New brand and retail shop
Samsung Electronics has opened the Samsung Experience at The Dubai Mall. It’s the world-biggest Samsung brand and retail shop outside of Korea to date. The Samsung Experience is divided into two sections: the Samsung Mobile section, the world’s first mobile experience center outside of Korea, and the Digital Media section.
At the new Samsung location, the electronics giant offers a range of experiences, each of which ties the Samsung brand and technology to the experiences of everyday life. The 9,140 square foot showroom houses the latest Samsung products including LCD TVs, home cinema and Blu-ray players, camcorders, digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players and PCs.
“The Samsung Experience represents a unique opportunity for Samsung to attractively showcase its brand and build relationships with customers in one of the most attractive retail markets in the world,” said S.B Kim, President, Samsung Gulf Electronics. “The brand shop is digital convergence in its purest form — where you can see, hear, touch and create the art of the possible. Our hope is that the venue will become a great educational resource, communicating the life-enriching benefits of digital technology.”
Lenovo dumps Williams
In a blow to the Williams racing team, PC manufacturer Lenovo has announced that it will switch sponsorship and join the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team for the 2009 Formula 1 season. Lenovo notebook and desktop PCs will provide the team’s mission-critical computing solutions, both at the race track and at the team’s headquarters.
Lenovo engineers and technology specialists have already begun to specify the mobile wireless computing technology required by the Formula 1 race team as well as the desktop computing needs of the pit garage and pit wall battlestations. It was not announced if or where Lenovo branding would appear on the McLaren cars.
Online video viewing shifts
While today’s consumer is most likely to watch online video on the PC screen, over time more and more consumers will watch video sourced online and delivered to the living room. ABI Research found that this continued trend towards TV-viewed online video will help drive overall adoption, as the number of online video viewers grows from 563 million at the end of 2008 to 941 million by 2013.
The growth in viewing on both the PC and TV screen is due to the growth in all forms of content. While much of the videos many consumers watch continues to be YouTube-based user-generated content, there is rapid growth in the number of consumers watching premium content such as prime-time dramas and comedies, sport and movies.
Get an extra PC almost free
If you’ve got several kids, you know that giving each one a PC can break your budget. That’s why you should consider using Multiplier software to turn one PC into two. For the next few days, Userful is giving away its innovative Multiplier software that gives you a second computer nearly free. This desktop virtualization software is used on over 30,000 workstations worldwide. It is the perfect way to reduce line-ups for the computer as parents and children battle for a turn.
Userful Multiplier software turns one computer into many, enabling a single computer to support multiple users at the same time. If your computer has an extra video card or a dual-head video card, simply connect an extra monitor, USB keyboard, and mouse to your standard computer and this software makes it possible for two users to work on the same PC at the same time.
“The free two-user giveaway doubles the utility and value of your existing computer with minimal cost,” said Tim Griffin, president of Userful. “In fact, if you already have an extra monitor and keyboard, it’s like getting a free computer.”
Userful is giving away its eco-friendly software to show how much un-tapped value lies hidden in today’s Desktop PCs. “Environmental responsibility is increasingly on all our minds,” said Griffin. “Maintaining an extra PC is a lot of work, and not everyone can afford a second home PC. Everybody likes something free, and it doesn’t get much better than a free PC with zero environmental footprint.”
The company is hoping that once people see how well this software works at home, they will start recommending it to their workplace or school as a way to save the environment and save on IT costs. The business version of the Userful Multiplier software can create up to 10 independent workstations from a single standard PC. There are two free downloads available: a Live CD, which allows you to turn your PC into two independent workstations without affecting any of the software on your hard-disk, and one for users already running Linux.
Make your wrapping paper
There’s a lot you can do with a printer that you probably never considered. Right now it’s the holiday season and too often people get home with the gift and forget the gift wrap. MarthaStewart.com has more than 70 gift wrapping ideas. One idea involves printing gift wrap on your home printer from patterns supplied at the site. This will enable you to wrap any small gift. The site has lots of suggestions for handmade gift tags and ribbons, too. Making a personal effort turns the wrapping into a gift in-itself.
Dubai electronics retailer in Bahrain
Sharaf DG, the UAE’s largest one-stop electronics retailer, has opened its first store outside the UAE. The 50,000 square foot Sharaf DG outlet is located on the second level of the new Bahrain City Centre Mall. For the opening, the store in Bahrain is offering attractive prices and promotions on a wide range of electronics, home appliances, IT products and other gadgets. The company is targeting the Saudi market from its new location.
“We have great confidence in the thriving economy of Bahrain. There exists a certain freedom in Bahrain, which attracts especially female shoppers and expats from other Gulf States,” said Nilesh Khalko, CEO, Sharaf DG. “This, coupled with a steady stream of international business visitors, tourists and, increasingly, motor sports fans, means that malls are invariably packed with shoppers. All these factors played a role in influencing our decision to open our first store outside the UAE in Bahrain. We are planning to open around 25 stores in the GCC over the next few years.”
The one-stop shop in Bahrain City Centre will follow the big-box format of the existing UAE Sharaf DG stores where customers can find the widest range of brands in the region across categories such as consumer electronics, home entertainment, IT, telecom and photography. The store offers a “Lowest Price Guarantee” which assures customers that the prices of all products sold at Sharaf DG are the same when compared with any other hypermarkets and retail stores located in malls.