ALKHOBAR, 20 January 2004 — Information technology events are going on all over the region. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to travel to them. Microsoft has two events next week in Cairo, but planes to and from that city are already packed with pilgrims and vacationers. Saudi IT developers are now considering swimming the Red Sea to reach MDC 2004, as flying appears to be out of the question. Dubai is running at full tilt as usual, but businessmen are being forced to compete for planes and hotels with visitors to the city’s shopping festival. I urgently need to get on a flight for an event in Riyadh on Wednesday, but I’m still on Saudi Arabian Airlines’ waiting list and might be forced to switch to road transport. The powers that be in the region need to get the transportation situation under control so that business and tourism activities can flourish instead of competing for available resources!

One group that has been wise enough to schedule their event after the Haj holiday madness is the Arabian Venture Capital Society (AVCS). According to Abdullah Al-Subyani of the Saudi Society for Technology Development & Transfer, AVCS will be the first pan-Arab professional society for venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) in the region based in Dubai. AVCS is inviting interested individuals to attend the group’s founding meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004 in Dubai. For further information contact [email protected].

AVCS is being founded on the concept of “better investment for a better future.” The plan is for this not-for-profit professional society to serve the emerging communities of investment companies and individuals working or interested in VC/PE, technology venturing, angel investment, early-stage funding and corporate venture capital. AVCS will promote risk-taking culture, develop skills and provide information on the VC/PE industry. Members in AVCS will include VC/PE companies and individuals, corporations, financial institutions and consultants, chambers of commerce, technology development organizations, etc. Membership is open to all nationalities.

AVCS will focus on several elements of the VC/PE industry such as management, trends and strategies, legal/fiscal policies and regulations, investment models, fund raising and structures, technology evaluation and valuation, contracts and control rights, and information/studies, among others. Also, AVCS will organize international and regional conferences, industry-focused VC forums, studies, and specialized educational events. In addition, AVCS will become a learning organization where members can share experiences and address issues of common interest.

With the returns from traditional banking investments at extremely low rates, regional investors are urgently looking for new financial opportunities. AVCS could provide direction for funds that are currently lying idle and perhaps fuel new chances for local entrepreneurs.

While some IT organizations are working to be more progressive, others appear to be taking a step backwards. Wanting to pay for a subscription to the Saudi Computer Society, I went to the bank, got a cashier’s check and sent it off to P.O. Box 94573 as specified on the society’s application form. A month later the application was returned with the envelope unopened and stamped, “P.O. Box expired.” Checking the society’s website was useless. No postal address was to be found. If anyone out there is associated with the Saudi Computer Society perhaps you could drop me an e-mail and let me know where to send the membership fee.

Speaking of expired, if you’re traveling during the Haj holiday, don’t look at the broadband rates in other countries or you may feel a heart attack coming on. In the UK, broadband of up to 150 kbps on a BT line is available at SR108 per month. In the USA, SBC DSL subscribers are paying as little as SR101 and Verizon is offering DSL at SR131. It is expected that in the USA in 2004 the monthly price for DSL could dip below SR75. Here in Saudi Arabia the best deal I could find for 128 kbps was SR250 monthly.

And since we’re on the subject of broadband, it might amuse you to know that in the premier office building in Riyadh it is impossible to get a stand alone DSL connection. Two Internet service providers in that building have actually taken leased lines and parceled them out through a hub system to give companies located there the needed bandwidth. In that building those businesses desiring stand alone bandwidth have no choice but to sign up for a leased line. Just imagine how you’d feel if you’d relocated your company to that building, hoping to find modern services on par with anywhere else in the world, and then discovered that broadband was restricted!

On a happier note, let me tell you about some wonderful new technology I saw demonstrated in Dubai last week. Victor Company of Japan, better known to Middle Eastern Consumers as JVC, has just brought its DynaPix TVs to the region. Last Monday I saw the DynaPix flat color TVs, 26-inch LCD TV and 34-inch plasma TV set up side by side with other brands and the image quality was amazing. The pictures on the DynaPix models were crisp and flicker free. The colors were incredible. Reds, greens and blues were clear and vivid, and the skin tones were natural looking. On the plasma and LCD TVs the images on the competitors products were dull and sickly looking next to the DynaPix displays.

These new DynaPix TVs feature JVC’s exclusive patented Digital Image Scaling Technology (DIST), enhancer LSI Super DigiPure and Color DigiPure for a flicker-free high-resolution picture with clear color reproduction. At the heart of DynaPix, DIST fully exploits the advantages of progressive scanning by first converting interlace signals to progressive signals. This increases horizontal scanning lines to enhance vertical resolution and eliminate diagonal “jaggies” making the scanning lines appear virtually invisible. The DynaPix has 900 scanning lines, 2200 horizontal pixels, a vertical frequency of 75Hz and a total frequency of 33.75k. JVC’s closest competitor, Pixel Plus from Philips, has 833 scanning lines, 2048 horizontal pixels, a vertical frequency of 75Hz and a total frequency of 31.25k.

Philips produces a fine picture but the JVC DynaPix goes the extra mile with its LSI Super DigiPure. The DigiPure technology works with DIST to adjust contour details to match the image. The edges of images are finely tuned and become extremely clear for fast-moving images such as sports, slow motion images are natural, yet sharp, and still pictures are crisp and clear without glare, even for small lettering. Color DigiPure helps to decrease color smear while enhancing both texture and edges, especially for colors with depth.

I must admit that I fell in love with the 26-inch LCD TV. JVC had an image of a girl in a swimming pool transmitting to the display and it was gorgeous. The blue water looked very real and the girl’s skin tones were quite natural. There wasn’t a hint of the green in the skin tones, which is a standard problem with LCD displays.

Yoshikazu Yamamoto, president, JVC Gulf, explained that the DynaPix LCD TV could be networked to a home computer. The LCD’s display could then be split and with the addition of a wireless keyboard and a broadband connection it would be possible to watch TV while surfing the web or reading e-mail.

“We have launched the DynaPix TVs in Japan and Europe where they are already attracting considerable interest,” said Yamamoto. “With the youth market in the Middle East and the constant desire for the best in electronics, we are certain DynaPix will quickly be a success in the Middle East countries.”

When asked if it was good business ethics to name a competitor directly, Yamamoto explained that JVC was simply telling the truth and giving the facts, showing what technology JVC was making available and giving statistics on their closest competitor. In the end, he suggested that consumers should, “use their eyes and decide.”

While JVC has stated that it is pricing DynaPix TVs competitively, Saudi consumers will still get a bit of sticker shock at the showrooms.

The 29-inch flat screen DynaPix TVs will retail for up to $1,200 and the 34” flat screen will go for $1,850. The 26-inch DynaPix LCD will be priced at about $2,650. As for the plasma, hold your heart. These are still pricey beauties. The 42-inch DynaPix PDP will retail for about $4,500.

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