the buses were repeated. In 2016 Dozens of hikers had to take shelter due to a sudden change in the intensity of the snowfall. It is clear that we could continue. Between the cold and the bus. Yesterday was one of those snow days that turn into a nightmare. One of those in which the Civil Guard has to intervene to control the situation. And the perfect storm occurred: snow in the mountains and a non-working day. Perfect situation to get stuck at the top of the mountain. This was how it was for the more than 200 visitors who saw a way not to return to the city, they collected in The Spanish Newspaper. At two degrees below zero, snowing and with the prospect of not being able to get on the bus, the Civil Guard had to go to the top of Cotos to bring order and control the chaos. In statements to Telecincoa user pointed out that she had been waiting since midday for more buses to board, as the driver had promised, but the volume of potential passengers continued to collapse public transportation. In the images you can see how a traffic jam completely collapses the only available bus. Click on the image to go to the original tweet Insufficient The big problem with the Cotos port is that it can be relatively easy to go up, but going down is another problem. And while the climb is staggered, on the way down there are crowds of passengers waiting to take refuge inside a bus that will take them down to the street. Buses in which you can only travel seated, just as one of the drivers claimed. And to get off the port on a daily day and with the Valdesquí station closed, the frequencies are very low. In those conditions only bus line 691 which connects the city of Madrid with the top of the port is available at 11:05, 16:35 and 18:35. The only alternative is to go up with a car and chains in the trunk in case the situation gets complicated. Click on the image to go to the original tweet And the train? Yes, indeed, Cercanías had a train that covered the climb to Cotos from the town of Cercedilla. It is line C9opened in the 1960s but has been completely closed for renovation works on infrastructure and trains since 2024. The reopening is not expected until the summer of 2026. As long as the deadlines are met. The Cercanías trains also used to be full when the snow arrived but they offered some guarantee to passengers. First because they could move a high volume of people (up to 220 passengers per trip) and second because you could buy the tickets in advance, thus reserving the place to go and return to the mountains. The bus alternative, however, has been scarce. With the train line closed, Renfe has only arranged five departures bus from Puerto de Cotos to Cercedilla where hikers can opt for another Cercanías train or intercity buses to return home. On daily days, Renfe had the same volume of trains but its capacity was greater. Foreseeable unforeseen. What is surprising is that these situations occur every year. And despite the fact that the AEMET had already warned of the arrival of snow and an increase in traffic to the Port of Cotos on a non-school day was foreseeable, the hikers found themselves with public transport that was clearly insufficient and without Civil Guard patrols to order the chaos. It seems evident that these situations occur exceptionally but the Madrid Transport Consortium (CRTM) shows that it does not have sufficient flexibility to guarantee the arrival and evacuation of those who go up to the Puerto de Cotos by public transport, with a clearly insufficient provision of buses for these days. And few alternatives. But, also, the other big problem that Madrid has is that the alternatives are minimal. The region has more than six million inhabitants but the options of visiting the snow for those who go to the Madrid mountains on time are minimal. And the thing is that Puerto de Cotos is located above 1,800 meters of altitude. Among the alternatives is the Port of Navafría or the Puerto de la Morcuera, which can be reached by road. However, getting there by public transport is nothing short of a pipe dream since there are no nearby towns the size of Navacerrada or Cercedilla with Renfe stations to get there quickly. Thus, a funnel is … Read more

lights and shadows of one of the most outstanding foldings of the year

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Take the step to a folding phone or not? That is the question that many people ask themselves when looking for a device that break with the schemes that have dominated for years. But the answer is not so simple. Before making the decision, multiple factors come into play, from the available budget to the resistance and performance of the phone, to its real usefulness on a day-to-day basis. In a new 24/7 Xataka YouTube channel We put one of the most outstanding folding products of the year to the test. We talk about Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7a proposal that, as we already mentioned in the first impressions and later in the reviewstands out for its solid arguments. Now, once the initial illusion is over, an inevitable question arises: is it still a good mobile phone over time? To answer it, Ana Boria has tested it for you for almost six months. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, is it still as good after months of use? The first great rating from our companion comes after a month of use. “I can’t fault its performance.“, he says. It is not a gratuitous statement. Much of the merit lies in the Snapdragon 8 Elite accompanied by 12 GB of RAM that we find inside. Performance is up to any day-to-day demands. Of course, in the video it is also clear that not everything is perfect and some shadows begin to emerge, one of them quite unexpected. Already in the fourth month with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, Ana launches an assessment that points directly to one of the aspects that Samsung had tried to correct with this model. “Although we already have a much more normal format than in previous generations, for my taste it is still too vertical,” he says. It is worth remembering that the South Korean company defends that, when it is closed, the experience is very similar to that of a mobile phone in conventional bar format. Another key point for many users is autonomy. And one of the most reliable ways to measure it is to observe its behavior after months of real use. Ana shares her experience with the telephone in different day-to-day scenarios. “I wanted to tell you that I am quite surprised with the battery of this foldable“, he comments. The question remains in the air: has it really met your expectations? The last section of the experience focuses on the photographic section. Here Ana puts the cameras to the test during her vacation in Japan. “When shooting with the main sensor we get images with good dynamic range, good sharpness and a very accurate white balance,” he explains when talking about daytime photos. It also leaves a particularly relevant assessment on the performance of the cameras in night conditions. As we say, Ana’s complete experience after all these months with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 It is now available on YouTube. We invite you to watch the video and leave us your comments, both in this article and on our channel. Images | Xataka In Xataka | There is a cheap TV sweeping Amazon: after a week of use it became clear in which situations it can make sense

For Google, 2025 could have been a terrifying year. It’s going to end up being one of the best in its history

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It’s not how it starts but how it ends. If Google is having a Christmas dinner, that might be a good phrase to sum up what your year has been like as you raise your glass in a toast. And the Mountain View-based company began 2025 with several dark clouds on the horizon that threatened both its present and its hegemony for the future. But of course, it seems Google still has some time left. Google entered 2025 knowing that it had three major legal battles ahead that could end up amputating precious members like Chrome or its advertising business, with OpenAI in the rearview mirror in the AI ​​race and a troublesome new US president to adapt to. However, Google has not only emerged victorious, but has also managed to maintain the status quo of your structure (for now) and has emerged as the most cutting-edge AI company there is. And furthermore, the accounts come out: is breaking profit records. What has Google done to change its 2025 like this? Being in Google’s shoes in January of this year was not easy. Going through the courts was inevitable and the consequences were potentially devastating for their main sources of income. Declared a monopoly, there were possibilities before it such as the forced sale of Chrome. He also had to give explanations for anti-competitive practices in advertising and his battle with Epic Games It could have resulted in the drastic reduction of commissions in the Play Store on Android, opening the doors to other payment methods and third-party stores. Facing the Justice Department of Trump’s new era was not the best of scenarios either: it is not the first time that the new US president is critical of Google. AI has made them leave their comfort zone. After years of dominating with its combination of Google and Chrome, today the focus has been on artificial intelligence and here it could not be left out, among other things, because it is disrupting its search business. ChatGPT launched a new long-distance race, that of AI, where it started behind technologically speaking and has had to face new and old rivals: the veterans Microsoft and Meta, but also OpenAI and Anthropic. Billions of investment in R&D&I and data centers just to try to keep up. Google has made a huge bet with AI in every way with the hope that it ends up: 1. being profitable. 2. being one of the companies that survive to benefit from it. Because AI is in this phase of filming and expansion and is anything but profitable. And he is risking everything, even cannibalizing his goose that lays the golden eggs: his search business. However, its position is privileged: it has enormous economic muscle, an entire ecosystem and sectors where it leads. This 2025 the wolf was coming for Google, but it was not like that: You have avoided the sale of Chrome. Yes, the judge ruled that Google was a search monopoly, but he did not uphold the Justice Department’s most critical move. The DOJ defended that separating Google from its browser would eliminate one of the company’s great ways to attract users and direct them to its search engine. And be careful, because there was no shortage of buyers. The judge considered that this operation would be “incredibly complex and very risky.” It also allowed Google to continue paying Apple to ensure the prominent presence of its search products. But it did not emerge unscathed: the ruling requires it to share data with competitors (once, not continuously) and to limit exclusive contracts. The future of your advertising business is an unknown. Google yes lost its other big antitrust trial and here the DOJ wants to force you to sell your advertising exchange market and your Ad Manager tool. However, the judge’s predisposition seems to indicate that there will be an agreement that brings a change in behavior before touching the structure of Google, a slower process that could be delayed longer with an appeal from the company licensed by Sundar Pichai. Your (eternal) dispute with Epic. Google lost the case two years ago and this summer it was defeated again… and appealed again. Of course, along the way it has had to allow alternative payment methods and list alternative app stores. As in the previous case, Google hopes to soften the measures: for now it has already negotiated with Epic to reduce commissions and add a new category of registered app stores. Furthermore, it will do so globally. This is decided next month and if it goes ahead, Android will change but Google will still have control. It is not trivial, considering that a new operating system for PC based on Android will arrive in 2026. With Trump, a clean slate. The Mountain View company has had to use diplomacy and open its wallet. It should be remembered that after the capitol incident, Google banned Trump’s account from YouTube. Well, the president of the United States sued them and this year the soap opera has come to an end with YouTube paying 22 million dollars to close the agreement. On the other hand, Google was among the big tech companies that financially supported at the inauguration of the current president of the United States. If Google has had to defend itself in court, in technology it has gone on the attack. We could talk about the advances of the Pixel (which there have been), but the hardware It is not the company’s priority at all. Google has had a fantastic year in AI both in data and in story. Because with AI it is not enough to be the best, you also have to lead the conversation. Its video generator Veo 3 took over social networks, Nano Banana (and later, its Pro version) has starred in trends such as become a Stranger Things character either in an action figure. But it’s not just fashion: it’s that its video models, images and, ultimately, Gemini 3 … Read more

Elon Musk says AGI will arrive in 2026. He said the same thing last year

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Artificial general intelligence or AGI is the great goal that AI gurus keep mentioning. From Sam Altmanpassing through Zuckerberg and his superintelligence teameven of course Elon Musk. The problem is that they are already beginning to repeat themselves and this whole thing sounds more and more like a huge déjà vu. Today he doesn’t trust, tomorrow he does. Surely you have come across this nice sign in some of those authentic bars or shops. The AGI is starting to sound exactly the same. They count in Gizmodo that Elon Musk has set a date for the arrival of the long-awaited AGI: 2026. He recently said that Grok 5, which will be launched next year, had 10% chance of getting the AGI and it seems like he’s now upping his ante. During an xAI meeting, Musk stated that he is confident that the company’s ability to scale its computing power will help them achieve AI that surpasses human intelligence. Everything good, except because in 2024 he said that the AGI would arrive in 2025. He hype and the calm. What happened to Musk is further proof of the disconnect between the discourse of the “sellers” of AI and the experts who make AI. Altman, Musk and Zuckerberg start from the idea that the more AI scales (that is, the more investment is made), the sooner AGI will arrive. From there exorbitant investment in data centerssome the size of entire cities. On the other side we have AI researchers and developers, whose speech is much more realistic. Yann LeCun recently saidconsidered the godfather of AI, that the path to achieving AGI is not language models, but world models. Research also points in that direction and recently we talked about how language is not the same as intelligenceso the current path seems more like a dead end. Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI, has also spoken out, and in his opinion the AGI will arrive, but it will take at least another decade. Musk’s other predictions. According to Business Insiderin the meeting with xAI employees, Musk also talked about the construction of data centers in space, an idea with which several companies are flirting in view of the energy problem. Musk related this infrastructure to his plans to colonize Mars and pointed to the possibility that Tesla Optimus robots were the operators of these infrastructures. It hasn’t always been so optimistic. In 2017 issued a warning: “It is urgent to regulate artificial intelligence before it becomes a danger to humanity.” Maybe 2017 sounds very far away, but we don’t have to go that far back. In 2023 signed a letter with other personalities from the technological world in which he called for AI laboratories to pause model development for at least six months due to the immediate danger of a replacement of humanity. Today he believes that AGI is imminent and defends that AI will do everything for us and that “working will be optional.” Musk’s speech on AI has taken a radical turn, especially now that he has an AI company. What things. Image | Gage SkidmoreFlickr In Xataka | Implanting a chip in your hand to perform magic tricks sounded spectacular. Until you forgot your password

Time magazine decided that “the architects of AI” were ‘Person of the Year’. And chaos broke out in the betting houses

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‘Time’ magazine has named ‘Person of the Year’, its traditional editorial recognition of the most relevant people of the year, to the “Architects of AI”. The topic is sensitive and controversial, and has unleashed opinions for and against the election. But it has also unleashed a parallel and unexpected tidal wave: people losing small fortunes at betting houses because of this Time decision. Beings of the year. When ‘Time’ revealed on December 11 that “AI Architects” (and not simply “AI”) would be its “Person of the Year 2025”, betting platforms Polymarket and Kalshi were plunged into absolute chaos. More than $75 million was left hanging over semantic disputes over what exactly constitutes a “person.” We are not going to go into the legitimacy of that decision or the technical quality of the cover assembly, but we can comment on how The cover effect among betting professionals brings to the table some characteristics of unregulated speculative markets that convert cultural events into casino chips. The collapse of betting. The users of Polymarket who invested more than $6 million betting on “AI” as the winner discovered that its interpretation did not match the platform’s rules. The final decision established that the title “Architects of AI” was not equivalent to designating artificial intelligence as such, giving thousands of bets as losers. The distinction was crucial: Naming those who build the technology differs radically from crowning the technology itself. In KalshiHowever, bets on individual executives (Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg, Dario Amodei, Lisa Su and Demis Hassabis) were winners, while those who bet on corporate entities such as “ChatGPT” or “OpenAI” lost. Polymarket had more restrictive rules: betting specifically on “Jensen Huang” was a losing option, validating only the generic “Other” option. Polymarket cited an illustrative precedent: if ‘Time’ awarded “Donald Trump and the MAGA movement,” bets on Trump would win; but if the title were just “The MAGA Movement,” Trump would be excluded even if he was on the cover. Other Polymarket controversies. This scandal adds to a series of episodes that question the integrity of Polymarket. In November 2024, an unauthorized modification to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) maps temporarily showed a Russian advance on the Ukrainian city of Myrnohrad. The change allowed bettors to earn returns of up to 33,000% before ISW admitted to fraudulent editing and fire the responsible geospatial specialist. weeks latersomeone identified as AlphaRaccoon generated profits of $1.15 million by betting with suspicious accuracy on the results of the 2025 ‘Google Year in Search’. Meta engineer Haeju Jeong documented on social media that the bettor had gotten 22 of 23 predictions right, including that singer d4vd (with just 0.2% probability) would top the searches. the same user had previously won $150,000 predicting the exact launch of Gemini 3.0, which fueled accusations of privileged access to Google information. Semantic controversy. And another one from Polymarket, which got into define whether President Zelensky had worn a suit at the NATO summit in the summer of 2024. Despite more than forty global media describing his outfit as a formal suit, the resolution protocol UMA (a decentralized oracle on Ethereum that verifies real-world data for blockchain applications) ruled “No” in a series of bets that moved $242 million. Numerous media They talked about large holders of UMA tokens manipulating the result through coordinated voting. Person of the Year, or whatever. Time magazine has been deliberately stretching the definition of “person” for decades, setting precedents that preempted this year’s confusion. In 1982 he chose “The Computer” under the title “Machine of the Year”, while 1988 crowned “The Endangered Earth” as “Planet of the Year”. The 2006 edition generated controversy by awarding an indeterminate “You”, referring to all users of digital content. “The Silence Breakers” of the #MeToo movement (2017) and “US Scientists” (1960) are other examples of award-winning collective entities. In Xataka | Five years ago he worked from his bathroom on the brink of ruin. Today he runs a company valued at 8 billion

AI needs 650 billion a year to sustain itself. The problem is who will put them on the table

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Those responsible for the JPMorgan banking entity they have done numbers. For AI companies to achieve a 10% return on their capital expenditure In 2030, they will need to collectively earn $650 billion. That’s like saying that the 1.4 billion iPhone users will pay $400 a year to use those models. It’s not impossible, but certainly it doesn’t seem simple. Many use it, few pay. Above all, because today the number of paying users is very small. According to the data from the consulting firm Menlo Venturestoday 1.8 billion people use AI around the world, but only 3% of them (54 million) are paying customers of some subscription. ChatGPT as an example. OpenAI esteem that in 2030 that percentage will rise to 8.5% for its user base, which they project will be 2.6 billion a week. That is to say: 220 million people will be subscribed to one of ChatGPT’s payment plans, which will probably have different prices than the current ones in 2030. They do not seem sufficient, at least a priori, to make the firm profitable as promised. Advertisements. It is more than likely that the advertisements they end up being the other great resource to earn revenue from AI models. Although Sam Altman indicated in the past that advertising would be “the last resort” to monetize, recent data reveal that those ads are about to be part of the user experience on ChatGPT. A very risky bet. JPMorgan’s estimate points to a future in which billions of people will pay a lot of money a year to use the best AI. Apple account with 1 billion subscribers to its services, Netflix with 300Spotify with about 280and Google account with 150 million subscribers on Google One alone. It is evident that there are many users willing to pay for services that are useful and entertaining. The question is whether AI will be for so many people. And AI companies, of course, are confident that they do. The non-surprise of the bubble. In The Economist indicate that a potential explosion of the AI bubble already it’s not going to surprise anyone. The curious thing is that there is no excessively notable concern for the consequences. In recent years the economy seems to have recovered surprisingly well from disasters such as the European energy crisis after the start of the Ukrainian War or the tariffs imposed by the US. Recessions, this economic newspaper points out, they are becoming rarer. Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. Mass vulnerability exists, however. Stocks today represent 21% of Americans’ economic wealth —more than in the dotcom bubble—, and investment in AI companies is responsible for half of the increase in that wealth over the past year. And therein lies the danger. Recession in sight? People have earned more money and saved less: if the bubble bursts in a similar way to what it did with dotcoms, The Economist believes that net worth will fall by 8%. That in turn would cause a notable decrease in consumer spending. It is estimated that the US GDP would decline by 1.6%, enough to push the country into recession. The difference with dotcoms. In this case that global recession It might not be so deep for a clear reason: the root would be in the investment markets, and therefore it could be overcome with a little more room for maneuver. Central banks could cut interest rates to boost consumption, a good thing on that front but dangerous for vulnerable economies. The shock wave of the explosion. If the bubble bursts, what could also occur is a painful reconfiguration of global trade. Lower US demand would reduce its trade deficit, but would worsen the excess China production capacity. By not being able to sell (as much) to the US, it would flood other markets with its products, which would probably cause some protectionism in Europe and Asia. The world is preparing for the stock market crash, but not so much for the economic and geopolitical consequences that will follow. In Xataka | OpenAI has no problem inflating the AI ​​bubble – it has a problem with it bursting too soon

how to see your statistics and what’s new this year

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Spotify Wrapped 2025 has arrived. Like every year at this time, the dominant music streaming service offers its annual summary, giving users the statistics of everything they have listened to in 2025. You will be able to know your most listened to artists and albums, your most played songs, your favorite musical genres or the podcasts where you have spent the most hours. Let’s start this article by telling you how to access your statistics. But then we go to the important part, where we will tell you everything you are going to find in your annual summary and the main news that you will find in the Wrapped of this 2025. How to see your Spotify Wrapped To access your Spotify Wrapped, the first step is make sure you have your application updated. For that, you will have to review your application in Google Play for Android and App Store for iOS, and see if there are any updates. Having the app updated, just by entering it you will see an ad for Wrapped to click on it and access the experience. You can also enter with the browser from any device, through the address spotify.com/es/wrapped. What you will find in the Wrapped This year, users will have the ability to use Wrapped in a slightly more flexible way, controlling the pace of the experience. You can go back to specific moments without having to start from the beginning. As for the content, on the one hand you will have classics like watching your most listened to artistsas well as podcasts and the total listening minutes you’ve spent on Spotify. You will also have the classic messages from some of these artists. Each of this data will be a vignette that you can share in social media stories. There are also some classic visualizations that are renewed slightly modifying its content. They are the following: Most listened to genres: Come back to see the musical genres you’ve listened to the most. Perhaps the most listened to song: A kind of interactive game to guess what your most listened to song is. Artist career: You will see a visualization with the race towards your most listened to artist, being able to see how they have varied over the months. Most listened to songs and their playlist: You will see your five most listened to songs, and a playlist will be generated that you can listen to whenever you want. This year there are some new things interesting, about a dozen of them. These are the most notable: musical age: Your musical tastes are compared with those of other people in your same age group. Most listened to albums: It seems unbelievable, but until now you couldn’t see the albums that you had been listening to the most during the year. Creator Tip: You can receive messages from one of your favorite podcast creators, just like with artists. Clubs: This story shows you the listening habits that have defined users’ 2025. There are six different clubs with a different listening style, and each user will be assigned one. Wrapped Party: This new interactive feature allows you to compare your music tastes with those of your friends. All the stories that make up the Wrapped will be able to be shared. But also, when you get to the end you will have a last story with classic data such as your favorite artists and songs, as well as the total minutes and your musical genre. So, you can share this summary on your social networks for everyone to see. In Xataka Basics | 53 third-party tools and apps to get the most out of Spotify with statistics, playlists and new features

Samsung has been gradually shaping its super high-end range for years. And the result is the triumph of the S25 Ultra for another year

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The verdict of the jury of the Xataka NordVPN Awards 2025 has been clear. In a year where competition has been fierce in the premium segment, with Apple renewing its commitment to iPhone 17 and Chinese brands like Alive or Oppo pushing the limits of photography, there has been a traditional winner: The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has won gold in the most coveted category. Prima facie, may seem like a conservative decision. And the Galaxy S25 Ultra is not a disruptive mobile; It doesn’t make a huge leap in performance or photography. However, his victory responds to a reality that we verified during our analysis: a perfect balance. It is not a victory resulting from chance or a specific success, but the culmination of a strategy that the Korean firm began five years ago. While other manufacturers lurched in search of wow effect every twelve months (and even less), Samsung decided that its ‘Ultra’ surname already had a defined identity: the super high-end customer is not looking for experiments—faster charges, sensors with better numbers, higher capacity batteries—but rather certainties. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has not reinvented the wheel, but has made it roll better than anyone else: these are the technical and experience reasons that make it the king of 2025. Something with which I can’t agree more. When the screen matters (and a lot) If you have used a Galaxy S24 Ultrayou know the pain. Those rectangular corners that dug into the palm of the hand were the price to pay for having the largest and most spectacular screen. With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung has smoothed over that roughness. It’s not just that the corners have been softened: it’s that the phone has lost a few grams. It may seem like a smaller figure on paper, but in the hand, the difference between one and the other is very noticeable. Maintaining the 6.9-inch screen and 5,000 mAh battery while reducing weight (and a little thickness) is the kind of change that justifies the award. Of course, perhaps after saying goodbye to those corners he has lost one of his identifying marks at first glance: now he looks like the rest of his younger brothers. That does not mean that it is at this point that the maturity of the concept is appreciated: it took Samsung years to correct the course from those curved screens, beautiful, but not entirely comfortable. The S25 Ultra is the recognition that usability must come before pretty aesthetics, even in the premium segment. And if that means sacrificing the visual identity of the extinct ‘Note’ in favor of ergonomics, then too. On the other hand, the anti-reflective treatment of its predecessor already seemed like a game changer. This year, it is maintained, and its screen is also improved with more mature brightness management. They are one of those small details that matter: I don’t need 6,000 nits if I have a panel that eliminates reflections and it offers me very pure blacks in broad daylight. This panel does not seek to win on the technical sheet, but on experience. And there is a technical detail that we often overlook but that makes a difference in everyday life: visual fatigue. Although Samsung remains conservative with PWM Dimming (492 Hz vs. 2,000+ Hz for the Chinese competition), the panel calibration and automatic brightness management in One UI have reached an exquisite point. Let’s not forget that we still have a real Quad HD+ resolutionsomething that many rivals they have sacrificed dropping to 1.5K to save battery or increase the refresh rate. Samsung has not made that sacrifice, and it is appreciated. Power without anxiety and mature chambers It was easy for Samsung to deliver high-end performance: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has given way to a Snapdragon 8 Elite who plays in another league. Although in synthetic stress tests the mobile can suffer considerable throttling, in real use – editing video or playing demanding titles like ‘Genshin Impact’ – this drop in theoretical performance is imperceptible. Samsung has prioritized system stability over raw benchmark numbers: I confirm that it is the right decision for a productivity device. My biggest fear was that the power of the new chip would eat up the battery, the reality has been the opposite. Getting to the end of the day with half the battery is possible: Samsung has shown that optimization can improve autonomy. Now, it goes without saying that to continue winning our super high-end award, the South Korean will have to join the new trend in batteries: those of silicon-carbon. This year it has not been, but next 2026 forces Samsung to take the leap that other manufacturers are experiencing. And what if it becomes notable: mobile phones with 7,000 mAh batteries and more are flooding the Android market. In the photographic field, this is where the philosophy of refinement is most noticeable. Do you miss a radical change in camera hardware? Sometimes, although if you value consistency more, not so much. The Galaxy S25 Ultra solved the Achilles heel of its predecessor: the ultra wide angle. By raising the resolution to 50 MP with a new sensor, this camera finally does not clash with the rest. Furthermore, the recording in LOG and AI noise removal are quite useful tools for content creators. An aspect in which it approaches the high level of the iPhone in video recording. No, it is not the most exciting camera of the year, but it is one of the few that does not leave you lying around: whatever photo you want to take, it offers very consistent results. Samsung has got the point of its photography. A software to match Finally, part of the prize is also for the Android software: Gone are the days of Touchwiz as well as the first versions of One UI that did not achieve the promised user experience. One UI 7 has turned AI from a curiosity into a complete tool suite; and in … Read more

A year ago, Warner wanted to sink Suno’s AI to generate songs. Today he has decided to ally with her

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From chaos to order: when AI burst onto the music scene it seemed like everything was going to fall apart. And some of the latest news in that field seems to go in that direction: uncontrolled multiplication of false groups created with AI on streaming platforms, accelerated sophistication of AIs that allow the creation of music indistinguishable from that created by humans… however, the majors of the industry have taken action on the matter to turn the situation in their favor. And no, it is not that they have won the multiple lawsuits they filed against the AI ​​companies. It is, perhaps, something much more disturbing: they have reached agreements. What has happened? In just eighteen months, Warner Music Group has completed a radical strategic pivot regarding its relationship with AI. In June 2024the record company sued Suno along with Sony and Universal for massive copyright infringement, accusing the platform of training its models with millions of songs it owned and without authorization. But now he announces an alliance with that same company to license its complete catalog. What is Suno? A music generator through artificial intelligence that has attracted almost 100 million users in two years, and allows complete songs to be created from simple textual descriptions. Users can specify genre, mood, instrumentation and tempo, and the system generates two versions of the requested song in about 15 seconds. To achieve this, Suno combines its own musical model with ChatGPT, and from there come both the music and the lyrics, creating pieces that can include voices and instrumentation or be purely instrumental. What the agreement consists of. The pact establishes that Suno will launch in 2026 new advanced and licensed models that will completely replace your current systems. Artists in Warner’s catalog (Lady Gaga, Coldplay or Ed Sheeran, among many others) will have control over whether or not they allow their names, images, voices and compositions to be used in that AI-generated music. Neither Warner nor Suno disclosed the financial terms of the deal, although Warner CEO Robert Kyncl stated that the goal is to “compensate and protect artists, songwriters and the creative community.” As part of the deal, Suno acquired SongkickWarner’s concert discovery platform. Besides, from now on Song downloads generated by Suno will require a paid account, with download limits and options to purchase additional downloads, a bit like the usage limits established by the level free of other AI models. The original demand. The complaint of 2024 accused Suno and Udio of massive infringement of protected recordings. The record companies they requested damages up to $150,000 per infringed song. Suno admitted that he had trained his model with tens of millions of protected recordings but defended that it was “fair use” (the famous fair use Anglo-Saxon) And what is the reason for the change in Warner and company’s strategy? Suno closed a $250 million financing round at a valuation of $2.45 billion just a week ago, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They are not the first. This is not a desperate deal major allying himself with someone who just a year ago he considered an enemy. It is an industry trend: in June 2024, for example Universal Music reached an agreement with SoundLabs to offer its artists vocal cloning tools through the plugin MicroDrop. In November of this same year, Universal, Sony and Warner themselves closed separate agreements with the brand new startup KLAY to train your “Large Music Model” with licensed music Without a doubt, they are significant agreements, especially because, unlike the cinema wave pressto mention other leisure and communication sectors strongly impacted by AI, majors of music are the first to bury the hatchet. With what it may mean for hostilities to soften in other fields. A doubtful future. For a startSony and Warner maintain active lawsuits against Udio and Suno. And there are multiple doubts about the scope of the contract: supposedly the artists have the right to veto, but As Irving Azoff saysfounder of the Music Artists Coalition, “artists end up on the margins with crumbs.” Other analysts like Frankie Pizá They are even more pessimistic: “What some of us see as a collapse in what we understood as artistry/authorship is quietly becoming a new order regulated by the major record labels themselves” Pizá adds: “The music industry has been perfecting its ability to absorb any technological disruption for decades. It did so with Napster, with YouTube, with the streaming and now with generative AI. The pattern repeats itself: first moral resistance, then demands, then agreement and finally implementation.” Header | Amin Asbaghipour in Unsplash

right now it has the best prices of the year

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If we think about what we use to study or work at home, it is normal for our minds to go first to technology (computer, monitors or peripherals, among other things). But, And the furniture? Choosing the table or chair well is key if we want to be as comfortable as possible throughout the day. To give a new look to what we use at home, we have a very good option with Sihoo Black Fridayespecially if we are looking for a new chair. We are going to see two very specific offers that right now present one of the best prices of the year. Sihoo Doro C300 Choosing a Sihoo chair will allow us to have something comfortable and with a very elegant design at home, which makes it fit into any type of setup. This Sihoo Doro C300 is one of the brand’s most popular models and, as we will see a little later, it currently has a huge discount. It is a model that stands out for offering a lumbar support with body tracking. Simply put: this piece moves with us, so without configuring anything we will have our lumbar well supported at all times. Although that is your key point, there is more. Its backrest is flexible and, although it has a rigid structure, we will have good support regardless of whether we are placed in a normal position or with the backrest reclined. The cable rest can be adjusted in height, inclination and depth, something ideal for the neck area. Another important factor is that it has mesh fabric. This material, in addition to giving a more elegant touch to the chair, It is more resistant to the passage of time and stains. All without forgetting that, in addition, it is more suitable when it starts to get hot in a few months. We also can’t forget its 4D armrests, which can be adjusted both up and down and forward and back (and in or out). In addition, they synchronize with the backrest if we recline it, so we will always have them supported. The RRP of the chair outside of the promotion is 309.99 euros, but right now it is reduced to 259.99 euros (there is a version with footrest, also reduced to 299.99 euros). Now if we use the code ‘SihooT6‘, the price of it will remain at 244.39 eurosthe lowest this model has had in recent months. Golden opportunity to renew a chair. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sihoo Doro S100 We have an alternative to the previous one with the Doro S100. It is a versatile chair that is ideal for all types of users, thanks to its double dynamic lumbar support. This, with a larger support surface, It is totally independent of the backup. If we are looking for maximum lumbar support, this model is ideal for us. The fact that the backrest is independent of the lumbar area also allows us to adjust it at various levels to be able to customize support for the shoulder and neck areasomething essential to be seated with a comfortable posture. It can recline up to 135 degrees and also has a quality elastic mesh fabric, plus its armrests are also 4D. The RRP of this model is exactly the same as that of the previous Sihoo chair: 309.99 euros. Now, if we take advantage of Black Friday, we can get it at a much more attractive price. As a base, we have it reduced to 249.99 euros. Now using the same discount code ‘SihooT6‘, its price remains only 234.99 euros. 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 | sihoo In Xataka Selection | Which chair to work and play to buy: recommendations for ergonomics, comfort and 13 gaming and office chairs from 80 euros In Xataka | How to set up your home office: buying guide for stands, monitors and other peripherals, cables, headphones and more

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