2003
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Samsung PDA phones by next year
Samsung announced plans to introduce (Personal Digital Assistant) PDA phones in the Mideast by 2004. Its fagship is SGH-i700, which is showcased at the company's Digitall Inspiration 2003 global roadshow in Turkey. The phone is showcased along with a range of mobile handsets and other digital products.
IBM in Jordan IT learning deal
Mideast's leading e-learning platform, EduWave, is to be made available on open-source Linux platform, following a deal between IBM and Jordanian IT firm, Intergated Technology Group. The system has been deployed in over 3,000 Jordanian schools serving some 1.2m students, over 50,000 teachers and 5,000 school administrators.
Etisalat reduces call charges
Etisalat has cut charges of local telephone calls and SMS messages from GSM and Al Wasel mobiles effective Octber 26. Local calls per minute peak charges have been cut 20 per cent while off-peak charges are down by 14 per cent. SMS sent locally are cheaper by 40 per cent, while those sent overseas are down 33 per cent.
Saudi ministry upgrades IT systems
Saudi Ministry of Health has awarded a contract for its IT infrastructure management to Computer Associates ME. The ministry will use CA's flagship Unicenter for its network systems management, BrightStor for storage management, back-up and recovery and eTrust Antivirus for enhanced security. The value of the deal was not mentioned.
EIM plans anti-virus project
EIM is planning to launch an anti-virus programme for its email users in partnership with McAfee, followed by an anti-spamming programme, Khaleej Times said. EIM is also taking steps to bring web content in Arabic and Urdu to create and sustain web interest in specific communities.
Gitex footfall up 26pc, DWTC
Gitex and its retail arm, Computer Shopper, ended their annual run in Dubai on Thursday and Friday with organisers, DWTC, claiming a rise of 26 per cent in trade visitors at 82,183 to Gitex. The regional IT show featured 775 exhibitors, while Computer Shopper had another 122 participants.
Saudi IT mart to cross USD2bn
IT spending in the Gulf's largest market, Saudi Arabia will cross USD2bn next year. While UAE will cross the USD1bn mark, it has the highest per capita spend of USD380 against the Gulf average of USD100. Mena spend is to go up from present USD6.6bn to USD7.5bn in 2004, said IDC.
UAE smart ID cards to be soon ready
Gemplus says UAE residents smart ID cards will be ready in a few months. The ResIDent programme will have diferent cards for citizens and expatriates. These will be loaded with several security features and 32kb of information. Oman will launch similar cards next month, Gemplus officials said.
UAE Univesity, Cisco sign pact
A Cisco Network Academy will be opened at the UAE University early next year, which will offer students the globally acknowledged Cisco certificate. The univesity can also create its own Cisco Certified Internet Engineer laboratory, under a wde ranging agreement the two signed on October 22.
Etisalat launches e-mail reader
Etisalats new bilingual service for individual mobile and fixed line users, E-Mail Reader, allows users to give voice instructions to their handsets and listen to their new mail. They can reply, forward, delete or even compose a new message. New messages can be sent to all addresses in the address book of web mail.
Jordan offers new mobile licence
Jordanian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has issued a notice for a further license for mobile services. It will hold a public forum on licensing an additional mobile operator on October 23 in Amman for interested parties regarding the process and procedures to be followed.
Wipro to set up Al Khobar facility
Wipro Infotech, part of India's USD902m IT giant is opening an office in Al Khobar, spanning over 4,000sqft and including a state-of-the art technical competency centre. The company plans to train Saudi nationals on SAP and other emerging technologies to meet the growing demands of corporates in the kingdom.
ArabSat awards USD305m deal
ArabSat has awarded a USD305m contract for two communications satellites to EADS, Alcatel and International Launch Services of the US. The contract calls for the supply and launch of the two satellites. EADS space unit Astrium and Alcatel Space, are involved in the deal, said Reuters.
Playstation has 78pc of gaming mart
Playstation controls about 78 per cent of the USD100m Mideast gaming market, which is growing by world's fastest rates of up to 40 per cent a year. PS one has over 3m units in the GCC while PS2 has sold about 400,000 units, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
EBG to test out wireless ATMs
Emirates Bank Group plans to test out a wireless ATM service at Dubai Air Show, which will deliver money at a customer's doorstep, Khaleej Times said. EBG will field car battery powered ATMs on a trailer during the show. Officials said the bank will add several new features to its just launched PDA banking service.
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